The small Illinois city that became the first in the United States to guarantee funding for reparations to black residents announced Wednesday it has passed the $1 million mark.
The City of Evanston’s Reparations Committee said it has given out nearly $1.1 million in reparation funds to date, with another $439,397 pending for mortgage assistance, construction, and remodeling projects for program participants.
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Evanston secured its place in history as the first to guarantee funding for reparations, but unlike other programs being considered across the country, Evanston’s decision to focus on housing and not slavery came after residents said housing policies of the Jim Crow era and redlining overwhelmingly hurt them and created a cycle of poverty that some are still stuck in.
The program’s architect, former Councilwoman Robin Rue Simmons, told the Washington Examiner earlier this year that the push to level the playing field has been a labor of love and one she hopes to expand.
“We reflect the racial disparity across the nation,” Simmons said. “What makes us different is that we decided to take this first step — not perfect, not complete.”
Eligibility for the program is broken down into three groups. The first is called “ancestors,” the people who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. The second is known as “direct descendants,” meaning the person must be a direct descendant of a black resident who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. The third group is for residents who have documented proof that they faced housing discrimination because of the city’s practices and policies after 1969.
Despite the program’s popularity in Evanston, not everyone is on board with reparations.
A 2021 Pew Research Center poll found only three out of 10 U.S. adults believe the descendants of slaves should be entitled to reparations in the form of land or money. About 68% said it was time to leave the past in the past and that descendants should not be repaid.
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Views of reparations also varied widely by race, according to the survey. About 77% of black adults believe descendants of slaves should be repaid in some way, while only 18% of white adults thought the same. The views were also split when it came to party affiliation. About 48% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents believed descendants should be repaid, while only 8% of Republicans agreed and an overwhelming 91% disagreed.