Recently, news of reparations for black residents across the country has been making waves. However, many white conservatives are not happy with this growing trend. They believe that they are being wronged, and these reparations are unfair to the white residents, even though they have not been wronged in the past like the Blacks. 

From Black farmers to Black residents, this group of people has been wronged multiple times due to discriminatory practices in the United States of America. Therefore, reparations exist to help makeup for these wrongdoings in a way. However, a group of white conservatives have filed a lawsuit against a particular reparations program in Chicago that gave money to Black residents in the suburb. 

The first city in Illinois to offer reparation funds to its Black residents was Evanston City. The city began the program in 2021 and offered them to Black residents and their families who lived there between 1919 and 1969. However, some white residents opposed this program, claiming that it was unfair. Now, the Judicial Watch in Chicago has filed a lawsuit to complain about the reparations in the city. 

Evanston’s reparations program has started a huge conversation across the country, as many other cities are trying to develop their own reparation programs. These reparations serve as a form of financial aid and compensation for the government towards a particular group of people who were wronged in the past. Since Black people suffered from racism and slavery, they are the main points of focus. 

The people of Evanston offered the Black people reparations due to the way the black residents who lived there in the 20th century were highly discriminated against in terms of ownership and housing policies. Back in 1969, the city banned any form of housing discrimination against Blacks. Therefore, the reparation program gave $25,000 as housing relief to the Black people affected or their descendants. 

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In total, Evanston City had to pay the Blacks who faced housing discrimination a sum of $5 million through the program. In fact, the program is not over yet, as the disbursement of funds is still ongoing. Different city officials and those who support reparations across the country applauded Evanston for making such a good decision to right a few wrongs. 

While a lot of people are applauding the city’s efforts, others are not happy with the reparations program. These are majorly white people in the neighborhood who believe that it is a sort of partiality and a complete violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, these people have made their complaints legal with a lawsuit aided by the Judicial Watch. 

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According to the claims in the lawsuit, this reparation program is discriminatory against white people who live in Evanston City. Therefore, the Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit for six white residents who had white familiar members who lived within the program’s stipulated timeframe. However, these people are neither Black nor African American and were not victims of discrimination in the 20th century. 

The President of the Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, another white man, also released a press statement on the group’s website, explaining the reason for the lawsuit. Fitton and many other white residents believed that the reparations program was a platform to give American tax dollars to Black people because of race. Therefore, this is a violation of their constitutional rights, and the suit hopes to change that. 

The conservative group filed the lawsuit on May 23rd, and Evanston officials have been made aware of it. However, the city’s officials are standing firm, promising to defend the program. Cynthia Vargas, the city’s communications and engagement manager, released an official statement saying that they would defend the program against any threats or lawsuits that people may come up with. 

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Since racism and slavery of Black people were a nationwide problem, people from this group were discriminated against in several ways across the country. Therefore, many other cities have started their own reparations programs and are giving money back to Black residents. Some of these cities include Durham and Asheville in North Carolina, Providence in Rhode Island, and Amherst in Massachusetts. 

Lawmakers in various states are also pushing a slight change that will make these reparations become a state-run program rather than only having a few cities in a state carrying out the programs. Some states like New York, California, Philadelphia, and Boston have begun creating state commissions whose missions include starting up their own statewide reparations program. 

However, it is safe to say that most white people do not support these reparation programs. Reports also show that three out of four white Americans do not support the program. Many Latinos and Asian Americans also do not support these programs. On the other hand, most of the Black Americans fully support the programs and believe they are long overdue for compensation for the hideous discrimination and racism they faced in the last century. 

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