CityLine: Research begins for the reparations task force in Boston

I’M KAREN HOLMES WARD. WELCOME TO CITYLINE. BOSTON HAS ANNOUNCED ITS NEXT STEPS IN THE REPARATIONS PROCESS TO RIGHT THE WRONGS OF THE PAST. RESEARCHERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR A PROJECT THAT WILL LOOK INTO BOSTON’S HISTORICAL TIES TO SLAVERY AND HOW SLAVERY PLAYED A ROLE IN THE CITY’S DEVELOPMENT. OUR RHONDELLA RICHARDSON EXPLAINS THE PROCESS. BOSTON PROUDLY CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY, REFURBISHING THIS MONUMENT TO THE 54TH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY REGIMENT, 1638 MARKED THE ARRIVAL OF SLAVE SHIPS. THE DESIRE SHIP IN BOSTON HARBOR. THIS MUSEUM PRINT ILLUSTRATES THE INDIGNITY AND THE GRUESOMENESS. WHAT WAS THE CITY OF BOSTON’S ROLE IN THE TRIANGLE SLAVE TRADE? IN THE PROFITEERING, THE BENEFITS? AND HOW DO THOSE STRUCTURES STILL SHOW UP TODAY? INDIVIDUALS, CORPORATIONS, GOVERNMENT BENEFITED OFF THE BACKS OF ENSLAVED PEOPLE AND AND THAT’S WHAT THE HISTORICAL EXAMINATION. WE HAVE TO START THERE. PARTS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM STILL ELUSIVE TO MANY OF THOSE LIVING THE BLACK EXPERIENCE. WE HAD GOVERNMENTAL POLICIES, THE DENIAL OF THE VA LOANS, THE THE DENIALS OF OF THE FHA LOANS, ALL OF THE THINGS WHERE, UH, WHITES PARTICULARLY WERE ABLE TO ADVANCE A MAJORITY OF BLACKS MISSED THE REAL ESTATE BOOM AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH. WE TALKED ABOUT, UH, BLACK, BLACK PEOPLE WERE PROMISED 40 ACRES AND A MULE, WHICH THEY NEVER RECEIVED IN TODAY’S WORLD, WHAT IS PAYBACK? OKAY, UM, PAYBACK IS PROBABLY JUST AT LEAST BEING ABLE TO SPEAK ABOUT THE INJUSTICES THAT WE FACE, WHETHER PEOPLE WHO ARE DESCENDANTS OF SLAVES ARE PAID OR NOT. HOW DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL AFTER THIS DEEP DIVE BY THE TASK FORCE? WE. WE ARE A CITY THAT’S KNOWN FOR OUR HISTORY AND SO WHEN BOSTON TAKES ACTION, THAT CAN SHAPE HOW CITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY UNDERSTAND THEIR POSSIBILITIES. THANK YOU, RHONDELLA AND JOINING US NOW IS DOCTOR TED LANDSMARK. HE’S A DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND URBAN AFFAIRS AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY. WELCOME TO OUR PROGRAM. SO YOU’RE ON ONE OF THE TEAMS TASKED WITH PRODUCING A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON BOSTON’S LINKS TO THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY. WHILE THE RESEARCH PROJECT IS JUST BEGINNING HERE IN THE CITY, THIS IS IT’S NOT A NEW TOPIC. TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT YOUR FOCUS WILL BE. WELL, THERE’S BEEN CONSIDERABLE WORK THAT HAS GONE ON IN THE PAST, BUT WE’RE NOW AT A POINT WHERE WE NEED TO BEGIN TO THINK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT DELIVERY GOALS, ABOUT THE KINDS OF ACTIONABLE STEPS THAT CAN BE TAKEN TO MOVE OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR FORWARD BEYOND WHERE WE’VE BEEN UP TO NOW. NOW, DOCTOR LANDSMARK, THE CITY AND THE REPARATIONS TASK FORCE HAVE SPLIT THIS RESEARCH INTO TWO TEAMS, ONE COVERING 1620 TO 1940, AND YOUR TEAM COVERING 1942 TO THE PRESENT. WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT ABOUT THE BREAK AT 1940? WELL, THE SECOND WORLD WAR REALLY CHANGED A LOT IN TERMS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THERE HAD BEEN EFFORTS AROUND CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UP TO THAT TIME, BUT AFTER THE WAR, A NUMBER OF JOBS OPENED. AND IN TERMS OF PUBLIC POLICY AT THE END OF THE WAR, A NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES CAME INTO PLACE THAT REALLY BEGAN TO TO CRYSTALLIZE AND TO TO LOCK INTO PLACE A NUMBER OF RACIST, UH, UH, FORMAL GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES. AND SO WE WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN TERMS OF ZONING, IN TERMS OF FINANCE, IN TERMS OF EDUCATION, IN TERMS OF ACCESS TO JOBS AND THAT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY DIG MORE DEEPLY INTO WHAT HAS HAPPENED OVER THE LAST 70 OR 80 YEARS. ONE OF THOSE PROGRAMS, FHA LOANS, FOR INSTANCE. HOW DID THAT IMPACT THE CONVERSATION ON FHA LOANS? HAD THE EFFECT OF REALLY CRYSTALLIZING A LOT OF DISCRIMINATION THAT EXISTED. THEY MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR WHITE