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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – With a historic July 14 approval of reparations for Black residents the city joined a very small, but growing, group, according to several experts.
The number of cities with reparations programs is tiny, but racial disparities laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic and political momentum following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, appear to be changing that, they said.
"Reparations programs are rare across all areas of government," said Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow sociologist with The Brookings Institution who testified n March in support of Maryland's Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act.
Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution and director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research at the University of Maryland, College Park.
"Asheville should be applauded for being a trendsetter in this area that should be the norm."
One scholar, though, criticized local government action was "piecemeal," saying true reparations could only come from federal action.
Previously:In historic move, North Carolina city approves reparations for Black residents
Very few cities, states considering
Among the few cities to pass reparations are Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. State governments considering them include Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In some of the biggest news for reparations, California's state House passed legislation in June with the Senate now set to take up the bill.
The idea is more than a century old dating back at least to the post-Civil War promise of "40 acres and a mule" for freed slaves. The concept lost traction as harsh Jim Crow segregation set in.
Andre Perry, David M. Rubenstein Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program
In a 2020 paper "Why we need reparations for Black Americans," Ray and fellow Brookings Rubenstein scholar Andre Perry argue reparations have already been given to some groups — such as $1.5 billion to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and billions of dollars and land to Native Americans — and that the country should fulfill the promise to Black citizens.
Virus, Floyd death help bring change
Perry said there has been momentum "slowly building" around reparations for decades. The uneven effects of the pandemic and the calls for reform after national attention around police violence is now spurring the idea forward.
In Asheville, the vote came after the Buncombe County Health Board declared racism a public health crisis and thousands of protesters packed the streets, calling for the Asheville Police Department to be defunded.
"The disproportionate amount of death related to COVID has exposed the structural inequity and lack of wealth in Black communities," Perry said. "Paired with the death of George Floyd, it made it clear that if we are really going to overcome many of these structural barriers, we are going to need some form of reparations."
What is systemic racism? Here's what it means and how you can help dismantle it
What would reparations be?
In the cases of the cities of Evanston and Asheville reparations are not to be direct payments to individuals. Instead, city leaders say they will be investments in areas with large disparities between Black people and other residents, such as education, health care, the criminal justice system and home and business ownership.
Rob Thomas, community liaison for Asheville's Racial Justice Coalition, said a central focus needs to be allowing African Americans to build generational wealth, something that was thwarted by centuries of individual and institutional discrimination. He points to loss of homes and land during urban renewal projects that sent many Black residents into public housing, where many of their descendants remain.
Rob Thomas, community liaison for the Racial Justice Coalition, speaks during a June 6 downtown protest against police violence toward people of color.
"Wealth is measured throughout the world by land and real property. That is what we need. The city and county has a lot of land, a whole lot. And we need finances to develop the land," Thomas told council members the night of the historic vote.
Asheville's resolution calls for the formation of a task force made up of local experts, community members and potentially appointees from other nearby local governments. The group would come back with recommendations for specific investments.
Evanston underwent a similar process starting the approval of reparations in June 2019. The city held community meetings hosted in part by actor and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover. A vote on a final reparations plan is expected this year with distribution from a fund supported in part by sales of recreation cannabis in 2021.
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Reparations shouldn't just be at local level, scholar argues
Government on all levels should take responsibility, Perry said, since slavery and discrimination wasn't imposed solely from Washington and state capitals, but was enforced by local officials.
Another top reparations scholar disagrees. William Darity, a public policy professor and director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University said the national government should handle reparations with an encompassing program.
"I have strong reservations about local efforts at atonement being labeled as reparations," said Darity, who in the book "From Here to Equality" coauthored with Kirsten Mullen, calls for substantial payments to each documented U.S. Black descendant of slavery.
William A. Darity Jr., Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University
Hopes of that could lie with House Resolution 40, a bill named after the once-promised acreage. But Darity, in 2019 while testifying before Congress, said the legislation lacked specifics, including criteria for eligibility for reparations, assistance for potential claimants establishing eligibility and details on how money would be dispersed.
HR 40 has not been brought forward for a vote, though it may soon, he said.
"Unfortunately, I think it is quite flawed in its current form and should be revised or replaced."
Follow reporter Joel Burgess on Twitter: @JoelBurgess
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The number of cities with reparations programs is tiny, but racial disparities laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic and political momentum following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, appear to be changing that, they said.
"Reparations programs are rare across all areas of government," said Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow sociologist with The Brookings Institution who testified n March in support of Maryland's Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act.
Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution and director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research at the University of Maryland, College Park.
"Asheville should be applauded for being a trendsetter in this area that should be the norm."
One scholar, though, criticized local government action was "piecemeal," saying true reparations could only come from federal action.
Previously:In historic move, North Carolina city approves reparations for Black residents
Very few cities, states considering
Among the few cities to pass reparations are Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. State governments considering them include Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In some of the biggest news for reparations, California's state House passed legislation in June with the Senate now set to take up the bill.
The idea is more than a century old dating back at least to the post-Civil War promise of "40 acres and a mule" for freed slaves. The concept lost traction as harsh Jim Crow segregation set in.
Andre Perry, David M. Rubenstein Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program
In a 2020 paper "Why we need reparations for Black Americans," Ray and fellow Brookings Rubenstein scholar Andre Perry argue reparations have already been given to some groups — such as $1.5 billion to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and billions of dollars and land to Native Americans — and that the country should fulfill the promise to Black citizens.
Virus, Floyd death help bring change
Perry said there has been momentum "slowly building" around reparations for decades. The uneven effects of the pandemic and the calls for reform after national attention around police violence is now spurring the idea forward.
In Asheville, the vote came after the Buncombe County Health Board declared racism a public health crisis and thousands of protesters packed the streets, calling for the Asheville Police Department to be defunded.
"The disproportionate amount of death related to COVID has exposed the structural inequity and lack of wealth in Black communities," Perry said. "Paired with the death of George Floyd, it made it clear that if we are really going to overcome many of these structural barriers, we are going to need some form of reparations."
What is systemic racism? Here's what it means and how you can help dismantle it
What would reparations be?
In the cases of the cities of Evanston and Asheville reparations are not to be direct payments to individuals. Instead, city leaders say they will be investments in areas with large disparities between Black people and other residents, such as education, health care, the criminal justice system and home and business ownership.
Rob Thomas, community liaison for Asheville's Racial Justice Coalition, said a central focus needs to be allowing African Americans to build generational wealth, something that was thwarted by centuries of individual and institutional discrimination. He points to loss of homes and land during urban renewal projects that sent many Black residents into public housing, where many of their descendants remain.
Rob Thomas, community liaison for the Racial Justice Coalition, speaks during a June 6 downtown protest against police violence toward people of color.
"Wealth is measured throughout the world by land and real property. That is what we need. The city and county has a lot of land, a whole lot. And we need finances to develop the land," Thomas told council members the night of the historic vote.
Asheville's resolution calls for the formation of a task force made up of local experts, community members and potentially appointees from other nearby local governments. The group would come back with recommendations for specific investments.
Evanston underwent a similar process starting the approval of reparations in June 2019. The city held community meetings hosted in part by actor and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover. A vote on a final reparations plan is expected this year with distribution from a fund supported in part by sales of recreation cannabis in 2021.
Fifteen former female employees of Washington NFL team allege sexual harassment in workplace, per report
Supreme Court temporarily blocks felons from voting in Florida
'Epicenter of the epicenter': Young people partying in Miami despite COVID-19
Get the latest news straight to your phone: Download the USA TODAY app
Reparations shouldn't just be at local level, scholar argues
Government on all levels should take responsibility, Perry said, since slavery and discrimination wasn't imposed solely from Washington and state capitals, but was enforced by local officials.
Another top reparations scholar disagrees. William Darity, a public policy professor and director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University said the national government should handle reparations with an encompassing program.
"I have strong reservations about local efforts at atonement being labeled as reparations," said Darity, who in the book "From Here to Equality" coauthored with Kirsten Mullen, calls for substantial payments to each documented U.S. Black descendant of slavery.
William A. Darity Jr., Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University
Hopes of that could lie with House Resolution 40, a bill named after the once-promised acreage. But Darity, in 2019 while testifying before Congress, said the legislation lacked specifics, including criteria for eligibility for reparations, assistance for potential claimants establishing eligibility and details on how money would be dispersed.
HR 40 has not been brought forward for a vote, though it may soon, he said.
"Unfortunately, I think it is quite flawed in its current form and should be revised or replaced."
Follow reporter Joel Burgess on Twitter: @JoelBurgess
24 hours in a COVID-19 hot spot leaves no walk of life unscathed:This is what it's like
Reopening slowed down:More than half of all states, including California and Michigan, pause reopening or take steps to halt the spread of COVID-19
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