最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The chair of the city鈥檚 first Reparations Commission vows not only to listen to the public, but to hold elected officials accountable for acting on its recommendations.

鈥淭his commission is very committed to this project,鈥� Kayla Reed, commission chair, said Saturday after the panel鈥檚 third public meeting. 鈥淲e are going to advocate for the recommendations.鈥�

After gathering feedback, and doing their own research, Reed said the commission will write a full report with recommendations on how to best make up for generations of racial segregation in 最新杏吧原创. In March 2024, the report will be submitted to the mayor and the Board of Aldermen.

No monies have been designated for reparations, nor an outline of how any would be handled or who would qualify.

But there is political will to address the controversial topic in some fashion: Tishaura Jones, the city鈥檚 first Black female mayor, created the commission in December by executive order. In March, nine commissioners were appointed, eight of them Black.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about revenge, it鈥檚 about repair,鈥� Vernon Mitchell Jr., the mayor鈥檚 chief equity and inclusion officer, said in an interview Saturday.

About 30 people attended the meeting, held at New Northside Conference Center, 5939 Goodfellow Boulevard. One of them was white. Others watched online.

The meeting featured a presentation by Commissioner Gwen Moore, a historian. She explored how a variety of public policy decisions reinforced segregation and wealth gaps between Blacks and whites.

鈥淭he roots of inequality, of course, go back to slavery,鈥� she told the crowd. 鈥淭his was an active center of the slave trade. Wealth was built on the trafficking of Black bodies in this city.鈥�

Other than a few exceptions, she said, former slaves weren鈥檛 given anything after the Civil War. They didn鈥檛 have the means to take full advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862, already underway, which provided 160 acres of federal land to anyone who agreed to farm it and pay filing fees.

Instead of going West, many southern Blacks fled to industrial cities like 最新杏吧原创, where restrictive covenants and redlining limited where they could rent or buy property.

鈥淯ntil 1968, it was perfectly legal to tell a Black person you cannot buy a house,鈥� she said.

And, she said, Blacks didn鈥檛 have the same access to credit as whites, even from the GI Bill that helped pull many families out of poverty following World War II with assistance for college, housing and unemployment.

She said the Housing Act of 1949 was supposed to help renew the urban core, yet destroyed some Black neighborhoods and led people to segregated public housing projects. The Highway Act of 1956 also erased some communities of color, Moore said, 鈥渂ecause they were considered slums.鈥�

Her presentation ended in 2023, where the fruits of unfair housing and land practices are seen in the disparities in home ownership and generational family wealth.

鈥淲e have to make up for these historic wrongs that were done to us,鈥� she said.

Nine people from the audience also came to the podium to make recommendations.

One man from the Hamilton Heights neighborhood said 鈥渢he time has come鈥� to make immediate cash payments to people who trace their lineage to the time of slavery.

A man from Holly Hills suggested a 鈥渟ustainable鈥� trust fund to help people secure good housing, education and jobs.

Another, noting health disparities in Black communities, called for free medical operations.

Safiyah Chauvin, who said her great-great-grandparents were enslaved by 最新杏吧原创 University and the Jesuits, asked that a fuller history be taught in schools.

鈥淎ll the children should be learning their history so they won鈥檛 think that their people are 鈥榣ess-than鈥� because we don鈥檛 have as much 鈥榤aterial things,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hey should know the reasons why.鈥�

The next public Reparations Commission meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. July 26 at New Northside Conference Center.