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The day before this year\u2019s Black History Month began, a group of powerful Black California lawmakers<\/a> got the whole country talking about reparations. They proposed 14 bills<\/a> seeking to address issues like food insecurity, hair discrimination in competitive sports and racist property seizures, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These Black leaders had an opportunity to be courageous and make one of their bills about cash payments, but they didn\u2019t. This wasn\u2019t an unfortunate oversight \u2014 it was intentional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany of the bills seem like they were coming from parts of bills that were in the works already and didn\u2019t have anything to do with reparations,\u201d said Darrin Young, a reparations advocate who served as an expert witness for the state task force on the topic of mass incarceration and the state\u2019s school-to-prison pipeline. \u201cIt\u2019s saddening to see these Black politicians not do what\u2019s right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But maybe this is to be expected in California. Politicians in this state are bold when it comes to discussing reparations but not when it comes to\u00a0implementing them.<\/a>\u00a0Since in politics actions speak louder than savvy rhetoric, the true leader of the country\u2019s reparations movement\u00a0\u2014 and the place California and the rest of America needs to follow\u00a0\u2014 is Evanston, Ill.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The city of roughly 77,000, just north of Chicago with a population that is 62% white and 17% Black, began its reparations journey back in 2019. The city established a reparations fund that is getting $10 million from the city\u2019s cannabis retailers occupation tax and an additional $10 million from the city\u2019s real estate transfer tax. The fund made Evanston the first city in the country to enact a government-funded reparations program<\/a> aimed specifically at providing redress for historical harms faced by Black people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Evanston\u2019s reparations money is small compared to what would be needed to fund statewide reparations in California, or citywide reparations in San Francisco, Evanston\u2019s political leaders show that it can be simple to agree to set money aside. This move just needs elected officials who believe in what\u2019s morally right, even if it\u2019s politically divisive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It isn\u2019t just Black folks benefiting from reparations in Evanston. A\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0on the effort conducted last year by Northwestern University\u2019s Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy also found Evanston\u2019s reparations program led to \u201cdouble-digit net increases in trust in city government \u2026 among all ethnic and racial demographic groups.\u201d While only roughly 20% percent of white America\u00a0supports reparations<\/a>, according to national surveys, 70% of white respondents in Evanston viewed the reparations program as \u201cgood public policy\u201d for the city, according to the Northwestern University study. These white supporters are likely encouraged by seeing how reparations bring the community closer together socially and politically.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting up the reparations fund back in 2019, even before city leaders had a clear plan for how to use the money, was a key part in reparations existing in Evanston, according to Robin Rue Simmons, a former Evanston alderwoman who led the city\u2019s efforts. Simmons is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit FirstRepair, which promotes local reparations policies around the country, and she is also the chairwoman of the City of Evanston Reparations Committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvanston has set a new standard,\u201d Rue Simmons said. \u201cThere\u2019s a precedent now, you can actually pass reparations specifically for the harm in the Black community and repair that community \u2026 every government body can point to Evanston and say it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Less than two years after Evanston created its reparations fund, the city launched a program aimed at addressing the harm Black residents experienced from housing discrimination and segregation in the city between 1919 and 1969 \u2014 the period in which housing discrimination was allowed through zoning ordinances. Eligible recipients can get $25,000 for things like paying off a mortgage, remodeling a home or putting a downpayment on a home, which the city will help them coordinate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the city, 80 people will receive reparations in 2024. Last year, as of Aug. 1, the city reported distributing reparations to 76 people. As of 2023, Evanston had given just over $1 million in reparations, with a plan of eventually giving away at least $10 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, reparations recipients also have the option of just getting the tax free $25,000 as a cash payment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, California\u2019s Black Legislative Caucus couldn\u2019t even see fit to make cash payments one of its first proposed bills; San Francisco\u2019s Black mayor refused last year to carve out a measly $4 million from an annual budget of over $14 billion to fund an office of reparations, and cash payment reparations struggle to have support among California voters, in part, because most of our elected officials aren\u2019t helping to educate the public on the need for reparations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn communities with partisan politics \u2026 you\u2019re going to have far more challenges than a community that is value- and mission-aligned like Evanston,\u201d Rue Simmons said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reparations aren\u2019t something that can be approached with timidity. They\u2019re a historic pursuit that demands visionary leadership and political fortitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only reason California is considered a leader in the national reparations movement is because of the work by a first-in-the-nation state reparations task force<\/a> that spent two years studying the legacy of chattel slavery and developing reparations proposals. But the task force\u2019s work only makes California a leader in ambitious research, advocacy and thought \u2014 not decisive political action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What America needs most right now is to see politicians proving how reparations can be more than just hollow promises and empty rhetoric \u2014 and these examples exist in Evanston \u2014 not California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reach Justin Phillips: jphillips@sfchronicle.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Feb 11, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n By\u00a0Justin Phillips<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Justin Phillips joined The San Francisco Chronicle in November 2016 as a food writer. He previously served as the City, Industry, and Gaming reporter for the American Press in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 2019, Justin also began writing a weekly column for The Chronicle\u2019s Datebook section that focused on Black culture in the Bay Area. In 2020, Justin helped launch Extra Spicy, a food and culture podcast he co-hosts with restaurant critic Soleil Ho. Following its first season, the podcast was named one of the best podcasts in America by the Atlantic. In February, Justin left the food team to become a full-time columnist for The Chronicle. His columns focus on race and inequality in the Bay Area, while also placing a spotlight on the experiences of marginalized communities in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He can be reached at jphillips@sfchronicle.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" California politicians are bold when it comes to discussing reparations, but not when it comes to implementing them. The true leader of the country\u2019s reparations movement \u2014 and the place California needs to follow \u2014 is Evanston, Ill. By Justin PhillipsFeb 11, 2024 The day before this year\u2019s Black History Month… Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image-16.png\")
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