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JACL Backs Evanston, Ill.’s Reparations Plan

By July 7, 2026No Comments

National, Chicago chapter support city’s program for local African Americans.

By P.C. Staff

The Japanese American Citizens League national office and the Chicago JACL Chapter released a statement today in support of the City of Evanston, Ill.’s initiative to provide reparations to local members of the city’s African American community who were harmed by “historical housing discrimination in the city.”

The statement in part reads: “Evanston’s reparations efforts stand as a national model for a first step in repairing the tangible harms of racism and discrimination that the African American community continues to experience. We encourage the DOJ and judiciary to honor a program developed by the City of Evanston to support its African American community and create a level playing field for its families and children.”

Meantime, according to the Associated Press, last month the federal government “ … asked a judge to halt the United States’ first reparations program that offered Black people in a small Illinois city $25,000 for 20th century race-based housing discrimination, joining an existing lawsuit that called the program unconstitutional.”

The entire JACL statement may be read here.