St. Louis Reparations Commission recommends grants and policy reforms in final report

The St. Louis Reparations Commission released its final report Tuesday outlining the deep history of chattel slavery and systemic discrimination in St. Louis and how its continued impact on Black residents has created disparities in housing, education, healthcare, policing and employment. The commission recommends city officials start repairing the harm caused by racial injustices to Black families that have moved outside of the city because of past racism and can prove past or present residency, plus to those who can trace their ancestry to enslaved people in St. Louis. The eight-member volunteer commission held 27 public meetings from April 2023 through September 2024 where local experts and scholars shared information on various topics including redlining, environmental harms, health disparities, policing and demolished Black communities in St. Louis. Black residents were allowed to provide testimonies of lived racist experiences and comment on how they would like the city to atone for years of injustice. From those testimonies, members gathered nearly 40 themes including the destruction of public housing, vacancy issues, financial literacy, medical racism, access to free mental health, disparities in lending mortgage loans, zero-interest loans, cash payments and police violence. They grouped these issues into five core areas to shape...