SOME black Americans living in Evanston, Illinois, who will be given $25,000 each as part of the city's $10million reparations program don't think it's enough.
The payout is supposed to make amends for the racist housing policies in the city, north of Downtown Chicago, and a reparations program was established in 2019 – but some activists don't think it's sufficient.
Evanston, Illinois, is the first US city to distribute the money meant to help compensate for a lack of generational wealth and systemic racism.
However, Rev Michael Nabors, who is the president of the Evanston NAACP, thinks $25,000 is a "drop in the bucket."
"When it's all said and done, however much money is raised for reparations… will only be a drop in the bucket for the suffering and the oppression that Black people experienced in this nation," he told Newsweek.
"When we talk about that being a drop in the bucket, that's what we're talking about.
"There is no amount of money in the world that can take the place of the pain and the suffering that was caused emotionally, that was caused psychologically.
"The only thing that we can do to try to make up for that is by building a beloved community in Evanston, and I think that reparations is a part of that effort."
The $10million fund was raised from a 3 percent tax on the sale of recreational marijuana as it tries to address inequity in housing.
The first phase gives $400,000 towards $25,000 grants to eligible recipients, which is supposed to help them out with ownership, mortgage assistance and making improvements to their homes.
To qualify, residents must have lived in Evanston between the years of 1919 and 1969, where they were discriminated against in terms of housing.
Residents are also eligible if they're a direct descendant of someone who suffered housing discrimination.
President Joe Biden supports the creation of a federal commission to study Black reparations called H.R. 40.
This has remained on the table in Congress for decades and Robin Rue Simmons, the 5th Ward Alderman who spearheaded Evanston's reparations program, said they have supported it for years.
Speaking about the Evanstom reparations program, Simmons said agreed would "bring some relief, but not nearly not what federal legislation could do" and noted it's only allocated four percent of the city's $10million pledge.
Nabors and Simmons said the lack of federal action on reparations inspired the Restorative Housing Reparations program – but the City Council will vote on it later this month.
Evanston Rejects Racist Reparations said in a Facebook post on that the "current bill proposed by the city of Evanston never went through a racial equality, anti-capitalist process."
"As a result, historically racist financial institutions like banks, corporations and various individuals, will profit from this proposal," it read. "Reparations should not be monetized."
The group noted that "racial harm deserving of repair did not begin or end in those windows of time" when it came to the eligibility requirements.
Organizer Kevin Brown said putting $400,000 aside during phase one only accommodates 16 people whereas there are 12,500 Black people in Evanston, and to qualify, some have to submit a home loan application.
Brown said eligibility shouldn't depend on a credit score and is demanding the name be changed from reparations – but Simmons described the program as a "nudge' in the right direction.
"We are fully aware that there is a lifetime of work ahead of us to justice and repair for the Black community," she said.And we're taking the first step."
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