In a worth-watching, first-of-its-kind move, Evanston, Ill., will try to offset years of discriminatory housing policies and practices by making reparations available to eligible Black city residents.

The unique program in the north shore Chicago suburb home to Northwestern University is believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S. and could be a potential prototype program to help more Black Americans gain access to homeownership.

Restoring Black Equity

Monday, in an 8-1 vote, Evanston City Council voted to approve the “Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program”. It will grant qualifying households up to $25,000 for down payments or home repairs, according to the city. A reparations fund was established in 2019. According to the draft:

“The Program is a step towards revitalizing, preserving, and stabilizing Black/African-American owner-occupied homes in Evanston, increasing homeownership and building the wealth of Black/African-American residents, building intergenerational equity amongst Black/African-American residents, and improving the retention rate of Black/African-American homeowners in the City of Evanston,” reads a draft of the resolution.

This is going to be an interesting program to watch, as it is extremely focused on residential real estate. Considering Dallas’ own ongoing battles with the Tenth Street Historic District and the racist policies that pushed Black families out of their historically Black neighborhoods, redlining, and the institutional neglect of South Dallas, could reparations be something that the Dallas City Council might explore?

One Dissenting Vote

Around the horseshoe in Evanston, the lone dissenting vote came from Cicely Fleming, an alderwoman who is Black and who traces her Evanston lineage to the early 1900s.

Fleming’s dissent was based on the plan being too housing-focused and offering limited participation: to qualify for the reparations program, Black residents are eligible if they have lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 or are a direct descendant of someone who did. People who do not meet these criteria may apply if they can prove they faced housing discrimination due to Evanston city policies or practices after 1969. Thus the program is tied reparations to home purchases, which Fleming finds limiting.

Recreational Marijuana Funds Reparations

The other interesting aspect of the reparations fund is that it is financed by marijuana sales.

In November of 2019, before COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd that kicked of protests all over America and the world, the Evanston City Council established a reparations fund to encourage initiatives addressing the historical wealth gap between Black and white residents.

The reparations fund’s income is to be the first $10 million in revenue from the city’s new tax on the sale of recreational marijuana. The housing program is initially budgeted at $400,000.

We have reached out to members of the Dallas City Council for their perspective on this and have yet to receive a response.