1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Pass state-level protections that shield locally enacted reparations programs from federal interference — and make sure what happened in Evanston cannot happen here. The Trump administration's DOJ joining a lawsuit to kill the nation's first cash reparations program for Black homeowners is a dangerous precedent. Every state needs to be ready to defend similar efforts before they're threatened. The DOJ is not a panel of historians. Alleging that a reparations program is "illegal and racist" is a slap in the face to every community of color that has endured slavery, redlining, and racially targeted dispossession — practices that stripped generations of Black families of their wealth, land, homes, freedom, and lives. This is not ancient history. It is barely scratching the surface of racism that is ongoing and present today. Denying that history, or punishing communities for reckoning with it, is disrespectful and dishonest. The majority of Americans want an inclusive, authentic, democratic society — not one where laws are used as tools of fear and discrimination. A vocal minority cannot be allowed to override that. Please introduce or co-sponsor legislation that protects locally enacted reparative programs from this kind of federal overreach. Communities of color have waited long enough, and this fight is far from over.