St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, a Democrat, has signed a bill passed last month that will allow residents to voluntarily pay extra on their property taxes or water bills. That money will be deposited to a “slavery reparations” fund created to “reverse generational wrongs.”
Jones believes this must be part of a greater “plan for what reparations look like” in the city’s effort to “reverse generational wrongs,” according to the St. Louis Times-Dispatch. She also described it as “the first step” in righting the wrongs of slavery, an institution that was ended in the United States during the American Civil War, which claimed at least 620,000 lives in the 1860s.
Jones is the first black female Mayor of St. Louis, reports the Associated Press. She is among a group of 11 mayors who have promised reparations pilot projects to “set an example for the federal government” on how to roll out reparations on the national level, according to the St. Louis Times-Dispatch.
Critics are concerned that there is no clear process for “how African American residents could apply” for the reparations after they are raised, but city officials say that establishing the fund is only “the initial step” and plans to actually disburse the funds to the descendants of freed slaves will be the focus of future legislation.
Mayoral spokesman Nick Dunne, per the AP, said that plans for future legislation aimed at reparations are “in the exploratory stages.”
While the details may be scarce, the Biden administration has discussed the idea of reparations in the past.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who is apparently leaving the Biden administration to host a web show for MSNBC, discussed how the White House might handle reparations in a press conference early last year.
“He’s supported a study of reparations,” Psaki said of Joe Biden. “He continues to demonstrate his commitment to take comprehensive action to address the systemic racism that persists today.”
“Having that study is a part of that,” said Psaki.
