Evanston Reparations Program Faces Federal Push To Halt Payments For Black Residents, DOJ Says Program Violates Equal Protection

The federal government is seeking to halt the Evanston Reparations Program, the first U.S. reparations initiative created to compensate Black residents for documented race-based housing discrimination.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to intervene in an existing lawsuit challenging the program, arguing that Evanston, Illinois, violated the Equal Protection Clause by distributing benefits based on race.

The program, launched in 2021, set aside $20 million for eligible Black residents and their direct descendants who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 and were harmed by city-backed housing discrimination. Residents who experienced discrimination through city policies after 1969 could also qualify, regardless of race.

The city has already distributed more than $7 million to hundreds of residents in $25,000 payments. The money, funded through a local tax on legal marijuana sales, can be used for home repairs, down payments, mortgage assistance and housing-related penalties.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said the city’s approach crosses a constitutional line.

“There are sound ways for a city to remedy past discrimination or direct resources to its most vulnerable citizens and neighborhoods. Simply handing out money based on race, however, is not the answer,” Dhillon said in a statement.

A First-In-The-Nation Program Built Around Housing Discrimination

Evanston’s reparations effort has drawn national attention because it moved beyond study commissions and task forces. While several states and cities have explored reparations in recent years, Evanston became the first city to actually distribute money through a local reparations program.

The program was designed around Evanston’s history of redlining and housing discrimination, which restricted where Black families could live and limited their ability to build wealth through homeownership.

Approximately 14% of Evanston’s roughly 76,000 residents are Black, according to U.S. Census data. Many of the city’s Black residents live in the historically low-income Second and Fifth Wards, areas cited in local research on the city’s reparations work.

Robin Rue Simmons, who helped pioneer the program and now leads the committee overseeing the funds, rejected the argument that the program is an unconstitutional giveaway. She said the lawsuit and the federal government’s support of it are meant to discourage other cities from pursuing similar efforts.

“Evanston has set a new precedent. It has shown that racial reparations are possible,” Simmons said.

Lawsuit Questions Whether Payments Are Tied To Specific Harm

The existing lawsuit was filed in May 2024 on behalf of six plaintiffs who argue the program excludes non-Black residents who would otherwise qualify if race were not part of the eligibility rules.

Michael Bekesha, one of the attorneys behind the lawsuit, said applicants are not required to prove they were specifically harmed by the City of Evanston. He argued that makes race the deciding factor.

“Reparations programs aren’t new, but they’ve always been lawful, they’ve always been connected to specific harms, specific injuries suffered by specific individuals,” Bekesha said. “And here in Evanston, there is no connection between the individuals receiving the money and any action taken by the city of Evanston at any point.”

Simmons strongly disputed that framing, pointing to decades of city policies and practices that restricted Black residents’ access to housing, wealth, jobs, education and health care.

Also Read: Trump-Signed Holocaust Law Renews Reparations Debate Over Slavery

Reparations Debate Grows As Conservative Opposition Hardens

The Trump administration’s move marks a sharp federal challenge to race-based reparations and reflects a broader conservative effort to reject programs that use race-conscious remedies to address historical discrimination.

The fight also comes as reparations remain a national flashpoint. Since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, momentum grew for local and state-level reparations studies in places including California, New York, Maryland, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia.

But Evanston remains the rare example where a government moved from discussion to direct distribution.

The federal challenge also contrasts with international pressure. The United Nations recently adopted a resolution urging countries to pursue reparations connected to the trafficking of Africans into slavery. The United States rejected the measure, while the United Kingdom and all European Union countries abstained.

For Evanston, the legal battle now centers on whether the city’s attempt to repair a documented history of anti-Black housing discrimination can survive federal constitutional scrutiny.

For other cities watching from the sidelines, the case could determine whether local reparations programs remain possible — or whether Evanston’s first-in-the-nation effort becomes a warning shot.