Justice Department Joins Legal Bid to Stop Evanston Reparations Grants

A federal judge in Illinois permitted the U.S. Justice Department to intervene in a lawsuit challenging Evanston’s municipal reparations program this month. The department now argues that the city’s $25,000 housing grants for Black residents violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and the Fair Housing Act. This legal move adds weight to an existing case filed by Judicial Watch, which contends that the program distributes funds based on race without identifying specific historical harms.

The intervention follows a broader federal campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives under the Trump administration. Last year, the Justice Department sent a warning letter to leaders in Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina, who were considering similar local programs. Kiersten Pels, a Justice Department spokeswoman, stated that race-based government benefit programs are unconstitutional and frequently violate federal civil rights law.

The dispute over Evanston’s program highlights a growing tension between local efforts and federal policy. Robin Rue Simmons, who now goes by N'nanba, helped create the Evanston grant after serving as a city councilwoman. She now chairs the city’s Reparations Committee and is working to expand the model to more than 100 communities across the country. Despite the legal hurdles, Simmons said, “Under this administration, of course, there are many barriers to achieving that, but we still stand on federal redress as our collective north star.”

The national debate coincides with the United States marking its 250th anniversary. In March, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution describing the trafficking of enslaved Africans as “the gravest crime against humanity” and urging reparations. More than 120 countries supported the resolution, while the United States, Argentina, and Israel voted against it. Fifty-two nations, including England and 27 European Union members, abstained.

President Donald Trump has expressed opposition to reparations, telling supporters in September, “They want to steal your money for reparations,” and adding that “it’s going nowhere.” William Darity, a co-author of a book on reparations, noted that no previous president has supported comprehensive Black reparations. Darity observed, “Now, Trump will speak the word, but with hostility.”

Higher education institutions are also adjusting their approaches. Georgetown University continues to offer admission consideration to descendants of enslaved people linked to its history. However, Richard Cellini, who previously led a Harvard project identifying descendants, said new work has stalled. His team identified nearly 500 living descendants of people enslaved by Harvard’s past leaders, but the university dismissed the team days after Trump’s January 2025 anti-DEI order. Kirt von Daacke, a historian at the University of Virginia, reported that he sees no new scholarship programs since Trump returned to office.

Some programs continue to operate despite the federal pushback. Virginia Theological Seminary makes annual cash payments to descendants of people who labored on its campus, funded by an endowment that grew from $1.7 million to $2.8 million since 2019. In Evanston, grant recipient Joe Martin, 46, a Delta flight attendant, said the government’s reaction to the program shows that “the government's like, naw.”

The legal battle in Evanston will proceed in federal court, with the Justice Department’s participation expected to shape the timeline for the city’s reparations program. The outcome of this case could serve as a precedent for other municipalities considering race-based grants.