ICYMI ...Prepare to Repair: City Council Voted 9-0 Sept. 9 on Reparations Initiative

BUT: If reparations are to become a reality in Evanston, it cannot just be up to City Council; white folks with privilege must get involved, and also pay the debt we owe.

Here's Bob Seidenberg's report in the Evanston RoundTable on City Council's vote:

"Evanston City Council members are moving forward with a commission’s recommendation on reparations, including property tax relief and housing assistance for the City’s black residents, to address the wealth and opportunity gap those citizens have experienced because of past discriminatory practices.

"Aldermen voted 9-0 at their Sept. 9 meeting in favor of accepting the recommendations. The proposal will next go to a Council subcommittee that will work on developing a more detailed proposal.

The subcommittee will work with “the support of our legal department,” said Alderman Robin Rue Simmons, 5th Ward, because of concerns that have been raised about the reparations program, the benefits of which are limited to one segment of Evanston’s population.

"Addressing the Council before the vote, Ald. Simmons said, 'We are at this point because we have done a lot in Evanston to acknowledge discrimination and oppression and racism, and we have had resolutions and various policies and different honorific actions over the lifetime of Evanston, and it has just not been enough.'"

Read more here.

[Photo: Robin Rue Simmons 5th Ward Alderman with Equity and Empowerment Commissioners Hon. Delores Holmes and Jane Grover]