Evanston to Send $25,000 Reparations Checks to 44 Black Residents

Evanston, Illinois’ Reparations Committee has approved a new round of $25,000 direct cash payments to 44 eligible Black residents or descendants of Black residents who lived in the city between 1919 and 1969, part of a $10 million, decade‑long municipal reparations program. City officials say the payments are intended to support housing expenses and will be sent out in the coming weeks, funded primarily by cannabis sales tax and the city’s real estate transfer tax, which has contributed about $276,000 so far. Assistant to the city manager Tasheik Kerr told the committee the recipients will be contacted soon, while Ald. Krissie Harris stressed that payouts are limited by how quickly the city can accumulate revenue and that the panel is even weighing a tax on Delta‑8 THC products to sustain funding. According to Judicial Watch, which is suing Evanston, the city has already awarded more than $6.35 million to 254 individuals under the program, which is restricted to Black residents and their descendants. That lawsuit argues the race‑based eligibility rules violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, setting up a constitutional test case that could shape similar local reparations efforts now being explored in other U.S. cities and states.