The Atlanta City Council has voted to appoint members to a new reparations commission, marking a key step in researching the city's history of legal discrimination against African American residents. This initiative revives discussions on reparations that gained prominence after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. The commission aims to recommend remedies for ongoing economic, educational, health, and social disparities.
In November 2023, Councilman Michael Bond proposed the creation of the Atlanta Reparations Task Force, which received unanimous approval from the city council. Last week, the council took a further step by appointing members to the commission, including Bond, civil rights attorney Eshé Collins, and Liliana Bakhtiari, who is noted as Atlanta's first nonbinary councilmember and Georgia's first out queer Muslim elected official. Council President Doug Shipman, formerly CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center, oversees the body; under his prior leadership, the arts center promoted equal access for artists from diverse backgrounds.
The commission's mandate, as outlined in the council's resolution, is to examine the 'City of Atlanta’s historical role in the legal discrimination of African American residents.' Upon determining fault, it will 'recommend potential remedies to address the resulting economic, educational, health and social disparities.' Details on eligibility for reparations or compensation amounts remain unspecified. For comparison, California's 2023 reparations committee limited eligibility to 'only descendants of either an enslaved African American in the United States, or a free African American living in the United States prior to 1900,' with projections estimating costs exceeding $800 billion.
Reparations emerged as a significant issue following the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots and saw increased attention during the Biden administration. However, shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump issued executive orders ending 'all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies programs, preferences and activities in the Federal Government.' Meanwhile, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's 2024 report highlighted rising crime in the Atlanta metropolitan area, which accounted for over half of the state's total incidents, including 440 murders, 1,605 rapes, 2,649 robberies, and 12,482 aggravated assaults.