The Racial Justice Coalition unveiled a new campaign called Reparations Are Due.Our goal is simple: to show that there is broad multiracial support for Reparations in Asheville and Buncombe County.Do you support the local Reparations process? If so, you can show your support by signing our Reparations Are Due Pledge here.We have set a goal to attain 5,000 signatures on this Pledge by July 1 – We hope you and your circles will sign, achieving this goal with us.
Some background:
In 2020, both the City of Asheville and Buncombe County apologized to Black community members for hundreds of years of harm they had caused or allowed. Our local Community Reparations Commission (CRC) has taken up the challenge of defining how the City and County should make amends for these harms. Recognizing just how hard that task was going to be, the RJC went all-in on Every Black Voice, our campaign to ensure that the Commission gets meaningful input from local Black community members to help guide their essential work. Every Black Voice remains our top priority, and we’re now launching a second campaign – The Reparations Are Due Campaign – to demonstrate the depth and breadth of community support for the Reparations process.
We gathered together over a hundred of our supporters last night to outline the rationale and purpose of the campaign and invite them to sign a Pledge of their support. We premiered an exciting new video produced by our teammate sparrow, went through some important local history, and then shared the content of the Pledge. A link to sparrow’s video, highlights from the call, and the full call (along with the Pledge) are all at the Reparations Are Due campaign page, in case you missed this launch event and/or want to share it with friends and fellow supporters. NOTE: This page has various informative videos).
The Community Reparations Commission (CRC) will soon be sending the City Council and County Commission a collection of recommendations. The City and County have affirmed their intention to follow the CRC’s leadership. However, if the CRC’s recommendations are appropriately bold in scope, they’re likely to encounter some resistance. Now is the time to let the CRC and our local government leaders know that this community supports deep and meaningful Reparations. We invite you to check out the Pledge today, and to share it with others so that we can meet our goal of 5,000 signatures by July 1. Together, we can and will continue to build this movement for collective liberation.
In Solidarity,
The RJC Team
