While San Francisco considers $5 million in reparations for black residents, a much smaller program run by a liberal Chicago suburb should serve as a warning sign of what is to come.
Evanston, home to Northwestern University, started its own reparations programin 2021, not specifically for the descendants of slaves but for people who fell into certain categories.
“To qualify for the program, applicants must fall within one of three categories: Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 (referred to as ‘Ancestors’); direct descendants of an Ancestor; or residents who submitted evidence of experiencing housing discrimination after 1969,” the Daily Northwestern explains .
But the small program has run into trouble already: Only 16 residents, who fall into the “Ancestors” category, have received the $25,000. The money, which can only be used for housing-related expenses such as mortgage payments or home renovations, was supposed to be fully funded by a tax on cannabis sales. That fell through, leaving the government welfare program underfunded.
“Most folks who were supportive of reparations anticipated that we would be contributing $10 million over 10 years — about a million dollars a year,” Ald. Devon Reid said. “We have not been able to do that thus far.” The city instead had to take money from a real estate tax fund to cover the cost.
Other applicants remain upset that their free $25,000 has not come through fast enough. “[W]hen are they going to distribute [the money?]” one resident asked.
Another said the money does not go far enough. “Reparations means to repair. It would mean to address every aspect of life — education, legal, entertainment, sports, agriculture,” resident Bruce King said.
Two recipients are also caught between a rock and a hard place: If they take this $25,000 in city welfare, it may disqualify them from free money from the state.
“They’re receiving state aid,” an assistant city manager said . “And if they were to take the grant, I think they’ll become ineligible from the aid they’re receiving.”
A group called Evanston Rejects Racist Reparations agreed that the program does not go far enough. All black people, by virtue of the color of their skin, are victims of a racist world and are entitled to reparations, it argues. The group denounced the “fake reparations” and argued that requiring the money to be used for housing would only enable racist banks.
“ALL Black residents of Evanston have been exposed to racism and are owed repair, but creators of the program say the limited impact of the current proposal is because of the size of the fund,” the group claimed in a 2021 statement. The current program would be “detrimental to Black people and the larger movement.”
“We reject racist reparations and demand a better, more responsive, more complete program that provides access to reparations acts of actual repair to Black folks,” the group stated.
“Actual repair” can never be a simple monetary amount, however. Whether it is $25,000 or $5 million, someone will always say they are left out or complain about the amount. This is the functional flaw in administering a reparations program.
It is a good idea for cities and states to eliminate racial discrimination and ensure that racist practices of the past are no longer allowed, and it is a good idea for a society to consider past wrongs and prevent them from happening in the future. But those past wrongs cannot be fixed by free money and new government programs. Evanston’s failed experiment makes that clear.
Matt Lamb is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an associate editor for the College Fix and has previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA.
