(CHICAGO) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday to establish a Reparations Task Force to develop a reparations plan for the city.

According to the mayor’s office, the task force will conduct a study and analysis of policies that have affected Black Chicagoans from slavery to the present day. Based on this analysis, the task force will recommend remedies to racial inequities caused by such policies.

Chicago has a large Black population, making up almost 30% of the city’s residents.

“Today’s Executive Order is not just a public declaration; it is a pledge to shape the future of our city by confronting the legacy of inequity that has plagued Chicago for far too long,” Johnson said in a press release.

Reparations can appear in many forms, including financial payments, assistance, land restitution, social services, and more, according to the NAACP.

In his executive order, Johnson said the country and city “perpetuated, condoned, profited and benefited” from the system of chattel slavery. He then noted several Jim Crow-era policies from 1877 to 1963 that legalized and perpetuated racial segregation and discrimination.

These policies — including housing discrimination, redlining and highway construction — led to “disparities in life expectancy, unemployment, homeownership rates, home value, incarceration, and more,” Johnson’s office states.

The discussion on reparations has been ongoing — and controversial — in the U.S. since round 5 a.m. and found more than half of the house engulfed in flames, Coweta County Fire Rescue said.

All 11 people inside the house were evacuated, according to fire rescue officials.

Six people died and five others were hospitalized, some with serious injuries, officials said.

One firefighter also suffered minor injuries, officials said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to officials.
 

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