A reparations commission in Ashville, North Carolina, has proposed cash payments for “racial and gender equity.”
The 25-member Community Reparations Commission has recommended several projects for local leaders to support.
One such project is called the “Guaranteed Income Pilot Program,” which would “fund a guaranteed income program as a way to ensure basic needs are met for individuals with low-incomes and assets,” according to its description.
“Mayors for Guaranteed Income defines these programs as,
‘monthly, cash payment given directly to individuals. It is unconditional, with no strings attached and no work requirements. A guaranteed income is meant to supplement, rather than replace, the existing social safety net and can be a tool for racial and gender equity,’” the description adds.
Another program would “focus on grants to Black neighborhoods at a minimum $250,000 pledge that could go towards community-focused projects supporting youth, and could include workshops, computer labs, with programs focused on education, health, economy and community,” ABC 13 News reported.
The commission also recommended a Reparations Accountability Council to oversee the projects.
Other reparations efforts are underway across U.S. cities.
American Faith reported that the California Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would create an agency to pass out reparations payments.
SB 1403, written by State Senator Steven Bradford (D) would establish the California American Freedman Affairs Agency, which would then be tasked with implementing ideas from California’s reparations task force.
“The agency shall implement the recommendations of the task force, as approved by the Legislature and the Governor,” the bill’s text reads. “As part of its duties, the agency shall determine how an individual’s status as a descendant shall be confirmed. Proof of an individual’s descendent status shall be a qualifying criteria for benefits authorized by the state for descendants.”
Two offices will be created under the agency, the “Genealogy Office” and an “Office of General Counsel.”
Meanwhile, Boston activists have called for “white churches” to pay $15 billion in reparations for black residents.
The payments are specifically designed to atone for the city’s participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
“We call sincerely and with a heart filled with faith and Christian love for our white churches to join us and not be silent around this issue of racism and slavery and commit to reparations,” Reverend Kevin Peterson said during a press conference, according to the Boston Globe. “We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery and we ask them to publicly commit to a process of reparations where they will extend their great wealth — tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches — into the Black community.”
Sixteen religious leaders signed an open letter and sent it to Boston churches, urging churches to offer cash payments, develop affordable housing, and support “financial and economic institutions in Black Boston.”
