US-POLITICS-RACISM-REPARATIONS

Historic victorian-style homes, some of which were once owned by Black residents, stand in front of the San Francisco skyline, with the City Hall rotunda visible, in San Francisco, California on June 27, 2023. The idea of reparations to atone for slavery and inequality perpetuated by systemic racism, while popular at universities, stalled at gaining broad political traction. The debate changed with the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020: Democrats made it a political issue in several parts of the country. The city of Evanston, near Chicago, was the first to adopt a plan granting financial aid to African-Americans to renovate their homes, but California now has more ambitious projects. San Francisco also has its own committee -- one that made headlines in March when it proposed $5 million for every eligible African-American resident. This measure alone would cost $50 billion, or "more than three times the city's annual budget," said local Republican leader John Dennis, who denounced the number as "picked out of the clouds." (Photo by Philip Pacheco / AFP) (Photo by PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images)