The hope — and risk — of local reparations

Local governments and universities are taking reparations into their own hands. But can these efforts be successful or enough?

In Evanston, Illinois, where redlining excluded the city’s Black residents from homeownership, 16 Black families — randomly selected from 600 who applied — were given tax-free grants this year to be used toward a home.

California launched its reparations task force in 2021, to determine how the state can compensate Black Californians descended from those formerly enslaved.

Dozens of colleges and universities, including Georgetown, Brown, and Harvard, are facing pressure from students to examine their ties to slavery and give reparations. A judge ruled earlier this year that the three known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa white mob massacre could go forward with their reparations lawsuit, despite a motion by the defendants, including the city of Tulsa, to dismiss the case.

Advocates continue to demand action on reparations from the federal government. But local governments and institutions aren’t waiting to try their hand at reparative justice. Following the social justice uprisings of 2020, cities including Asheville, North Carolina, Providence, Rhode Island, and Burlington, Vermont, established reparations commissions and task forces. Voters in Greenbelt, Maryland and Detroit approved commissions to study reparations through ballot measures.