by Bruce Walker
The Detroit City Council on Friday announced the members of the city’s new Reparations Task Force.
The Task Force was established after 80% of Detroit voters approved a 2021 ballot proposal to explore the feasibility of a reparation initiative. According to the Detroit News, the proposal from the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus came in part from the national response to the 2021 death of George Floyd.
The subsequent May 27, 2022, draft resolution establishing the task force states: “The Detroit City Council strongly supports reparations for centuries of human enslavement and post-emancipation systemic discrimination and racism; reparations have been prominent among protestors’ demands during historic demonstrations in the wake of the George Floyd killing in 2021, which at least temporarily shifted racial attitudes and relations among many Americans; and WHEREAS The Reparations Task Force is … to create processes, develop, and implement community reparations for mass historic unjust treatment of Detroit’s majority Black population by making recommendations for housing and economic development programs that address historical discrimination against the Black community in Detroit….”
According to the resolution, the Task Force consists of a four-member executive committee appointed by the City Council president and nine members appointed by the council.
“I would like to use this opportunity to make one thing abundantly clear this work is not about handouts,” City Council President Mary Sheffield stated in prepared remarks. “It is about quantifying and acknowledging the pain and the suffering of our ancestors and our people; it is about creating generational wealth and creating economic mobility and opportunity in the Black community as we stand just mere blocks from the former home of the mother of the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks.”
Sheffield continued: “The pursuit of reparations represents paying homage to those who struggled to get us this far by faith, fortitude and direct action. It is all our sincere hope that the recommendations coming from this task force will move us towards a more just and equal society and level the playing field for residents who have suffered through racism and discrimination for centuries while the task force per the ballot initiative has been charged with making recommendations around housing and economic development programs they would have a latitude and freedom to examine all potential forms of reparations.”
A University of Michigan/Detroit Metro Area Communities study released last November concludes 58% of Detroit voters would favor candidates who support reparations.
“Some of the brightest minds have been assembled to tackle this enormous task and for that I am supremely confident that the work will be done expeditiously and thoroughly,” Sheffield said. “it is long overdue. It is long overdue for the assessment and the creation of meaningful and tangible economic benefits for the to repair the systemic disadvantages and damages that have taken place in the city in this country for generations.”
Zeek Williams, president of New Era Detroit, which is described on its social media account as an organization formed to restore Black unity in Black communities in Detroit as well as across the nation, also delivered prepared comments.
“So what I’m telling y’all today is we stand here at 2023, which is almost 20 generations of wealth building for white people in this country and I want y’all to understand this and this country for us it’s only technically been 59 years since the Civil Rights Act,” Williams said.
“That’s not even the whole two generations of wealth building,” he continued. “So what I really want to put into perspective is the understanding of how we get all of these rich billionaires that don’t look like us that’s coming to our cities and our communities that’s building and they got a leg up and we get pennies and crumbs that’s been by design it’s not because we not capable. it’s not because we’re not able. We the same people who built the pyramids we the same people who is the original people in this country so we’re very well capable and even for us to be here standing today after all that we have been through and I applaud everybody up here you know for taking the stands doing this on reparations because it’s something that’s very serious….”
Detroit voters would favor candidates who support reparations.
“Some of the brightest minds have been assembled to tackle this enormous task and for that I am supremely confident that the work will be done expeditiously and thoroughly,” Sheffield said. “it is long overdue. It is long overdue for the assessment and the creation of meaningful and tangible economic benefits for the to repair the systemic disadvantages and damages that have taken place in the city in this country for generations.”
Zeek Williams, president of New Era Detroit, which is described on its social media account as an organization formed to restore Black unity in Black communities in Detroit as well as across the nation, also delivered prepared comments.
“So what I’m telling y’all today is we stand here at 2023, which is almost 20 generations of wealth building for white people in this country and I want y’all to understand this and this country for us it’s only technically been 59 years since the Civil Rights Act,” Williams said.
“That’s not even the whole two generations of wealth building,” he continued. “So what I really want to put into perspective is the understanding of how we get all of these rich billionaires that don’t look like us that’s coming to our cities and our communities that’s building and they got a leg up and we get pennies and crumbs that’s been by design it’s not because we not capable. it’s not because we’re not able. We the same people who built the pyramids we the same people who is the original people in this country so we’re very well capable and even for us to be here standing today after all that we have been through and I applaud everybody up here you know for taking the stands doing this on reparations because it’s something that’s very serious….”
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Bruce Walker is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s MichiganScience magazine and The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News.
Photo “Mary Sheffield” by Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield.
