Politics
Long-Stalled Push for Reparations in Chicago Moving Forward, Johnson Says
The Juneteenth flag is raised in Chicago during a ceremony on June 17, 2024. (WTTW News)
A task force formed by Mayor Brandon Johnson nearly a year ago to determine whether and how the city should pay reparations to Chicagoans who are the descendants of enslaved African Americans will start meeting this summer to craft a plan to tackle the thorny issue.
The 40-member task force will be charged with developing “Chicago’s first comprehensive reparations study, a critical step forward in acknowledging, addressing and repairing generations of harm experienced by Black communities,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
The announcement represents a “pivotal moment in our city’s history and my administration’s ongoing pursuit to repair the generations of harm our people have endured,” Johnson said in a statement.
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Twenty-five members of the task force will be appointed by the mayor and the City Council’s Black Caucus, led by Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward). Fifteen spots on the task force will be set aside for Chicagoans who apply to serve, officials said.
Applications, which include “a short application to ensure a diverse and inclusive representation,” will be accepted through May 20, officials said.
Read more about how to apply here. For more information, email [email protected].
Task force members will be paid to serve for a year, with the study of recommendations for reparations expected to be complete by the summer of 2026, officials said.
“I am proud that we are showing our commitment to investing in the documentation and reparation of harm,” Coleman said. “Together, we are not just making history, we are correcting it.”
The task force will study the institution and legacy of slavery, Jim Crow Laws and other discriminatory policies and practices that have contributed to systemic racial inequities in education, employment, wealth- building, housing, safety and more,” according to the mayor’s office.
The task force will be asked to determine “what Black reparations means in the specific context of Chicago” and “identify key areas of harm for redress,” including “housing, policing, incarceration, education, health and economic development,” according to the mayor’s office.
“The reparations task force and study (are) more than a policy initiative — it is a moral obligation,” Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) said. “It’s about righting historic wrongs, honoring our ancestors, and building a future rooted in dignity and fairness for all.”
The task force is funded with $500,000 from the city’s 2024 budget for the task force, marking the first time city officials set aside taxpayer dollars to do more than just promise to talk about what Chicago owes its Black residents as a result of the legacy of slavery and segregation.
Johnson signed an executive order on Juneteenth 2024 that he said was “a pledge to shape the future of our city by confronting the legacy of inequity that has plagued Chicago for far too long.”
Johnson also formally apologized “on behalf of the city of Chicago for the historical wrongs committed against Black Chicagoans and their ancestors who have continued to bear injustices,” as part of the executive order.
Black Chicagoans do not live as long as other Chicagoans, are more likely to be unemployed and incarcerated, and are less likely to own their own homes because of the legacy of slavery and the legal framework erected to enable discrimination based on race, according to the mayor’s office.
Johnson’s effort to tackle reparations comes nearly four years after the last time the City Hall spotlight focused on the issue. That effort was spurred in part by the demands for racial justice that swept the nation in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
But that effort, which did not have the support of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, never got off the ground.
In 2019, Evanston officials set aside $10 million in revenue from cannabis sales to help Black residents buy homes through mortgage assistance programs and fund home improvements as part of an effort to offer reparations to the descendants of formerly enslaved people. In all, $5.5 million has been distributed, records show.
But Evanston’s program is now facing a legal challenge that threatens its ability to continue, and if successful, would complicate any effort by Chicago officials to directly address the ongoing harm caused by systemic racism, the heart of slavery’s legacy.
The Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission is also holding hearings to examine the “intergenerational impact of enslavement, racial terror, political disenfranchisement and ongoing racial discrimination.”
Created by a 2020 state law, the state commission is charged with working to preserve African American neighborhoods, developing vocational centers and ensuring Black-owned firms get a fair share of state contracts.
The commission will also advocate for the creation and enforcement of an Illinois Slavery Era Disclosure Bill. A Chicago law that has been on the books for nearly 25 years has never been fully implemented, according to information presented to a City Council subcommittee.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
