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The Illinois city of Evanston approved a reparations program Monday night for black Americans, making it the first city in America to carry out a program that seeks to redress past discriminatory practices.
The $10 million measure will be funded from annual cannabis taxes.
Passed by a vote of 8-1, the first phase of reparations makes $400,000 available in $25,000 homeownership and improvement grants, plus mortgage assistance, for black residents who can prove they’re direct descendants of Evanston residents between the period of 1919 and 1969.
“Right now the whole world is looking at Evanston, Illinois. This is a moment like none other that we’ve ever seen, and it’s a good moment,” Ron Daniels, president of the National African American Reparations Commission, told The Washington Post.