The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, recently approved a plan that would make it the first U.S. city to pay reparations to Black Americans. While reparations for slavery and subsequent racial discrimination against Black Americans has often been debated, federal, state and local governments have been resistant to the idea, and the issue remains controversial among the American population. Surprisingly, however, while Evanston will be the first instance of city-level reparations payments being distributed, it is not the first time that Black people have received reparations for slavery or other horrible instances of racism. Here are five past examples from American history.
