ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is appointing a reparations commission that will “recommend a proposal to begin repairing the harms that have been inflicted” by slavery, segregation and racism.
St. Louis joins a growing list of places trying to determine how to make amends for past practices that have harmed Black Americans.
The new commission will hold open monthly meetings.
There is no stated deadline for recommendations.
St. Louis has long been among the nation’s most segregated cities.
Nearly half of its 300,000 residents are Black and many of them live in north St. Louis, where rates of crime and poverty are high.
Racial justice advocates blame decades of racism.
