Detroit City Council president introduces reparations taskforce
(CBS DETROIT) - Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield is leading the charge to repair systemic disadvantages against Black residents through a reparations initiative with housing and economic development programs.
"Evidence of this systemic racism are still present today," Sheffield said.
"The case for reparations can be made on economic, social and moral grounds."
On Friday, Sheffield made the announcement pushing for atonement through a taskforce designed to research best practices.
"Repay the descendants of Black Bottom for the assets that were destroyed," said the Rev. Joann Watson, member of the Reparations Taskforce Executive Committee.
"Repay Detroit citizens who have been over assessed water fees, forced to pay retail rates for water, while the suburban customers pay wholesale rates for water. We need to repay the billions of dollars that have been stolen from the Detroit Public Schools. We need to repay city pensioners who had their pensions cut during the illegal bankruptcies."
The 13-member committee consists of four appointments by Sheffield to the executive team. The city council nominated and voted in the remaining nine members.
The taskforce will develop strategies to rectify decades of systemic discrimination against Black residents, such as redlining.
"Especially from 1930-1960 when regentrification labeled Black Bottom as an urban slum so that they could use urban renewal money to create, to get federal dollars, create a freeway system that ultimately replaced Black Bottom," said the taskforce's co-chair Keith Williams.
"But the most important thing black people lost is wealth through these racist practices that hindered economic growth for generations and generations."
Sheffield says Detroit will closely follow the city of Evanston, Illinois, where officials allocated $10 million in reparations for housing grants.
I want to put this into perspective for everybody, for White people, for Black people, to understand why there's such a huge wealth gap in our community between Black people, between White people," said Ned Zeek of New Era Detroit.
"I said from 1492 to 1865, that 12-and-a-half generations of wealth building in this country off of free black labor."
Sheffield says the fight for reparations could be a long battle, but the taskforce will help supporters get one step closer to creating solutions.