A historic move in North Carolina: The city council of Asheville has unanimously approved reparations, through investments, for its Black citizens.
The topic of reparations, which has gained renewed attention in light of recent racial justice protests, got a civic boost this week in Asheville, N.C., as the City Council voted to apologize for the city's historic role in slavery, discrimination and denial of basic liberties to Black residents and voted to provide reparations that will benefit them and their descendants…
"Hundreds of years of black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," Councilman Keith Young, one of two Black council members and the measure's chief proponent, said according to the Citizen-Times, adding "it is simply not enough to remove statutes."
The resolution does not mandate direct payments, but instead calls for investments in areas where Black residents face disparities, including boosting minority home ownership and access to other affordable housing, increasing minority business ownership and career opportunities, developing strategies to grow generational wealth and closing the gaps in health care, education, employment and pay.
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