Wilmington City Council approves task force’s report recommending reparations

The report identified racial disparities in eight areas including policing, housing, and economics. Recommendations to address disparities are included in the report. Wilmington City Council has to decide whether it will take action on any of the task force’s recommendations. Delaware’s African Americans descended from enslaved people have faced systematic barriers to education, wealth accumulation, employment opportunities and even the fundamental right to life. Because of these historical factors and societal structures, reparations for African Americans in Wilmington are necessary, according to a task force set up by Wilmington City Council. In December 2022, the council launched the City Council Reparations Taskforce with the mandate to investigate the impact of slavery and the institutionalization of Jim Crow on African Americans in Delaware. This past March, the 10-member committee documented its findings in a 31-page report. A full version of the document can be found here. In the report, the committee said it identified issues that disproportionately affect African Americans in Wilmington. These include uneven law enforcement, differences in accessing city services, limited benefits from government policies and reduced business opportunities. The document states these disparities manifest in policing, housing and economic equality, education, health and environmental justice. The committee made...