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The Department of Justice is attempting to sabotage a reparations initiative that compensates victims of historic housing discrimination in Evanston, Illinois. For decades, Black residents of Evanston were subjected to redlining and other forms of housing discrimination, which prevented them from obtaining bank loans to purchase property. “Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, housing has been the primary way that families have built wealth, and we are in a country where there is 10 times as much wealth in the white community as there is in the Black community. … [T]hat gap is a result, primarily, of this type of dispossession on the grounds of housing,” explains Howard University law professor Justin Hansford.

Evanston’s reparations program, funded through donations and a local tax on recreational marijuana sales, grants Black residents and their descendants up to $25,000 for property down payments, mortgages, home repairs and other related fees. It is the first of its kind in any U.S. city and seen as a model for similar initiatives across the country and the world.

“The effort to bring a lawsuit to stop this particular program is meant to send a message to programs in cities and states around the country that this is something that is dangerous or illegal,” says Hansford, who is helping Evanston city officials defend their reparations program from the DOJ’s claims that its race-based criteria are unconstitutional. “We want to make sure that everyone knows that it is constitutional to pursue reparations in the United States.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman.

Trump Administration Attempts to Stop Reparations to Black Community in Illinois

The Department of Justice is attempting to sabotage a major victory for reparative justice in Evanston, Illinois, that compensates victims of historic housing discrimination. In 2021, the Evanston City Council agreed to pay Black residents and their descendants reparations up to $25,000 for property down payments, mortgages and other related fees, making it the first U.S. city to adopt such a measure. For decades, Black residents of Evanston were subjected to redlining and other forms of housing discrimination, which prevented them from obtaining bank loans to purchase property. The reparations program is being funded through donations and revenue from a local tax on recreational marijuana sales.

But last month, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit filed by the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch attempting to halt the program, claiming its race-based criteria are unconstitutional. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement, quote, “There are sound ways for a city to remedy past discrimination or direct resources to its most vulnerable citizens and neighborhoods. Simply handing out money based on race, however, is not the answer. It is race discrimination, pure and simple. And it is illegal,” [she] said.

Defenders of Evanston’s reparations program are fighting back. And ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, racial justice advocates are looking at Evanston as an opportunity to redress historical grievances.

For more, we go to Bethesda, Maryland, where we’re joined by Justin Hansford, Howard University law professor, scholar, activist, founding director of the Ogletree Reparative Bar Association. He’s been on the frontlines of the legal battle for reparations, is the author of Jailing a Rainbow: The Unjust Trial and Conviction of Marcus Garvey.

Professor Hansford, welcome back to Democracy Now! Put what’s happening........

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