A new deal and a word from the dead

Good morning!

You don’t have to own a farm to understand why the government helps farmers. Their losses can become our problems. Somehow, that reasoning gets harder for people when the subject is reparations.

In a column this week, I’m arguing for a new deal that includes direct compensation and investment in the places where people live. Black families shouldn’t have to prove everybody else will profit before they’re paid.

I’m also looking at Byron Donalds, who wants to be Florida’s governor. He opposes reparations and has repeatedly defended the current president. 

The argument over what is owed is following King Charles through the Caribbean this week. His tour leads into a Commonwealth summit where Caribbean governments intend to press Britain on slavery reparations. Buckingham Palace says he will acknowledge Britain’s role in the slave trade, but no formal apology is planned. A royal visit should give us more to report than how carefully a king chooses his words.

Which brings me to Tuesday’s election. Maybe we’ll remember it as the most consequential of our lives. I don’t need that distinction to take it seriously. We’re choosing people who will decide whose rights to protect and whose needs deserve public money.

If you care about your neighbor or you’ve had nightmares about leopards eating your face, cast a vote for humanity’s future, not an old man’s fragile ego.

Speaking of getting spooked, we took our cameras to Mountain View Cemetery for a Halloween video. Wait until you hear what Lil’ Bobby Hutton has to say about visitors to his grave and reparations. There’s nothing scary about asking what Black people are owed.

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What would change in your neighborhood and city if more families could afford to stay, keep a business open or leave something to their children? We talk about the racial wealth gap as a national statistic.

We live with its consequences on our own blocks.

I make the case for a new deal that pays Black Americans what they’re owed and invests in communities denied the resources to thrive. Direct compensation belongs alongside better housing, schools and public services.

Black families are owed repair regardless of what anyone else gains. But a country so worried about the cost ought to consider what it keeps losing by refusing to pay.

Please read my column.

Here’s the weekly roundup of developments in reparations and repair. (Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe.)

Trump fights reparations while descendants press ahead. The Trump administration has joined the legal challenge to Evanston’s reparations program, but work continues elsewhere. The Associated Press reported that Robin Rue Simmons, who helped establish the Illinois program, is working with more than 100 communities. Virginia Theological Seminary makes annual, unrestricted cash payments to descendants of people who labored on its campus during slavery and segregation. Its reparations endowment has grown from $1.7 million to $2.8 million. Harvard, meanwhile, dismissed a research team in January 2025 that had identified nearly 500 living descendants of people enslaved by individuals associated with the university. Genealogical research continues through American Ancestors, but according to AP, Harvard has yet to provide direct redress to living descendants. Why it matters: The seminary is already doing what many institutions are still debating: paying descendants. Its endowment offers one way to sustain those payments when political support for reparations changes.

Black Chicago applicants ages 25 to 44 denied mortgages at about four times the white rate. Black mortgage applicants ages 25 to 44 in Chicago were denied at a rate of 15.2% in 2024, compared with 3.7% for white applicants, according to an Oct. 16 Woodstock Institute report. Researchers examined more than 828,000 Illinois mortgage applications from that age group between 2018 and 2024. Statewide, Black borrowers in this age group entered homeownership with less initial equity than white borrowers and faced higher median loan costs in 2024. Why it matters: Evanston’s reparations program addresses the damage from discriminatory housing policies. Nearby, Black buyers still face a much steeper route to a mortgage. Compensating families for past harm does not, by itself, remove the barriers they face today.

Appeals court leaves most of the block on fair housing grant overhaul in place. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 19 declined to pause most of a lower-court order blocking the Trump administration’s changes to the Fair Housing Initiatives Program. HUD sought to direct $46 million of the $56 million appropriated for fiscal 2025 to five grants, Reuters reported. The program has supported more than 100 nonprofits fighting housing discrimination. The appeals court did pause a requirement that HUD issue replacement funding notices using the previous grant structure. Why it matters: Repairing housing discrimination also requires preventing it. 

