The mayor called the 223-page document the “foundation for how we will lead our city well into the future.” It’s loaded with ambitious, politically explosive ideas.
For most Black Americans, the question of reparations isn’t a matter of should the United States pay damages done (structural racism, systemic oppression, and
Chicago’s effort to address reparations for the descendants of enslaved people stalled as suburban Evanston became the first city in the nation to offer reparations.
The City Council’s Subcommittee on Reparations has met only once since it was formed in June 2020, and Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward), the chair of the subcommittee, told WTTW News that her efforts to schedule additional meetings have been unsuccessful.
Heather Cherone | July 30, 2021 2:54 pm
A push to examine whether and how the city should pay reparations to Chicagoans who are the descendants of enslaved African Americans has been derailed, and advocates and aldermen blame Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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More than a year after it was formed, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Reparations has met only once, and that meeting was sidetracked by a series of speakers who demanded that aldermen ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits at a profit to restrict the operations of breeders.
Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward), the chair of the subcommittee, said a “lack of institutional support,” coupled with delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, stymied efforts to make progress on how best to tackle slavery’s legacy of systemic racism and disinvestment in Chicago.