Chicago Suburb Pays Reparations to Black Residents in a ‘Test Run for the Whole Country’

Louis Weathers still remembers one of his first experiences with racial prejudice in this Chicago suburb along Lake Michigan, home of Northwestern University.

At his integrated junior high school, a white teacher didn’t want Black students such as Weathers showing up their white classmates with the right answers to questions, he recalled.

“Every time we raised our hand, she wouldn’t call on us, but when we didn’t raise our hands, she would—to make you look like a dummy,” Weathers said. “We got onto that, though. When we didn’t know the answer, we raised our hands.”

Now 88 years old, the retired postal worker and Korean War veteran is among the initial beneficiaries of a city program—the first of its kind in the U.S.—that pays Black Evanston residents reparations for discrimination and a lack of access to housing. It is also working on programs to address gaps in education and economic development.

In 2019, the city of about 75,000 just north of Chicago committed to spend $10 million over 10 years on local reparations. Dozens of other municipalities across the U.S. have taken initial steps toward reparations since.