North Carolina city votes in favor of reparations, money goes to community improvements

Elected officials in Asheville, North Carolina, have reportedly agreed to apologize for the city’s role in slavery and pay reparations to African-American residents.

The decision was made Tuesday night by the City Council in a 7-0 vote. 

The resolution will make investments in areas in which Black residents face disparities but does not mandate direct payments to descendants of slavery. 

"It is simply not enough to remove statutes. Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature," said Councilman Keith Young, one of two African-American on the panel, according to The Asheville Citizen Times.

The movement to provide reparations regained strength after the May 25 death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.

On the national level, the Democrat-controlled House has a bill to consider how a reparations process might work, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.