Source: Fortune.com
Summary
The US Department of Justice has asked a judge to halt Evanston, Illinois’ reparations program, which offers $25,000 to Black residents who suffered housing discrimination between 1919 and 1969. The program, launched in 2021, has already distributed over $7 million to hundreds of people. The DOJ claims the program is “racially discriminatory” and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. The program’s proponents argue that it addresses specific historical policies that harmed Black communities.
Our Reading
The numbers tell one story. The Evanston reparations program has distributed over $7 million to hundreds of people. The DOJ’s move to halt the program is a decisive shift from former President Joe Biden’s broad support of a congressional inquiry into ways to address the government’s long history of racial subjugation. The program’s fate is uncertain, but one thing is clear: reparations remain a hot-button issue. The strategy enters a familiar phase, where the courts will decide what constitutes “racially discriminatory” policies. The announcement sounds familiar, as conservatives reject race-based reparations.
Author: Evan Null
