In early 2022, Illinois became the second of three U.S. states to establish a commission to provide reparations for African American descendants of slavery. Through subsequent board meetings, public hearings and oversight from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the goals of the group, titled Illinois' African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC), are starting to take shape.
At its core, "reparations" means the righting of a wrong or a way to make amends for past offenses. In some cases, a formal apology is a form of reparations; in other cases, compensation serves as atonement. Reparations can happen on a grand scale with impact to an entire community or nation, or it could be a more intimate exchange between as few as two people.
One of the most notable examples of reparations in the modern world comes from Europe in 1952, when Germany signed the Luxembourg Agreements, declarations to monetarily compensate Holocaust survivors that have amounted to over 80 billion euros paid by 2022. More recently on a different side of the world, South Korea regularly demands reparations from Japan for enslaving their people and militarily occupying the peninsula throughout the early 20th century, demands lauded by President Joe Biden just last year.
That said, the movement to specifically redress the descendants of enslaved Africans is gaining momentum on a global scale due to the disturbingly vast reach of the transatlantic slave trade, which engineered the forcible kidnapping and worldwide sale of nearly 12.5 million Africans between the 15th and 19th centuries. As a result, even United Nations officials consistently advocate for reparatory justice worldwide, with distinct emphasis on reparations for descendants of transatlantic slave trade victims.
While the world is no stranger to reparations, their state-mandated execution in Illinois is new. Therefore, what are reparations in Illinois? And what does this mean for state residents who can apply?
What are reparations?
There is no straightforward definition for "reparations" as it relates to compensating descendants of slavery. In fact, the first task for Illinois' reparations commission, and the smaller municipal government commission counterparts throughout the state, is defining the measures to redress the lasting impact of slavery and discrimination in their target communities.
Although Illinois joined the Union as a "free state" in 1818, the institution of slavery was alive and well before federal emancipation in 1863. At that time, the state constitution still permitted the use of slave labor in mines – and by those who owned slaves prior to joining the Union.
Reparations efforts in Illinois also examine other acts of race-based discrimination with direct links to slavery, including predatory lending to African Americans and state-sponsored segregation also known as "redlining," for which the City of Chicago is a historic and frequently cited example. Marvin Slaughter, chairman of the ACDRC, told NBC Chicago, "All of these things … have an origin in slavery, and wealth is one of the primary explanatory variables in each and every single one of those disparities. So, we want to address that issue."
As a result, the ADCRC analyzed Illinois' historic connections to slavery and race-based disenfranchisement to define reparations as: "measures that ensure equity, equality and parity for African American descendants of slavery." The group continues to hold meetings and ongoing public comment to figure out what avenues could fulfill such requirements.
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What will reparations look like? What do they look like now?
Much like defining reparations, individual commissions are also tasked with dictating what form reparations will take.
The ACDRC is no exception. Slaughter explained the ADCRC examines topics like "restrictive covenants, contract leasing and the insidious ways that wealth was extracted from Black American communities" to determine how reparations in Illinois will take shape.
Some commissions within Illinois already defined how reparations should manifest. In 2021, the City of Evanston became the first U.S. city to pay reparations to eligible residents using funds gathered from the first $10 million of the city’s cannabis sales. Additionally, Evanston’s local reparations program has since developed guidelines for how to use the money, including Home Purchase Benefit, Home Mortgage Assistance Benefit, Home Improvement Benefit and Cash Benefit. In this case, Evanston’s reparations commission settled on homeownership or home restoration to act as reparations for “Direct Descendants,” or African American descendants of slavery.
Who is entitled to reparations in Illinois?
According to the ADCRC, those who can "demonstrate their lineage as African American descendants of the American slave trade" or "African American communities and residents that have been disproportionally impacted by longstanding disinvestment due to direct and systemic repercussions of slavery" are eligible for reparations sanctioned by Illinois state government.
That said, the commission is still determining the requirements for applicants to prove their ancestry or experiences with related disinvestment.
In the Chicago suburb of Evanston, however, its Equity and Empowerment Commission already outlined the requirements for its applicants. Through meetings with the public, the commission identified a particularly strong case for reparations in Evanston's more recent history, related to housing discrimination. Between 1919 and 1969, the city allowed zoning ordinances to segregate residents along racial lines.
As a result, Evanston residents now seeking reparations can demonstrate their eligibility by showing they or a predecessor lived in the former "red zones" that indicated the sites of Evanston's racialized housing policies.
Have reparations been issued in the U.S. before?
Evanston is the first U.S. city to pay reparations to descendants of slavery, but there are multiple reparations commissions forming in other areas of Illinois and the United States.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently signed an executive order to establish a Reparations Task Force in Chicago, allocating $500,000 of city funds to its creation and execution.
Similarly, residents in California, New York and Washington D.C. are working to establish state reparations task forces, with the D.C. City Council recently approving a 2025 budget that includes $1.5 million toward studying how to redress the lasting impact of slavery.
On a federal level, the U.S. has seen instances of reparations before, none of which compensated descendants of enslaved Africans, though.
Many Japanese Americans have become staunch advocates for African American reparations, given Japanese Americans were one of the first groups to receive federal reparations in the 1980s. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, around 120,000 people of Japanese descent, many of whom were American citizens, were forcibly relocated to internment camps. Over four decades later, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, which included a formal apology and $20,000 to over 80,000 individual survivors.
Why are some Illinois municipalities developing their own reparations programs amid the establishment of a state-wide commission? Will Illinois collaborate with these smaller, more local efforts?
As of right now, the ADCRC said it is not affiliated with other political or social organizations. Similarly, other municipal reparations task forces throughout Illinois have not said whether they will collaborate with the state or each other.
What other duties do Illinois reparations commissions plan to carry out?
All reparations commissions in Illinois share similar goals when it comes to policy- or wealth-related duties. These commissions also share the task of educating the public on the very issues and ideas they hope to address.
For Slaughter and the ADCRC, the key to combatting pushback against reparations is educating the public about the history of slavery and systemic disenfranchisement in Illinois.
"It's all about being able to truly teach history," he said. "This is the history of America. This is the history of Illinois. … I do have faith in the idea that if we present real history, and we present the data, the truth will [ultimately] prevail."
