Washington D.C. council Approves Funding For A Reparations Task Force

by Jameelah Mullen June 27, 2024 The funding for the reparations committee is part of the city’s $21 billion budget. The Washington, D.C., city council approved a budget for next year that will allocate funds for a reparations task force that will conduct research and develop proposals to address the generational impact of slavery.  The project will have $1.5 million reserved toward developing reparations for Black residents “directly wronged and traumatized by the ills of slavery, Jim Crow, and structural and institutional racism,” according to the bill. It also requires the commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, to create a database of slaveholding records and life insurance policies on enslaved people. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie introduced the bill early last year. The council’s Office of Racial Equity conducted historical research and provided recommendations to understand the bill’s impact on Black residents.  “There’s still some steps that we have to get through at the council, but having the funding included in the budget to establish the creation of the commission, to do all the research that’s going to be required to develop potential proposals, is absolutely critical to moving it forward.” McDuffie told The Washington Post. McDuffie citied a...