In St. Louis, a new reparations report details how the city can address racial injustice

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Reparations Commission has released its report on the racial injustices inflicted on Black Americans in the city, recommending a range of measures ranging from a public apology to cash payments.

In a year and a half of work and almost 30 listening sessions, the commission established at the end of 2022 by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones documents the injustice that African Americans have suffered in the city for decades.

“We knew we had to address some really deep core issues in the community, namely trust, transparency, racial healing and restorative justice,” said Will Ross, vice chair of the commission.

“It is clear, it is obvious that it was intentional for decades. I want them to see that intent,” Ross said. “Too often we blame the person for the predicament that they find themselves in, and we want to say that these are these outside forces, these really powerful outside forces that are really affecting the health of Black people in Saint Louis.”

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The recommendations contained in the new report, now before the Mayor and addressed to the Council of Aldermen, are divided into two categories: restitution-oriented and policy-oriented. It proposes, among other things, that the city adopt a formal, comprehensive history that explicitly includes racial harms in its official records. The document also includes direct cash payments to individuals who can trace their ancestry to enslaved people, to Black residents who are disproportionately affected by systemic racism in St. Louis, and targeted cash payments to those who have been subjected to certain historical harms, such as: former residents or direct descendants of residents of Mill Creek Valley.

In December 2022, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones signed an executive order establishing a Reparations Commission, which will consist of nine members. Photo of St. Louis City

Ross said it will be up to the city council to decide how to proceed, but whatever happens, it won’t be due to a lack of documentation or community engagement.

“They spoke and we heard them,” he said.

The mayor’s office is conducting a comprehensive analysis of the report to determine which commission recommendations could be implemented by the city, Deputy Communications Director Rasmus S. Jorgensen told PBS News in an email.

“However, we are pleased that some ideas, such as providing home ownership support, creating more affordable housing, revitalizing neighborhoods, establishing free public Wi-Fi and investing in public health, are already underway or from this government were implemented,” Jorgensen wrote, adding that the proposed direct cash payments would “significantly impact the city’s ability to provide services and invest in the rehabilitation of neighborhoods harmed by racist policies.”

Those cash payments have been challenged in court elsewhere, Jorgensen added, pointing to the reparations program in Evanston, Illinois, which passed the nation’s first reparations law and is now facing a class-action lawsuit.

The report, which begins by recognizing the city as the ancestral homeland of many Native American nations, is divided into six key themes: housing and neighborhood development, education, public health, economic justice, criminal justice reform and cultural preservation.

Some of the commission’s work took place directly with community members, including through open meetings. For Ross, the lived experiences of those who grew up in Mill Creek Valley, a neighborhood leveled by racist urban renewal policies, retold during the meetings remain deeply rooted in his memory.

“That wasn’t historic. That was contemporary. … They were expelled and stood there in these rooms and told their story. It was convincing. It was moving. It was riveting,” he said.

A monument (left) consisting of eight granite and limestone structures, each 15 feet tall, stands on the campus of St. Louis’ new MLS stadium. An inscription (right) with the words of Damon Davis, the artist who created the monument, is carved into the stone next to the columns. Photos by Gabrielle Hays/PBS News

Vivian Gibson was a little girl when her family was forced out of Mill Creek. She remembers the day they said goodbye to their home, a sentiment she conveyed to the commission and community at one of the meetings.

“I just wanted to talk about my family, my family’s experiences and how they affected the future of my parents, my siblings and me,” she said.

By the late 1960s, the once bustling Mill Creek Valley where Gibson had played with her siblings was no longer identifiable. About 5,600 housing units, 800 businesses and 40 churches were destroyed, spread over 54 city blocks. As one of the 20,000 people displaced and robbed of their generational wealth, she wants people to know that repair is needed.

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“I want people to know that there is pent-up demand. We could never be whole if we don’t bring everyone with us,” she said.

Gibson remembered the emotions in the room as people stood up one by one from the crowd to tell their stories.

Vivian Gibson, her father and her brother Ferman stand together in 1952. Photo courtesy of Vivian Gibson

“It was heartwarming in many ways to be a part of this experience,” she said.

The fight for reparations has become a growing movement across the country, said Justin Hansford, a law professor at Howard University and executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center.

Hansford and his students have counted about 30 cities and states that have established commissions in recent years. This list includes states such as Illinois, New York and California.

Within the next three to five years, that number could grow to as many as 100 cities addressing the issue of redress, said Hansford, who is also co-founder of the African American Redress Network, which supports groups promoting redress and tracking efforts across the country to remedy injustice or grievances or to offer compensation.

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Hansford is a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. It was established in 2021 as an advisory body to address issues related to people of African descent. The forum released its first report last year calling for reparations for people of African descent worldwide, saying reparations are a “cornerstone of justice in the 21st century.”

As part of his work in St. Louis, Hansford said he tries to emphasize that there are many elements of reparations that are central to the process.

“It’s not just the cash payments,” he said. “We are considering policies, legislative changes and financial investments in health care, housing and education to address the inequities created by racism throughout St. Louis’ history.”

It is up to each region to engage with its history and adapt its movement to its own experiences, he added.

Every community must tell its story in its own voice, in its own words and from its own perspective, he said. We must have the courage and hope to understand that we can make this a reality by focusing locally where we still have power,” he said.