The Worldwide Reparations Movement Has Begun - News Update For 4/26/2023

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 Laura Trevelyan, an anchor and correspondent with the BBC was shocked to discover her ancestors had enslaved Africans on the Caribbean island of Grenada. Despite abolishing slavery, none of the families of the enslaved received reparations, including those of more than a thousand Africans enslaved by Trevelyan's ancestors. 

To make amends, she and David Lascelles co-founded Heirs of Slavery, a group encouraging wealthy British families who profited from past enslavement to make formal apologies and seek reparative justice in the former Caribbean colonies.

 

The group is lobbying the British government to engage with CARICOM for debt relief and investment in health and education. Trevelyan hopes this "long overdue reckoning" with reparations will lead to acknowledgment and healing (Weiner, 2023).

Detroit Reparations Faces Some Snags 


Detroit's Reparations Task Force is in its initial stages and exploring ways to make amends for the long-standing systemic racism in the US, with a focus on new housing and economic development opportunities for Detroiters.

 However, Detroit's challenges differ from those of other cities, such as San Francisco, where a similar committee proposed $5 million in cash payouts to citizens, and Evanston, Illinois, where up to $25,000  to applicants for housing programs.

Co-chairs Lauren Hood and Keith Williams emphasized that compensation for Detroit requires a policy shift in how the city governs Black Detroiters and that cash payouts may not be the best approach. A broader institutional system involving multiple actors, including non-governmental organizations and institutions, may be more effective.


Williams, who also chairs the Michigan Democratic Black Caucus, highlighted the importance of understanding how much wealth was lost through racist practices, such as the razing of the Black Bottom district, now known as Lafayette Park, to build a freeway.

 Williams also called for an official apology to the Black community for the decades-old highway project built under urban development's auspices, labeling the community as a "slum." Williams also emphasized the need for a body that can continue the task force's work, hold institutions and city government accountable, and ensure policies and practices do not further harm those who were initially affected.

The 13-member task force has a $350,000 budget for the next 18 months, with some funds potentially being spent on housing and economic development consultants. The task force will provide a written report to Detroit City Council with its findings and recommendations in 18 months, but Hood hopes it will continue its work beyond that period.

The task force's first meeting involved more than a dozen residents pushing for change, such as cash payments, taxing wealthy developers, and holding financial institutions accountable amid foreclosures. However, Hood expressed disappointment at the lower-than-expected turnout, given the overwhelming support for a successful ballot initiative to establish the task force. The next meeting is in June for organizational work.


References 

 Detroit Free Press. (2023, April 26). Detroit Reparations Task Force co-chair: “Responsibility shouldn’t just be the government.” Detroit Free Press. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2023/04/26/detroit-reparations-task-force-housing-economic-consultants/70135451007/

FOX 2 Detroit. (2023, February 27). City of Detroit Reparations Task Force announced | The Noon | FOX 2 Detroit [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njNztPeYWGE

Weiner, L. (2023, April 26). British aristocrats ask King Charles to join a slavery reparations movement. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/26/1171593635/british-aristocrats-ask-king-charles-to-join-a-slavery-reparations-movement

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