Atlanta city leaders to vote on proposal for reparations task force

ATLANTA - It started in metro Atlanta with a simple question by Fulton County leaders: are reparations for Black residents in order? From that single question asked openly over the summer, the board commissioned a task force to study that. Now, Atlanta City Councilman Michael Bond is proposing the city create a similar body to get those answers.

"What would reparations look like on the municipal level?" he said.

That’s what Bond and other officials in the city lauded as "the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement" hope to find out as they reflect on a different time in Atlanta’s history.

"When you look at the state Capitol and all these governmental buildings…we’re actually standing on an area that used to be occupied by African Americans," Bond told FOX 5. "There are many stories and they’re throughout the city."

Bond said conversations with community groups about those stories of Black residents having their homes taken through eminent domain and subjected to forced labor inspired the proposal for the task force.

"You had little African American towns or neighborhoods that got absorbed—either into parks or other businesses or other residences over the city’s 150-year history," he explained. "We want to look to see how can reparations be made to those descendants of those families."

The proposal passed unanimously at the city council’s community development committee meeting last week. While Bond said state law prohibits the city from making direct payments to individuals, the task force would look into other options for possible reparations.

"Down payment assistance, perhaps for someone purchasing a home, (or) are there reimbursements for people who may have been cheated out of some sort of financial situation?" he added.

Bond said he also plans to recommend a non-profit be created to help assist in areas where the city is limited.

Even still, it could be years before there’s any substantial movement toward reparations. The proposal for Atlanta’s reparations task force will head to full council for a vote at the council’s next meeting on November 6.