To repair injustices brought on by 'slavery, segregation, and racism
Posted BY: Daily Mail
St. Louis is creating a commission to consider paying reparations to descendants of the victims of racist policies – raising interesting challenges in a struggling city of 300,000 where 45 percent of residents are black.
Democrat mayor of St. Louis Tishaura Jones on Wednesday signed an executive order to create a nine-member volunteer commission to explore and recommend reparations – following a lead set by cities in Illinois, California and Rhode Island.
'The people closest to the problems are closest to the solution,' said Jones.
'I look forward to reviewing this commission's work to chart a course that restores the vitality of black communities in our city after decades of disinvestment. We cannot succeed as a city if one half is allowed to fail.'
Those joining the committee must live in St. Louis, and each member must represent a different background, with at least one clergy member, attorney, public health professional, civil rights advocate, one youth and one person in academics.
The executive order describes the committee's work as: 'Establishing a community-driven commission to assess the history of slavery, segregation and other race-based harms in the City of St. Louis; explore the present-day manifestations of that history; and, ultimately, recommend a proposal to begin repairing the harms that have been inflicted.'
St. Louis has long been among the nation's most segregated cities. Nearly half of its 300,000 residents are black and many of them live in north St. Louis, where rates of crime and poverty are high.
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