EVANSTON, ILLINOIS – (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Evanston Illinois, just north of Chicago, population 78,110. A suburb that has systematically and intentionally discriminated against its black community members for decades. Housing policies up until the fair housing ordinance of 1969 allowed for the discrimination of African Americans in unthinkable ways. White homeowners signed special provisions prohibiting their homes from being sold, rented to, or occupied by anyone that wasn’t white, effectively reducing the availability of housing for blacks in the community. Banks would refuse mortgages to black borrowers that wished to purchase a home in a neighborhood where they determined it would be unsuitable or inappropriate for a black family to live, preventing the accumulation of generational wealth through real property assets that can be passed on at death. These racist practices didn’t just end with the passage of the fair housing ordinance in 1969 either and, even with fair practices enacted, the substantial harm the black community of Evanston has endured can still be felt to this day. The city of Evanston can be broken into two parts. On one side, the lower-class black district and on the other side, the upper-class white district. There is a $46,000 disparity in average annual income between the white and the black communities. If that doesn’t speak volumes, I’m not sure what does!
In a move that has been called a precedent example or guiding light for other cities across the country to follow, Evanston not only acknowledged their failures, but made a commitment to renew their relationship with their black citizens and make up for the damage they have ultimately caused. In 2019, Resolution 58-R-19, Commitment to End Structural Racism and Achieve Racial Equity was enacted. By its own words, “the community and the government allowed and perpetuated racial disparities through the use of many regulatory and policy-oriented tools.” They say that this and the initiatives to follow are “a step towards revitalizing, preserving, and stabilizing Black/African-American owner-occupied homes in Evanston, increasing homeownership and building the wealth of Black/African-American residents, building intergenerational equity amongst Black/African-American residents, and improving the retention rate of Black/African-American homeowners in the City of Evanston.” Impressive, right?
Soon after, they passed Resolution 126-R-19, Establishing the City of Evanston Reparations Fund and the Reparations Subcommittee. This legislation was primarily enacted to divert the first ten million dollars from the 3% tax revenue resulting from a recent bill legalizing the use, sale, and purchase of recreational marijuana to a new fund for the purpose of making reparations to black individuals in the community who are the descendants of those directly harmed by discrimination in housing practices in Evanston through 1969. Further, Resolution 37-R-27, Authorizing the Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program was passed thereafter. This is the first legislative action in the United States to make real reparations to eligible African Americans who (directly or indirectly) were harmed by the systematic oppression that is so typical of American institutions and systems by creating a housing program for black community residents, providing grants of up to twenty-five thousand dollars to be used for down-payments or closing costs on mortgages, home repair, mortgage assistance, or other housing-related concerns. The city maintains that this initiative is only the first in a movement dedicated to making reparations to black residents.
Join me tomorrow for the second installment in the Slavery Reparations Series! As always, thank you for reading and supporting our movement. We’d love to hear your thoughts so drop a reply below! And remember, every share or repost, every like, and every reply gets us out there in the algorithm and on the feeds of others who we can educate, one day at a time. Share, Share, Share!
Contributing Sources:
City of Evanston. (2019). Resolution 126-R-19. Resolution 126-R-19, Establishing the City of Evanston Reparations Fund and the Reparations Subcommittee.
City of Evanston. (2021). Memorandum for Resolution 37-R-27. Approval of Resolution 37-R-27 _Authorizing the Implementation of the Evanston Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program and Program Budget_ – Pdf.pdf (civicweb.net)
City of Evanston. (2021). Memorandum for Resolution 58-R-19. Resolution 58-R-19, Commitment to End Structural Racism and Achieve Racial Equity
City of Evanston. (2024). Evanston Local Reparations. Evanston Local Reparations | City of Evanston
Robinson, Jr., M. & Thompson, Ph.D., J. (2020). Evanston Policies and Practices Directly Affecting the African American Community, 1900-1960 (And Present).
The Grio Staff. (2023). Evanston Planned $20M for Reparations, Spent Only $400K and Helped 16 People. Evanston planned $20M for reparations, spent only $400K and helped 16 people (yahoo.com)
Treisman, R. (2021). In Likely First, Chicago Suburb of Evanston Approves Reparations for Black Residents. Evanston, Ill., Approves Historic Reparations Plan For Black Residents : NPR
About the Author:
Tia is an investigative journalist here at BLACK. She holds degrees in political science and applied economics from SNHU and is a first-year law student at Purdue Global Law School, pursuing her JD. She also holds a certification in Human Rights from the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights in Boise, Idaho, and she recently interned for the Office of Budget and Entitlement Policy at Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Tia is a RESULTS 2023 Organizing and Advocacy Fellow and Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator. She lives in Hurricane, WV with her husband and three children.
In her free time, she enjoys contemporary art, fashion, home decor, reading, and family. Tia is passionate about protecting American consumers and corporations, and is a strong proponent for open markets, human rights, and equality for all. Her current focus is slavery reparations, entitlement program solvency, and budget appropriations process reform. While Tia is not black, she fully stands with the fight for equal rights and hopes to someday live in a world of harmony. She believes that unearned privilege creates a duty to act against racial injustices.