The Democrat-controlled city of Evanston, Illinois, has begun distributing $25,000 payments to 44 residents as part of its taxpayer-funded reparations initiative.
The move was announced by the city’s Reparations Committee.
First established in 2019 and approved by the City Council in 2021, the program provides direct cash payments to black residents and descendants of black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969.
Evanston became the first municipality in the United States to adopt a formal reparations plan, pledging $10 million over ten years.
City officials say the payments are intended to cover housing-related expenses.
Evanston official Cynthia Vargas told the Chicago Tribune the funds are tied specifically to housing support, while Assistant to the City Manager Tasheik Kerr said residents will be notified in the coming weeks as payments are prepared for distribution.
Funding for the program remains limited.
A city memo shows the reparations fund recently received $276,588 from Evanston’s real estate transfer tax, and officials have discussed additional revenue sources, including a potential tax on Delta-8 THC products, to sustain the initiative.
Ald. Krissie Harris acknowledged the proposed tax would not dramatically increase funding but said it would still contribute to the program’s continuation.
“It’s really important for people to understand we pay as we have the money, and it’s not that we’re withholding from paying everyone,” Harris said, according to The Daily Northwestern.
“It’s just we have to accumulate the funds to make sure we can pay.”
As of January 31, the reparations fund had received no philanthropic donations this year and is currently supported primarily through cannabis sales tax revenue and real estate transfer taxes.
The program is also facing legal scrutiny.
Political watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit last year challenging Evanston’s use of race as an eligibility requirement.
The group is arguing that the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton criticized the initiative at the time:
“To date, Evanston has awarded over $6,350,000 to 254 individuals based on their race.
“The city must be stopped before it spends even more money on this clearly discriminatory and unconstitutional reparations program.”
Evanston’s payments come amid growing national pressure from activists and lawmakers pushing reparations proposals at the state and local level.
Several jurisdictions are launching committees to study slavery’s historical impact and potential compensation frameworks.
For now, Evanston’s program continues moving forward, distributing public funds while courts weigh whether the policy itself can legally stand.
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