Mayor Announces Reparations Task Force

(RoyalPatriot.com )- The mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, said that the state will implement a Reparations Task Force, according to National File. The announcement came during a press conference at the Museum of African American History in which Wu listed the members part of the project to study what effects slavery had on Bostonian residents and what the city can do to compensate them.

The Democratic mayor stated that compensating those affected by slavery will help everyone and reinforced the vision for a more connected, more inclusive, more equitable Boston for all of us.”

Contrary to other localities that have proposed issuing reparations to all black residents whether or not they are related to slaves, the city’s task force will require that those who are eligible are related to slaves. The news comes after the creation of a reparations committee of which at least five members were to related to American freedmen or black slaves in the United States, according to The Boston Globe.

The payment plan is anticipated to be completed by the task force in 2024. Joseph D. Feaster Jr., who is on the commission, said that the goal is transparency, to be inclusive, thorough, and intentional.

Cambridge began a reparations program in 2021 where marijuana tax revenue went toward black residents. Boston has not yet stated how the city will pay for the program.

The news comes as California created a task force of its own that will give reparations to anyone that claims they are a victim of slavery, according to a report from the conservative magazine American Pigeon. Around 2.8 million African Americans, or less than 6% of the state’s population, will be reportedly eligible to receive reparations. The task force will look at different areas, including the devaluation of black businesses and health care.