Detroit City Council: Reparations task force to research harm caused by systemic racism

Detroit City Council highlighted the city's reparations task force executive committee in a Friday announcement at the West Side Unity Church.

Council President Mary Sheffield, who helped spearhead a successful ballot initiative to establish a reparations task force, said the 13-member body will research harm done to Detroiters through slavery and systemic racism practices of the past and present. The four executive members, appointed by Sheffield, include co-chairs Keith Williams and Lauren Hood, the Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson and Dorian Tyus, and they will be responsible for addressing economic mobility and opportunities for Black Detroiters.

"We all know that African Americans have been unjustly enslaved, segregated, murdered, brutalized, incarcerated, denied housing and mortgages, displaced, faced redlining, environmental injustices, gentrification and more. The enslavement and overall persecution of Black people has enriched our country and created disparities in income, wealth and education. Evidence of this systemic racism are still present today," Sheffield said. "I am so glad that we as a city today are now joining that local movement, paving the way to stimulate economic growth and opportunity in the area of reparations."

Communities have been discussing reparations since emancipation, Hood said, adding that the committee aims to steward the process of engaging Detroiters in the conversation. She emphasized that reparations are not about a "one-time payout but a paradigm shift" in practices and policies that govern communities.

"What I want people to understand about reparations is that it's a process. It's a journey, it's not a destination. The process of harming Black and indigenous peoples has transcended multiple generations. The means the process of repair will likely transcend multiple generations and the benefits awarded should have a value that transcends multiple generations," Hood said.

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Black communities lost economic growth opportunities for years, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s when Black Bottom was labeled a "slum" and replaced with a freeway system, Williams said. But the start of the task force marks the day of repairing the harm "caused by racist practices executed by the white majority against African Americans."

Williams called this an opportunity to rebuild and repair from "practices that was thrown against Black folks during those times. And I'm saying timeout, timeout for this. We got a chance to make Detroit work for us once again." 

Members will serve for the life of the task force. The other nine members, whose membership council approved on Tuesday, include Allen Venerable, Jeffrey Robinson, Camille Collins, Bernard Parker, Gregory Hicks, Maurice Weeks, Janis Hazel, Cydney Calloway and Anita Belle.

"For folks that say it will never happen, just to get to this moment was somebody’s wildest dream. Can you imagine what freedom looked like to a slave? People were like, ‘That’s impossible. That would never happen.' So anybody who in this moment thinks that reparations are not possible, look what we’ve done so far," Hood said.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.