In a historic move toward racial equity and restorative justice, the City of Decatur, Georgia has officially established a Reparations Task Force and issued a formal apology for its role in the systemic oppression of African Americans.
During a Monday night, May 6, public meeting, the Decatur City Commission unanimously passed a resolution to create the Decatur Reparations Task Force, a body charged with investigating the city’s history of racial harm and offering policy recommendations to address its lingering effects.
A Public Reckoning
“The City of Decatur formally acknowledges its past role in the systemic oppression of people of African descent through enslavement, human trafficking, convict labor, discriminatory zoning and development, underinvestment in African American communities, school segregation, racially biased policing, the destruction of African American-owned property, businesses, and institutions, and the displacement and erasure of the Beacon Hill community, people, and culture,” the resolution states.
The city also issued a full and public apology to Black residents — past and present — and their descendants, for the injustices and policies rooted in white supremacy that caused lasting damage to the community.
A Comprehensive Plan for Reparative Action
Over the next 60 days, the city will appoint between seven and eleven task force members, including legal experts, historians, youth representatives, and community leaders. These members will be nominated by the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, which was previously contracted by the city to research the legacy of racial injustice in Decatur…