Defining Reparations for the Community

A special meeting has been scheduled for Monday, August 19, 2024, from 6-8 p.m. at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center Banquet Hall, 87 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville.

As of June 30, 2024, the IFA Focus meetings have ended. The Commission members have completed their charge of creating and voting on recommendations created within their respective IFA’s.

The Reparations Commission presented recommendations to the City Council and the community that:

• Advance key strategies in a timely manner
• Align with the City and County budget process
• Develop funding and implementation strategies

Reparations for Asheville and Buncombe County, NC looks like a commitment to:

• Restoring dignity to Black Asheville and Buncombe County residents.
• Restoring voice to Black Asheville and Buncombe County residents.
• Restoring what was taken away from Black Asheville and Buncombe County residents.

The Commission has defined reparations as a continuous financial investment to address and prevent the harms experienced by generations of Black residents in Asheville and Buncombe County; including the historical harms stemming from enslavement.

Reparations will enhance and improve the wellbeing of Black residents. This requires the reversal and changes of policies and systemic barriers that have caused harm and continues to contribute to those harms. These changes will not and shall not cause new or additional harms.

Reparations cannot be complete unless strong efforts are made to close the racial wealth gaps, including increasing access to and removing barriers from homeownership, land acquisitions, business development opportunities, and monetary compensation for Black residents that will yield intergenerational benefits; including heavy investment into Black youth education that leads to economic mobility.

The Reparations Committee calls for public acknowledgment and an apology from city, county, and other entities, organizations, and groups who have benefited from the harm done to Black residents.

Any and all efforts must and will be held accountable by those Black residents who have been harmed, and/or the descendants of those who have been harmed, in the form of a continued Reparations Commission.

For more details, and to watch past meetings, go to www.ashevillenc.gov/department/city-clerk/boards-and-commissions/reparations-commission.