Tennessee County Including Memphis Launches Slavery Reparations Study
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County commissioners in Tennessee, which includes Memphis, voted to launch a feasibility study to examine reparations for descendants of slaves.
The Shelby County Board of County Commissioners voted on the measure Wednesday, which allocates $5 million to fund a feasibility study to “establish, develop and implement repairs.”
The commission’s eight black members voted in favor of the measure, while the five white members voted against or abstained, citing financial concerns over the $5 million allocation.
The reparations study, which is just the latest in similar initiatives in many US cities and states, follows the police killing of Tire Nichols, a black man, in Memphis last month, in a beating by police officers who they were also black.
Nichols’ death was mentioned by many who were in favor of the reparations study, including Commissioner Miska Clay Bibbs, who said: ‘My people are dying every day. That’s why I support this.’
The Shelby County Board of County Commissioners voted to launch a feasibility study to examine reparations for descendants of slaves. The commission’s eight black members voted in favor of the measure, while the five white members voted against or abstained.
It is clear that something must be done. That’s all this resolution is trying to do: say we have to address what’s happening in Shelby County in a different way,” Bibbs said, according to the commercial appeal.
Commissioners who opposed the measure cited budget constraints, legal concerns and fears it would cause divisions in the community.
“I just don’t think this is the best way to move the community forward in a unified way, and that’s my reasoning, as well as the financial part,” said Commissioner Brandon Morrison, who voted “no.”
Before calling for a vote, Commission Chairman Mickell Lowrey turned to his colleagues and said: ‘Commissioners, it’s okay to disagree. We all represent different communities, and we’re supposed to disagree, our constituents don’t all have the same issues or concerns.’
“Our diversity makes us better, so I appreciate all the feedback and I respect everyone,” he added.
Shelby County’s population is approximately 52% black, 41% white, 6% Hispanic, and 2% Asian, according to county government data.
This year, the county budget projects total functional expenditures of about $1.5 billion, with 29% dedicated to education and 25% to criminal justice.
Just the latest of similar initiatives in many US cities and states, the Shelby County reparations study follows the police killing of Tire Nichols, a black man, in Memphis.
Memphis is seen in a file photo. Commissioners who opposed the measure cited budget constraints, legal concerns and fears it would prove divisive in the community.
He resolution on the study of reparations The bill passed Wednesday mandates that the feasibility study examine five areas: access to affordable housing and homeownership, affordable health care, systemic disenfranchisement in the criminal justice system, career opportunities and financial education, and generational wealth.
The resolution uses the definition of ‘reparations’ from the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in the United States.
That group defines it as ‘a process of reparation, healing, and restoration of a people injured by their group identity and in violation of their fundamental human rights by governments, corporations, institutions, and families.’
Shelby County is just the latest jurisdiction to consider reparations for slavery, an issue that has proven divisive in many places.
Cities like Boston, Massachusetts, St Paul, Minnesota, and St Louis, Missouri, as well as California cities, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, have established task forces and panels to come up with their own repair plans.
Much of the attention is focused on California, where a state task force has until July 1 to issue a final report of its recommendations on how it can repair and address its legacy of discriminatory policies against blacks.
All panels face the same conundrum: how to fairly calculate the losses blacks have incurred over the centuries, and what might be required to prove eligibility for any payment.
The city of San Francisco’s own reparations panel has proposed a one-time payment of $5 million to every eligible black person, and debt forgiveness, to correct decades of ‘systematic oppression’ there.
Meanwhile, the city of Evanston, in Illinois, has been helping residents who suffered from long-forgotten racist housing policies. His grants have paid off some mortgages, but they have also fueled divisions between winners and losers.