Some tax breaks reward wealth Black families are less likely to have. Median Black family wealth fell 25% between 2022 and 2025, from $49,100 to $36,800 after adjusting for inflation, according to Federal Reserve data examined by the Tax Policy Center. Its Oct. 23 analysis also shows who is positioned to benefit from federal tax breaks: 47% of Black families owned their homes in 2025, compared with 75% of white families. Retirement account ownership was 33% and 63%, respectively. Deductions for mortgage interest and tax benefits for retirement savings offer less help to families who cannot afford those assets. Why it matters: The government already helps people build wealth through the tax code. Any debate about what America can afford to repair should examine whom those benefits reach.

Boston reparations task force meets after research setback. Boston’s reparations task force is scheduled to meet online today from 5:30-7 p.m. Eastern, with an update on the Tufts research report, researcher presentations and possible votes. The city and Tufts University ended their research contract last month, and Tufts returned $335,000. That portion of the research covered slavery and its legacy from the 1600s through 1940. A separate Northeastern University report covering 1940-2020 was complete and under review when GBH reported the cancellation. Why it matters: Boston needs a way to finish the historical record and turn it into recommendations. The meeting could clarify how the city intends to proceed.

Britain rejects reparations for Bermuda as advocates demand repair. British minister Uma Kumaran acknowledged slavery’s painful history during a visit to Bermuda but reiterated the UK government’s opposition to paying reparations for slavery, The Royal Gazette reported Oct. 21. Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda responded by calling for substantive discussions at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Why it matters: Britain is willing to acknowledge the harm while ruling out compensation. Bermuda’s advocates are asking what that acknowledgment obligates Britain to do.

Caribbean reparations leaders press King Charles to support talks. CARICOM Reparations Commission Chair Hilary Beckles is urging King Charles III to support negotiations at November’s Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda. The commission says its reparations plan offers a framework for governments and institutions to negotiate. In the Guardian’s Oct. 22 report, Barbados’s David Comissiong said governments had not unanimously agreed to a proposed mandate in the summit’s draft communique for Commonwealth foreign ministers to advance reparations discussions. Why it matters: Watch what governments commit to at the summit and whether they follow through. A commitment assigning ministers responsibility for negotiations would give the public something specific to hold them to.

🎃 Join the Declaration team at Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery for a Halloween edition of journalism with a pulse.

In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” Tom dies because he refuses to betray two enslaved women who have escaped. The insult we inherited gets that character wrong.

I’m writing about Donalds because I care what Black politicians do with power. He’s used his position to defend Trump and oppose reparations. Getting close to the president doesn’t earn him applause from me, especially when he’s helping excuse the way Trump treats Black people.

Read my column.

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Reparations aren’t scary. At Declaration, you’re welcome to ask questions about the subject and the people reporting on it. We’ll show you where we work, explain what we know and listen to what you have to say. In this week’s column, Paula Sibulo and Maria Fernanda Bernal talk with me about bringing people into our reporting through social video and conversation. This was before we went to talk to ancestors in Mountain View Cemetery. You’ll get to know us a little better. Read my column.

What would you put in a new deal that repairs the harm done to Black Americans and improves life in your community? Share your answer here.

We’re always looking for feedback. We want to talk to people. We want to hear from you. Send us feedback.

And if you’re a student journalist or an early- to mid-career journalist, we’re down to collaborate. We’re accepting pitches for Season Two, and we’ve assembled a wonderful group of Season One collaborators.

And if you’d like to leave a voicemail, by all means, give us a call at 704-504-9427. 

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How this newsletter is made: Humans write, edit and make every editorial decision in The Repair. We use large language models, including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, as research tools. Using our methodology for tracking reparations and repair, these tools help us find, organize and synthesize source material. Every source is verified, and every link, fact and word undergoes two rounds of human editing before publication. Read our AI policy.