BOSTON, Mass. (TND) — Boston activists are pushing city leaders to issue $15 billion in reparations to its Black residents, including $5 billion of direct cash payments, the Boston Herald reported.
The demands come from the Boston People’s Reparations Commission, a local group trying to persuade a government taskforce created to provide recommendations to Mayor Michelle Lu on “reparative justice for Black residents.” Its demand calls for $5 billion in cash payouts to Black residents, $5 billion for education and anti-crime initiatives and $5 billion for economic development.
The wealth of this city was built on slavery,” taskforce chairman Rev. Kevin Peterson said. “And the city is responsible to pay back the wealth they extracted free of charge from other human beings who died at some point in the labor for this city.”
The population of Boston was 650,706 in 2022, according to U.S. Census data. With an estimated 22.5% of the population identifying as Black, about 146,409 individuals could qualify for a roughly $34,150 share of the cash payments, though it is unclear whether or not a system would be created to track descendants of slaves.
The group’s recommendations far surpass Boston’s fiscal year 2024 budget, which sits at $4.2 billion.
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Edwin Sumpter, co-director of the Boston People Reparations Commission, said the funds would make for a good “initial start” the city’s reparation efforts.
It’s really difficult to put a right or wrong number on people’s lives, on lost labor that was given for free,” Sumpter said. “But as an initial number, an initial start, this would be a good number to look at in the city of Boston.”
The National Desk did not receive a response from city media affairs officials when reached for a statement on the matter Monday.
Racial reparations have proven to be popular with equity groups across the country. Nearly 200 descendants of enslaved people who helped construct Saint Louis University in Missouri reportedly asked the school this month for $70 billion in reparations.
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