*Reparations are at the center of an effort by the City of Atlanta to compensate black residents for years of racism. Michael Julian Bond, son of famed Civil Rights leader Julian Bond, is among those leading “the effort to examine how Atlanta can provide reparations to its citizens.”
“The possibilities are limitless,” Bond told Atlanta News First, “Because we’re creatures of the state, we’re limited in our power and authority. But there have been wrongs that have been committed and are well documented.”
Under Georgia law, its cities cannot make cash payments to individuals in the name of reparations, so the City of Atlanta is getting creative about how it is approaching their implementation, Black Enterprise noted. On Nov. 6, the Atlanta city council included an item on its agenda list that created a task force to explore reparations.
Although the nature of reparations was not immediately specified, Atlanta News First mentioned that the “City of Atlanta Reparations Study Commission” intends to investigate the city’s historical involvement in discriminating against African American residents and offer suggestions for suitable reparations, as outlined in the agenda item, reports Black Enterprise.
In addition, Bond stated the reparations committee can study the effects of discrimination and their recommendation could be any number of things that have disproportionately affected Black people in Atlanta, telling the outlet,
“They may come back and say hey, maybe we’ll give folks some down payment assistance, maybe we’ll have some type of incentive program for them for small business or something of that nature,” he told Atlanta News First, adding, “So this will be the job of this committee, to make those recommendations and bring them back to the City of Atlanta.”
Atlanta is not the only place looking to do right by its black residents. The city’s efforts coincide with moves made from Fulton County, GA to determine recommendations for reparations and a program in Evanston, Illinois, to give Black residents access to better housing.
News of reparations in Atlanta comes as Fulton County prepares to announce regulations for reparations no later than October 2024. Black Enterprise referenced the slow effort from the federal government to give black people reparations, compared to Japanese families who were placed in internment camps during World War II and Holocaust survivors who have benefitted from government assistance regarding compensation for wrongs done to them in the past
In October, Atlanta residents made their feelings known by calling for the establishment of a committee to study reparations during a public council committee meeting.
“And so for hundreds of years, Black people have been looking for that proverbial 40 acres and a mule and certainly, we did not receive it,” Dr. Cynthia Spence, a reparations expert and professor at Atlanta’s Spelman College, told Atlanta News First. “It’s a complicated process, but certainly I think that it is a necessary process for all of us to engage in.”
Commenting on the ways reparations can take place aside from cash payments, Spence pointed out that, “Those outcomes have included things like reducing property taxes, providing monetary payments to Black individuals – African Americans in communities – to help with housing, there have been discussions about educational access. Universities have been involved in this reparations work” she continued while touching on ways reparations can be possible aside from cash payments.
“This isn’t a new idea, it can happen, it’s been done before and it was actually a promise that was made that was not delivered upon,” Spence added. “It’s very complex, but the complexity should not prevent us from actually moving forward because we can all agree that harm was done.”
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: How Reparations Became a REAL TOPIC Across America Explained – From AB3121 Reparations in CA to National Demands | WATCH
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