ST. LOUIS – A reparations commission, formed by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones last year, heard from the mayor during one of the commission’s monthly public meetings in north St. Louis Monday.
Neal Richardson, president and CEO of St. Louis Development Corporation, joined Jones to discuss the city’s economic justice plan, which aims to revitalize underprivileged neighborhoods while addressing racial disparities.
“(The) work we had already started on with the economic justice plan is a form of repairing the damage that has been done to Black and brown communities in the city intentionally over several decades,” Jones said.
The commission has been tasked with identifying the harm from slavery, segregation and other race-based actions and then making a report on how those harms should be repaired.
During the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting, some residents expressed the view that reparations should focus solely on payments to slave descendants.
Dr. Will Ross, the commission’s vice chair, said during the previous meeting that approximately half of the public’s feedback expressed a desire for direct cash payments to those who are direct descendants of slaves.
He claimed that the other half has expressed a desire to address the systems that have contributed to harm from racial wrongs.
“They want to address the disinvestment, particularly on the north side,” Ross said.
The commission will continue to hold a few more public meetings before preparing a report for the mayor’s office and the board of aldermen in September, according to Ross, and the public will continue to have opportunities to provide their feedback.
