Hancock among U.S. mayors pledging test reparations program

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. • Eleven U.S. mayors — including Denver’s Michael Hancock — have pledged to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities, saying their aim is to set an example for the federal government on how a nationwide program could work.

The mayors had no details on how much it would cost, who would pay for it or how people would be chosen. All of those details would be worked out with the help of local commissions comprised of representatives from Black-led organizations set up to advise the mayor of each city. But the mayors say they are committed to paying reparations instead of just talking about them.

“Black Americans don’t need another study that sits on a shelf,” said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, the city’s first Black female mayor and a member of the group. “We need decisive action to address the racial wealth gap holding communities back across our country.”

Since 1989, lawmakers in Congress introduced a bill that would form a commission to study and develop reparations proposals in the United States. But it has never passed. Last year, California became the first state to set up its own reparations commission. That group held its first meeting earlier this month.

Friday’s announcement marks the largest cityled effort at paying reparations to date, but it isn’t the first. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in March to appoint a 15-member African American Reparations Advisory Committee. That same month, the City Council of Evanston, Illinois, voted to pay $400,000 to eligible Black households, part of a pledge to spend $10 million over the next 10 years. Qualifying households would get $25,000 to use for things like home repair or putting a down payment on property.

Last year, the City Council in Asheville, North Carolina, voted to approve reparations in the form of investments in areas of disparity for Black residents.

This group of mayors, dubbed Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE), is led by Hancock and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

“Let me be clear: Cities will never have the funds to pay for reparations on our own,” Garcetti said during a news conference on Friday to announce the group. “When we have the laboratories of cities show that there is much more to embrace than to fear, we know that we can inspire national action as well.”