Officials from the city of Asheville, North Carolina, apologized for their historic role in slavery and discrimination and voted to provide reparations. The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that on Tuesday, the City Council took the unanimous vote.
The reparations resolution does not require direct payments, but will require investments in areas where black residents face disparities. The Citizen-Times reported that the vote came just days after the county health board declared racism a public health crisis, and last month thousands of protesters called for the Asheville Police Department to be detained.
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“Hundreds of years of spilled black blood that basically fills the glass we are drinking today,” said Council Member Keith Young, one of two black council members and chief proponent of the measure.
“It is simply not enough to remove the statues. Black people in this country are dealing with problems of a systemic nature,” Young said.
Priorities could include efforts to increase minority home ownership, access to affordable housing, and minority business ownership. The resolution also mentions strategies to close the gaps in health care, education and payment.
The resolution requires the creation of a Community Reparations Commission to recommend programs and resources to be used.
Last year, a judicial subcommittee of the House of Representatives debated a bill that would study how the United States would implement the reparations African Americans.
During the hearing, Senator Cory Booker said the nation “has yet to truly recognize and deal with the racism and white supremacy that tainted the founding of this country and continues to cause persistent and profound racial disparities and inequalities. These disparities not only harm Black communities harm all communities. “
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