The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois has voted to tax the sale of marijuana to fund reparations for Black residents.
The council voted 8 to 1 on Nov. 25 to implement a 3% tax on marijuana to fund the reparations plan.
The city plans to generate $500,000 and $750,000 through marijuana tax revenue each year. The city can also receive outside donations to the reparations fund.
Robin Rue Simmons, a black alderman who represents the city’s historically Black Fifth Ward, says the fund will benefit residents affected by the war on drugs.
“Our community was damaged due to the war on drugs and marijuana convictions,” she told The Washington Post. “This is a chance to correct that. Our disadvantage and discrimination has continued beyond outlawing Jim Crow and beyond enslavement.”
The new reparations fund will allow Black residents to remain in their neighborhood. High property taxes in the wealthy North Shore suburb forced Black residents out of their homes.
Simmons added that the reparations fund will help families with a down payment on a home that they couldn’t otherwise afford.
A meeting will be held on Dec. 11 to work out the details.
