Asheville Reporter

The city of Asheville created a historic reparations resolution, but it's not everything that it appears to be. 

The city's resolution has 18 admissions on racism, Scalawag Magazine reported on July 24. These address slavery, segregation, schooling and more. The resolution also has three apologies. The city apologizes for its role in slavery. It also issues an apology for its role in "urban renewal," for the city's segregation approval. 

In the resolution, the city is encouraging organizations to follow it's directive. 

Other than the admissions and apologies, Asheville is asking the city manager to create policies that will address generational wealth, which will boost the local economy and opportunities for Black communities, Scalawag Magazine reported. A community reparations commission will be created to take up this work and the city manager will update the city council on the work. 

That's all the resolution included, Scalawag reported. 

It did not include aspects that are necessary for apologizing to the city's Black community, including an apology for recent police brutality, shootings and beatings of Black citizens, Scalawag Magainze reported. The resolution allows local elected officials who have been responsible for the harm of Black citizens to remain in office. It also ignores Black communities asking for the local government to defund the police department. 

Megan Clay, a member of Black Avl Demands, said the city shouldn't be talking about reparations until they address the issues the resolution chose to ignore. 

“They are clearly not interested in doing anything, they are all talk,” Clay and the Black Avl Demands said, Scalawag Magazine reported. “Drawn out processes continue when we need immediate structural change.”