The City Council of Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday unanimously approved a commission to develop proposals for reparations to black community members and issued a formal apology for the city’s role in black inequality.
The resolution, signed by Mayor Esther Manheimer, directs the city to create a “Community Reparations Commission” made up of advocacy groups, businesses, and community leaders that will issue recommendations on how eventual compensation may be distributed to black residents, according to ABC News.
The steps taken by the City Council and mayor did not include language to make immediate payments to black Americans, according to the text of the resolution. Rather, the commission would make recommendations for possible reparations strategies that would have to be approved by the city before taking effect, the resolution stated.
Asheville, which is 83% white and has a population of less than 100,000 residents, also issued an apology for any complicity in slavery and racist housing policies, among other things.
Jake Dima – The Daily Signal – July 16, 2020.
