DETROIT — Many brought up slavery, the razing of the Black Bottom neighborhood to build a freeway, the millions of dollars in over-assessments in property taxes, the thousands of homes lost to foreclosures, and the deep personal injustice their families endured and rose above.
The Detroit Reparations Task Force launched its first public meeting on Thursday to explore ways to stop the deep institutional racism Black Detroiters have faced. While there many impassioned speeches by the 13 members of the task force and residents, the tone was mainly that of a respectful listening session for this unprecedented effort.
"We are doing something that has never been done before. There is no template," said Lauren Hood, task force co-chair. "We are stewards of this process. Reparations work is sacred, and we are here to treat it as such."
