Evanston, Illinois.Photo: Wikimedia
Evanston, Illinois, is on the verge of doing something no other American city has done before: offer reparations to Black residents.
In all, $10 million will be distributed to residents for years of systemic racism they’ve experienced.
“The one comment I hear most often is, ‘I did not know,'” she told ABC News. “‘I did not know there was segregation in Evanston.’ ‘I did not know that your housing mortgage is higher than mine but we have the same income.'”
As Simmons explained it, white residents panicked when their increasing Black neighbors created “pockets” around the city. Evanston, then, took up the practice of marking areas with a large Black population in red ink on a map, according to theBrookings Institute. This served as a signal to mortgage lenders, and in turn, those areas had lower levels of investments compared to the white parts of the city. The practice became known as “redlining.”
Later, Black residents in Evanston were moved to what would become known as the 5th Ward, segregating them from the wealthier parts of the city.
“The only option to buy in Evanston was basically in the 5th Ward,” Robinson toldABC News. “Banks in Evanston would not loan to Black families for housing [and] the real estate agencies would not show you anything other than the 5th Ward.”
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Simmons — whowas elected in 2017— said the effects of redlining are still relevant for Evanston residents in 2021, as white people in the city make nearly double the income and have double the home value.
“The historic redlining impacts our community today,” shesaid, per ABC. “That map still is the map of our concentrated Black community, our disinvestment, our inferior infrastructure.”
The first batch of reparations will be going out to residents this spring, ABC reported, and Simmons hopes Illinois and other cities around the country explore similar legislation.
“There is a lifetime of work ahead of me and my children for us to get to justice for the Black community,” she said.
“I can’t wait to celebrate the family that receives their first reparation benefit,” she added. “I cannot wait for that day.”
source: people.com
