Evanston alderman Monday evening approved the first expenditures in the city’s landmark municipal reparations program designed to compensate Black residents for codified discrimination.
Officials in the suburb say the initiative, which has been in the planning stages since 2019, is designed to address the discriminatory housing policies and practices faced by Black residents. The $10 million program — the first of its kind in the nation when approved in 2019 — will be funded through marijuana sales tax revenue along with some donations.
The specific measure approved Monday in an 8-1 vote establishes a $400,000 housing grant program, the first expenditure of that larger fund.
Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, who first proposed the reparations initiative, called the portion of the program approved Monday a first step.
“It is, alone, not enough,” Simmons said. “We all know that the road to repair and justice in the Black community is going to be a generation of work. It’s going to be many programs and initiatives, and more funding.”
