Wednesday is Juneteenth, the federal holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people in America.

This year it comes amid renewed debate about reparations for the descendants of people who were enslaved and of the victims of Jim Crow laws well into the 20th century.

In 2021, the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois became the first U.S. city to offer reparations to black Americans for past housing discrimination.

Now a conservative legal group is challenging the program in court saying it unconstitutionally discriminates against residents who aren't black.

Brandis Friedman anchors Chicago tonight on PBS members station WTT in Chicago.

Brandis, give us a little sense of the background of this program.

Who qualifies for it and how much money's been paid out?

Hey John, so this, you know, came about sometime after 2020, of course, I think a lot of folks folks a lot of cities were starting to talk about

reparations in a way that they hadn't in the past and so Evanston's measure it requires that

anyone who is 18 or older and was a resident of the city of Evanston between

1919 and 1969 or is a descendant of a resident between that same time period is

eligible to receive the benefit, right?

And so the benefits are $25,000 initially, $25,000

to go towards housing.

So the first part of the $20 million that the city has pledged

is a housing initiative where folks who fit the bill can either make a down payment on a new house or they can

Repairs maintenance upgrades to their homes or use that fund or use those funds to pay back if they owe penalties to the city.

At this point, I think initially some of that rollout was a little bit slow, but I think approximately 3 million or so has been paid out thus far.

Last year, the city also added on to that where the same group of people who meet the requirements could receive a $25,000 direct

cash payment.

Is there much public support for this in Evanston?

There is quite a bit.

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