Robin Rue Simmons, the former 5th Ward councilmember that engineered government-sponsored reparations to Black Evanston resident. Graphic by __ / North By Northwestern
In early 2019, Robin Rue Simmons discovered that Black families in Evanston made $50,000 less, on average, per household and faced a 13-year gap in life expectancy. As a 5th Ward councilmember at the time, she reached out to the Evanston Chief of Police who informed her that 71% of marijuana arrests occurred in the Black community despite only making up 16% of the Evanston population.
“I realized that as I fought for economic opportunity… everything led back to policy,” Simmons said. “The system was designed to work against us, and the most appropriate response for me at that time was reparations.”
Due to Simmons’ efforts, Evanston became the first U.S. city to offer government-sponsored reparations to its Black residents in 2021. These reparations consist of one-time payments of $25,000 to Black individuals who either lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 or are descendants of someone who did. With these payments, Evanston aims to rectify the historical harm caused by state-sponsored segregation and discrimination during that time.
“The majority of us in Evanston undoubtedly believe in justice, racial justice, equality and so on,” Simmons said. “I was really confident that if we could articulate it in a really smart, viable way that would not harm the city, that we could get it done.”
Evanston began accepting applications for reparations in Fall 2021. Since then, it has distributed $5.5 million to over 200 residents and committed $20 million to the program. The program was subsidized solely by cannabis sales tax in its initial stages but now receives funding from part of the real estate transfer tax after cannabis revenue fell short of projections.
Simmons initially faced pushback from her fellow councilmembers regarding the funding and the legal risk of the program — and from the Black community about the stipulation that the reparation payments must go towards housing costs.
“I looked at it as an opportunity to learn more and strengthen the work,” Simmons said. The reparation effort has now expanded to include direct cash payments that can be used at the recipient’s discretion.
While the payments intend to redress economic harm, some view them as a moral obligation to acknowledge the lasting effects of slavery, segregation and systemic racism.
“I really do appreciate Evanston standing up and owning the wrongs that we did,” said Councilmember Krissie Harris of the 2nd Ward. “When you make a mistake, you own it and you try to repair.”
Harris is a current member of the Reparations Committee, which has four subgroups: Education, Housing, Community Unity and Economic Development.
While Harris focuses on education, Councilmember Bobby Burns of the 5th Ward, Simmons’ successor, leads housing efforts.
“I felt a strong responsibility to [Simmons] as a trailblazer and the community that I serve,” Burns said. He said the 5th Ward, which is a historically Black district, was targeted by redlining and deliberate devaluation of Black-owned property resulting in significant income inequality in Evanston.
Since Burns was elected in 2021, he’s worked to continue the reparation efforts Simmons started. He said he hasn’t experienced much pushback during his time as councilmember, but earlier efforts did face resistance.
What began as a localized initiative quickly grew national attention — and opposition. Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit based out of Washington, D.C., filed a class action lawsuit in May 2024. The plaintiffs argued the use of race as an eligibility requirement for reparations is unconstitutional.
“People are coming for Evanston and they want to make Evanston an example so [reparations] won’t continue,” said Laurice Bell, the Executive Director of Shorefront Legacy Center. The center is an archive dedicated to preserving and teaching Black history in Chicago’s North Shore.
“It takes one person to do something and really light the world on fire,” Bell said.
But when Simmons began advocating for reparations for the Black community in Evanston, she wasn’t thinking about the national or global impact.
“When we started the work, I didn’t have anybody but Evanston on my mind,” Simmons said. “I had no vision that this would turn into a key inspiration in the movement for reparations for global Africa.”
Despite the dissenters, other municipalities across the United States are considering reparations at a local level, including San Francisco, Asheville, Detroit and St. Paul.
“There did become some pressure,” Simmons said, after she realized the historic stakes of her work for reparations. “It was really helpful to have elders remind me and us that our work is part of a continuum…we’re building on centuries of work. It took us over 400 years to get here.”
Simmons has continued her work in the space of reparations. In 2021, she founded her own nonprofit organization, FirstRepair, which is dedicated to educating and equipping policymakers and stakeholders across the nation who are working to advance reparation policies.
“I was educated on how not to feel pressure,” Simmons said. “But to feel gratitude and hope and appreciation for being a part of the movement in this lifetime.”
