Posted on September 1, 2022

Rhode Island Mayor Proposes $10M Reparations Spending Plan

Philip Marcelo, Associated Press, August 25, 2022

Providence’s mayor proposed spending $10 million in federal coronavirus pandemic aid on financial literacy and homeownership, workforce training, small business development and other programs recently recommended by the city’s reparations commission.

Mayor Jorge Elorza’s spending plan, released Thursday, also calls for using $250,000 in federal money to launch a legal defense fund for residents facing eviction, $400,000 dedicated to directly support Black and Native American residents displaced and negatively impacted by urban renewal and $500,000 to expand the guaranteed income program for low income residents that launched last summer, among other initiatives.

The Democratic mayor also signed an executive order formally apologizing on behalf of Rhode Island’s capital city for its role in slavery, urban renewal and other racist and discriminatory practices. The spending proposal now goes to the city council for approval.

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Rodney Davis, who chaired the Providence Municipal Reparations Commission, applauded the mayor for issuing a formal city apology, as the commission had recommended. But he demurred when asked if he thought the spending proposal was the best use of the federal money, given the commission’s many recommendations.

“We feel like $10 million is nice, but it’s definitely not enough for true reparations,” he said. “We also recognize this is a city effort and true reparations have to be on a larger scale. It has to not just be government, but also private enterprise.”

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