Mayor Brandon Johnson launches Repair Chicago reparations initiative
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
CHICAGO- Some Black Chicagoans say they are all in favor of reparations, calling on local and federal governments to take action to right slavery and other historical wrongs on one of modern America’s hottest debate topics.
“It should be like the stimulus package. Everyone signs up and everyone gets a deposit,” William, a Chicago resident, told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital took to the streets of Chicago last week to speak with advocates and residents as the city and state look to potentially implement reparations in some form.
Chicago reparations advocates say federal government morally owes ‘$7 quadrillion’ in slave labor
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson launched a community engagement effort called “Repair Chicago” to collect the experiences of harm suffered by Black Chicagoans as part of an effort to implement reparations. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“I think the federal government should do that. Because as a government, you know, with slavery and everything else, it’s a government as a whole, not just a city thing,” William added.
Leonte Fraley, a native of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood and a graduate of Kennedy King College, said the money could help black people who have been financially held back by past government policies.
“I can take this money and buy this house that I couldn’t afford. I don’t have to live in a certain community just because I’m not financially able to afford it,” Fraley said.
“This is game-changer for us,” he said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson launched a community engagement effort called “Repair Chicago” to collect experiences of harm against Black Chicagoans as part of an effort to implement reparations.
Not far from Chicago, Evanston, Illinois, paid $25,000 in reparations to some black residents who are descendants of people affected by past housing discrimination. The city said targeting housing discrimination was the best case for achieving relief.
Donna Walker, an Evanston native and owner of Cutting Edge Hair Gallery, told Fox News Digital that the Black residents who received the money deserved it.
“So the people who received it deserved it. I mean our ancestors and our elders definitely experienced it. So I think they deserve it,” Walker said.
Donna Walker, Evanston resident and owner of Cutting Edge hair salon, told Fox News Digital that black Evanston residents who received reparation money deserved it.
BLUE STATE PUT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INTO REPAIRS STUDY AS EFFORT LAUNCHES
Ivan, a Chicago public school gym teacher, says donating money is not a good idea.
“I really think, man, that reparations should just come in the form of an opportunity. Giving people money has never proven to be just good for the cause, you know, but you’re giving an opportunity,” said Ivan, a resident who just moved to the Windy City two years ago.
On Tuesday at Kennedy King College in Chicago, Social Sciences Department Chairman Dr. Ted Williams III led a panel to address questions about reparations.
Grace, a student at Kennedy King College, told Fox News Digital she was looking forward to seeing her professor, Dr. Daniel Davis, speak about the repairs at an event Tuesday at the school. (Fox News Digital)
Williams, a Illinois The African Descent Citizens Reparations Commissioner (ADCRC) told Fox News Digital that the United States is able to provide reparations because the country has money for war, referring to its conflict with Iran.
“I think part of my job, not only as an educator but also as a commissioner, is to travel the state and the country and help people understand the pressing need, the fierce urgency of the moment, if you will, around this issue,” Williams said.
FLORIDA OFFICIALS WARNED TO AVOID REPAIRS-STYLE EFFORTS AS STATE PREPARES TO FURTHER RESTRICT DEI
Not far from Chicago, Evanston, Illinois, paid $25,000 in reparations to some black residents who are descendants of people affected by past housing discrimination. (Getty Images)
At a Kennedy King College event dedicated to reparations, ADCRC President Marvin Slaughter, Jr. said that “seven quadrillion dollars” were brought to the United States by slave labor.
The “seven quadrillion” figure comes from the lack of round-the-clock pay for slaves because they “had no time freedom,” Slaughter told Fox News Digital, citing a study he carried out in 2022.
The ADCRC released a report in March outlining what it calls the state’s history of harm against Black Illinoisans, described as its “first comprehensive, evidence-based report” examining “how slavery and its vestiges produce historical harm and continue to generate inequities for Black Illinoisans.”
Dr. Daniel Davis, a faculty member in the social sciences department at Kennedy King College who teaches African American studies, said the money was needed, but reparations were more important than that.
“So some people think we’re just asking for a big check. No, a cash element is needed as part of the package, some compensation, with maybe home loan assistance, down payment on homes, tax breaks, education breaks for financing,” Davis told Fox News Digital.
Dr. Daniel Davis, a faculty member in the Social Sciences Department at Kennedy King College, teaches African American Studies.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Davis was one of four speakers on a panel tasked with providing information about reparations to the crowd of students in attendance.
“But the liquidity part is necessary,” he said.
“Cash is king, right? he continued. “So while we can develop institutions and other things in the name of reparations, have money to take action and help offset some of that harm and some of those inequalities in those gaps.”
