Two siblings and descendants of enslavers who operated successful cotton mills in North Carolina, Buck and Gracie Close are privately funding a basic income program in Louisiana . The program is designed to transfer wealth from them to victims of racist policing, which they see as reparations.
According to Business Insider , the program is part of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana under its Truth and Reconciliation Project. That project selected 12 individuals who, per the ACLU of Louisiana’s website, were “survivors of police misconduct who did not receive restitution in the courts.”
Since November 2023, each recipient selected by the project has received $1,000 a month, free financial coaching, mental health counseling, and legal expungement services. October 2024 is the last month for the payments, but the services are set to continue until at least November 2025.
According to the siblings, they were raised with the understanding that their family treated the people they enslaved with kindness, but they have since questioned that narrative.