Inside the Calls for Reparations for Black Ithacans

Calls for reparations for Black Ithacans have recently been circulating among the community and in the Common Council. These calls focus on righting the historical injustices faced by the Black community in Ithaca. Similar calls have existed since the Reconstruction period after the Civil War and are present across the United States.

Reparations movements have formed in response to the long-lasting effects of racism on Black communities. In Ithaca, reparations would focus on undoing the damage caused by a history of slavery, racist policy, and gentrification (the displacement of lower class communities by upper classes moving in). Reparations could help make sure Black communities benefit from the shift to a renewable economy, as outlined by a Solidarity Slate petition. According to Phoebe Brown, a Common Council Alderperson and member of the Solidarity Slate, the first step towards reparations would be to establish a commission to research different possibilities and how to implement them effectively. Based on that research, the City would begin to actually provide reparations.

 Calls for reparations for slavery have existed since the Reconstruction period, when 400,000 acres of previously Confederate lands were given to and settled by 40,000 slaves. This was reversed by President Andrew Johnson, and the land was returned to its previous owners, forcing the new settlers out.

 The United States has given reparations before. After the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, the US eventually paid about 1.6 billion dollars in damages to the remaining survivors. This shows that reparations are possible.

 There are efforts for reparations in progress across the United States, with California, Illinois, and Maryland all requiring insurance companies to disclose past insurance policies on slaves. California and New York have also both formed reparations commissions to research possible reparations and how to implement them.

 Reparations movements at the city level are not unheard of either. Chicago, Illinois and Asheville, North Carolina have established reparations committees to provide resources and plans for reparations. San Francisco has even provided financial reparations for eligible descendants of enslaved Americans, totaling over five million dollars.

 In Ithaca, reparations are a proposed strategy to counteract the damage caused to the local Black community by slavery and racist policy. It is yet unclear how seriously the City is willing to consider them.