The font-page headline in the Gazette’s July 2 edition was deeply meaningful: “Town takes historic step on reparations.” After a long and methodical process that we know included painstaking research, debate and discussion, the Amherst Town Council, by a vote of 10-2-1, made a decision that many of us believe is indeed unique, historic and potentially transformative. This decision makes us proud even as we also acknowledge that it is both long overdue and only the beginning. Perhaps some of the Gazette’s readers have heard about reparations efforts in Evanston, Illinois, and a few other U.S. cities and towns. These last two years have also seen robust grassroots and municipal momentum for reparative justice in Amherst.
Even as many of us have better understood what writer Clint Smith refers to as our “discovered ignorance” about the lived experience of African Americans in this country, and the realities of systemic racism and white supremacy that have plagued our nation since before its founding, so too have we become more aware of the harms committed against residents of African heritage right here in Amherst, including its use of racial covenants in housing and ongoing educational, health and community safety disparities.
At the Town Council meeting on June 28 that a Gazette reporter covered, and despite not knowing yet what the funding priorities will be, a solid majority of councilors made a principled decision to translate the goal of reparative justice into a meaningful reality in Amherst by establishing a dedicated reparations fund of $2 million, to be funded over the next 10 years. We applaud their efforts and are grateful for their leadership. So, too, do we applaud the efforts and leadership of the African Heritage Reparations Assembly as they develop a consultative process and identify priorities that will bring us even closer to a dynamic and fitting reparative justice plan for Amherst.
But the news about the establishment of a reparations fund is not the only thing to celebrate right now. With the arrival of Earl Miller and the staffing of CRESS (Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service), and with the hiring of Pamela Nolan-Young as the town’s first Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), we believe there is real momentum towards structural change. After extensive, determined efforts to rethink how community safety can be done and to imagine ways to integrate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on multiple town levels, we glimpse the possibilities for real transformation: towards a more just, diverse and equitable town.
We have been involved in reparations work and education these last two years with a committee of a dozen or so devoted activists from the Jewish Community of Amherst. We have developed a curriculum (a facilitated 5 session class) that is called “The Stolen Beam Series.” It includes books and articles from various thought leaders writing on the case for reparations, historic examples of reparations including post-World War II German reparations to Holocaust survivors, concrete proposals for a national reparations program, and various faith-based approaches to reparations, practically and theologically. The next 5 session class will be held on Zoom, sponsored by the Jones Library and the AHRA, and will begin Sept. 22. We welcome anyone who is interested in learning more about the topic to join us in this interactive educational opportunity to explore and discuss the idea of reparative justice. A registration link will become available in the near future through the Jones library.
Devorah Jacobson and Jeffrey Gold are co-chairs of the Reparations Committee of the Jewish Community of Amherst.