Evanston’s Cash Payments to Black Residents Begin

A suburb of Chicago is set to distribute significant funds to numerous Black residents as part of a $10 million reparations commitment made by the city.

Eligible recipients include Black residents and their descendants who lived in Evanston, Illinois, between 1919 and 1969. The city plans to allocate $25,000 each to 44 qualifying individuals.

“They’re essentially giving out money to Black residents based solely on their race,” one local commented.

This reparations initiative follows a pledge of $10 million over a decade, which was formally established in 2019 and subsequently approved by the City Council in 2021. It represents the first government-funded reparations program of its kind in the United States.

Cynthia Vargas, who manages communications and community engagement for Evanston, explained that the payments aim to assist with housing expenses.

So far, more than $270,000 has been designated for the reparations initiative from real estate transfer taxes. Additionally, the program receives funds from a 3% Cannabis Retailer Occupation Tax, though the exact amount remains unclear.

The reparations committee is also exploring further funding through a tax on delta-8 THC products, a substance derived from cannabis typically found in e-cigarettes and gummies.

“Delta 8 products are usually fairly inexpensive, which might limit tax revenue, but they could contribute,” noted Alexandra Ruggie, the city’s corporate counsel. She also mentioned the necessity of collaborating with the finance team to determine the most effective tax collection method.

A conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, filed a lawsuit against Evanston last year, claiming that employing race as a criterion for these reparations violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“There are right and wrong ways to handle this,” stated Michael Bekesha, a senior attorney at Judicial Watch. “Reparations should remedy past government wrongs. However, many programs across the country distribute funds predominantly based on race, which presents a problem,” he argued.

A city representative informed that they cannot comment on ongoing legal matters.

Recent Census data reveals that over 46,000 of Evanston’s 78,000 residents identify as “only white,” with approximately 12,500 identifying as “Black or African American only.”