N'nanba's Evanston Reparations Plan Faces Federal Legal Hurdles

An estimated 12.5 million Africans were forcibly shipped to the Americas during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a historical figure that now anchors a legal battle over how the United States addresses that legacy. The number underscores the scale of the harm that programs like Evanston, Illinois, reparations aim to repair, even as federal courts move to intervene in local efforts.

Robin Rue Simmons, who now goes by N'nanba, helped create Evanston's $25,000 housing grant for Black residents affected by discriminatory policies. She is currently working to expand this model, the first of its kind at the municipal level, to more than 100 communities. Her efforts are encountering resistance from the Trump administration, which has launched a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and race-based federal support.

This federal push follows a March resolution by the U.N. General Assembly. The body called the trafficking of enslaved Africans "the gravest crime against humanity" and urged reparations. More than 120 countries supported the measure. The United States, along with Argentina and Israel, voted against it, while 52 nations, including England and 27 European Union members, abstained.

Simmons, who chairs Evanston's Reparations Committee and served as a city councilwoman, maintains that federal redress remains the primary goal. "Under this administration, of course, there are many barriers to achieving that, but we still stand on federal redress as our collective north star," she said. The administration's opposition is explicit. In a September speech, President Donald Trump told supporters that reparations advocates want to "steal your money" and that the movement is "going nowhere."

William Darity, a co-author on reparations, noted that no prior president supported comprehensive Black reparations. "Now, Trump will speak the word, but with hostility," Darity said. The administration has also taken legal action. A federal judge recently allowed the Justice Department to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch against Evanston's program.

The plaintiffs argue that the city distributes funds based on race without identifying specific harms. Michael Bekesha, an attorney for the plaintiffs, stated that the Constitution prevents governments from "picking winners and losers based entirely on race." The Justice Department alleges the program violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and the Fair Housing Act. Kiersten Pels, a department spokeswoman, said race-based government benefit programs are unconstitutional and often violate federal civil rights law. Last year, the department sent a warning letter to leaders in Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina, which were considering similar measures.

Higher education institutions are also affected by the administration's stance. Georgetown University continues to offer admission consideration to descendants of enslaved people connected to its history. However, Richard Cellini, who led a Harvard project identifying descendants, said new work in higher education has stalled. His team identified nearly 500 living descendants of people enslaved by Harvard leaders, but the university fired the team days after Trump's January 2025 anti-DEI order. Kirt von Daacke, a University of Virginia historian, reported seeing no new scholarship programs since Trump returned to office.

Despite the federal challenges, some local programs continue to function. Juan Woolfolk, 36, a Georgetown descendant, is using a $10,000 scholarship to study museum studies at Southern University at New Orleans. Virginia Theological Seminary makes annual cash payments to descendants of people who worked on its campus, funded by an endowment that grew from $1.7 million to $2.8 million since 2019.

Joe Martin, 46, a Delta flight attendant who received an Evanston grant, commented on the federal reaction. "40 acres and a mule didn't go down the way it was supposed to," Martin said. He added that when a legitimate program is created, "the government's like, naw."

The Justice Department's intervention marks a formal entry into the legal dispute. The next steps in the Evanston lawsuit will determine whether the $25,000 grants can continue while the administration pursues its legal strategy against similar local initiatives.