ANN ARBOR – The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners approved a new advisory council at its regular meeting on Wednesday to advance racial equity.
The Advisory Council on Reparations follows a national effort to study and repair institutional and systemic racial injustice at the community level.
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“This is why we have a Racial Equity Office and a Racial Equity Officer,” Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Board Caroline Sanders (District 4) said in a statement. “This Council will help us to study, systemically, just how harmful County policies and practices have been on Black residents in Washtenaw. They will help us come up with real, practical solutions, not just performative ones, to close the gaps we know exist here.”
Branching off of an exploratory committee spearheaded by the Racial Equity Office, the new Advisory Council will appoint subject matter experts from numerous sectors, including housing and real estate, education, economic development, workers rights, civil rights law, transit, food security and more.
The Advisory Council will be tasked with creating a “Washtenaw Reparations Plan” which will recommend action items for the Board of Commissioners.
“It’s time,” said Commissioner and Chair of the Board Justin Hodge (District 5). “This Board has demonstrated its commitment to equity, and this is a logical next step. It’s time for us to do what communities all over the country are doing. That means looking at the real toll of racism on Black people in our County, our complicity, and doing something about it.
“San Francisco has taken this bold step. Evanston, IL has taken it. Atlanta, Georgia, Los Angeles and Berkley, California, St. Louis, Missouri, Asheville, North Carolina. We have the authority and the desire to repair the systemic wrongs and I look forward to seeing the work that comes out of the Advisory Council on Reparations.”
The new reparations plan will aim to pinpoint the ways policies in Washtenaw County have harmed the lives of Black people, both past and present.
The reparations plan will include actions to remedy issues of homeownership and access to quality affordable housing, increase career opportunities and business ownership, close the gaps in health care, education, pay and employment, propose strategies to grow financial equity and generational wealth and more.
“The creation of a Washtenaw County Reparations Council is, in part, an implementation of our County-wide engagement strategy from the 2018 Equity Policy,” Ricky Jefferson, Former District 6 Commissioner said in a statement. “The Council is designed to include a diverse group of leaders from their respective occupations to discover ways that can undo the negative impact of the County caused by systemic discriminatory policies.
“They will develop recommendations for the Board of Commissioners to deliberate and come to an agreement on how best to target strategic investments. They’ll help the Board craft policies centered on equity which can assist African American residents in receiving reparative, socio-economic justice.”