INDIVIDUALS TO BE ABLE TO BUILD FAMILIES AND INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE HOMES THROUGH THESE FHA LOANS, THEY WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE HOMES. AND IN MANY OF THOSE INSTANCES, AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDED FROM HAVING ACCESS TO THE LOANS. SO NOT ONLY DID WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH ISSUES OF ZONING AND RACIAL PATTERNS IN THE WAY HOUSING WAS BEING DEVELOPED, BUT WE ALSO WERE DENIED ACCESS TO THE KIND OF FINANCING THAT WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE, ABLE FOR US TO ACQUIRE REAL ESTATE THAT WOULD ENABLE US TO BUILD INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH. ALL RIGHT. SO HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT’S GOING TO TAKE TO DO ALL THE RESEARCH THAT’S GOING TO BE NEEDED TO PRODUCE THIS REPORT? I THINK THAT WE’RE GOING TO BE AT IT FOR A YEAR, A YEAR AND A HALF, MAYBE AS LONG AS TWO YEARS. THERE’S A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF DATA AVAILABLE, BUT WE NEED TO PULL IT TOGETHER FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES, FROM FEDERAL SOURCES, FROM LOCAL AND STATE AND UNIVERSITY SOURCES, US, AND ALSO FROM PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE AT DISCRIMINATION IN THE GREATER BOSTON AREA. THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL CREATED THIS REPARATIONS TASK FORCE IN LATE 2022. HOW DO YOU THINK THE REPORTS ARE GOING TO HELP INFORM, UM, THE OVERALL EFFORT RIGHT. OPERATIONS IS AN ISSUE THAT HAS GENERATED A LOT OF PUSHBACK AS PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONED WHETHER THERE’S A SOUND JUSTIFICATION FOR ANY KIND OF MITIGATION OR OFFSET FOR THE DISCRIMINATION THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE. AND SO WHAT WE’RE GOING TO BE DOING IS COLLECTING AND ANALYZING THE DATA THAT REALLY CONFIRMS THE PATTERNS OF DISCRIMINATION, THE PROCESSES THAT WERE IN PLACE AND THIS WILL ENABLE THE CITY COUNCIL TO THEN MOVE FORWARD WITH SPECIFIC REMEDIES. MANY STATES AROUND NEW ENGLAND ARE LOOKING AT THIS REPARATIONS PROCESS. CALIFORNIA’S REPARATIONS TASK FORCE HAS MADE MORE THAN 200 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TO UNDO CENTURIES OF UNFAIR TREATMENT FOR BLACK RESIDENTS WHO CAN TRACE THEIR LINEAGE IN THE UNITED STATES. PRIOR TO 1900. BUT SOME BELIEVE ALL BLACK PEOPLE ARE OWED NOT JUST THE DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF ENSLAVED PEOPLE. DO YOU SEE A CASE FOR ALL BLACK PEOPLE TO RECEIVE REPARATIONS? DISCRIMINATION HAS AFFECTED ALL BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY. BY AND LARGE, WHEN PEOPLE ARE DISCRIMINATING AGAINST US, THEY’RE NOT DRAWING A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THOSE OF US WHO ARE FROM ONE PART OF THE COUNTRY OR ANOTHER, OR THOSE OF US WHO ARE NECESSARILY ARE DESCENDED FROM PEOPLE WHO WERE ENSLAVED AND SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF US WHO BELIEVE THAT ANYTHING WE DO IN TERMS OF REMEDIATION NOW HAS TO COVER ALL OF US. ALL RIGHT. NOW, THE HEALTH EQUITY COMPACT AND MASSINC POLL BAY STATERS. IN JUNE, THE SURVEY ATTEMPTED TO WEIGH SUPPORT FOR MONETARY REPARATIONS TO ADDRESS HEALTH DISPARITIES AND OTHER INEQUITIES. 46% OF SOMEWHAT OR STRONGLY SUPPORT MONETARY REPARATIONS, 39% OPPOSED THE CONCEPT, BUT 74% OF BLACK PEOPLE SURVEYED ED SUPPORT REPARATIONS. HOW CAN MONETARY REPARATIONS HELP? WELL, MONETARY REPARATIONS ENABLE FAMILIES TO BEGIN INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH, TO BEGIN TO ACQUIRE THE KINDS OF ASSETS, WHETHER THEY’RE PHYSICAL ASSETS OR EDUCATIONAL ASSETS, THAT THEN ENABLE INDIVIDUALS TO MOVE UP THE CAREER LADDER, AND ALSO TO BE ABLE TO TO PASS WEALTH ONTO THEIR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. ALL RIGHT. DOCTOR TED LANDSMARK, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND URBAN AFFAIRS AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, THANKS FOR JOINING US. AND WE’LL BE LOOKING TO SEE HOW YOUR TEAM DOES ON THIS RESEARCH PROJECT. THANK YOU FOR THE INVITATION. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. ALL RIGHT. THE NEXT REPARATIONS TASK FORCE PUBLIC MEETING IS ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH

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