Reparations Daily (ish) Vol. 6

What is the role of marijuana in the reparations debate?

Jun 14, 2021

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend. Today’s newsletter is just the clips no hot take.

There are a couple of great articles below that I want to lift up. The first is the ABC News article under the National News section on the need for reparative justice as more states legalize marijuana. Marijuana has already and will continue to play a huge factor in the reparations debate. In Evanston, they are funding their ‘reparations,’ housing program through tax revenue from marijuana sales. In New York, the recently passed bill directs 50 percent of tax revenue to a Community Reinvestment Fund which will direct capital primarily to neighborhoods of color who have been harmed by the war on drugs. What would it look like for states to prioritize licensing to those who were incarcerated for marijuana-related charges? Would you consider an effort like that reparations? Some questions I think worth asking yourself as you read the article.

An anti-history bill in Arizona had a last-second amendment that would allow the state to fine a teacher up to $5,000 if they are caught teaching controversial topics such as race. If you look at the CBPP graph below, you’ll see that Arizona is in the top 5 worse states for education funding. Taking aim at the already underpaid teachers in the state is just a new kind of low.

I included a March 2021 report from the Center for American Progress that discusses the various approaches the government could take to eliminate the Black-white wealth gap. It’s a great piece to inform you of all the other policy levers (outside of reparations) that could also be taken to eliminate the gap.

Here’s Vol 6. of Reparations Daily (ish)!

With radical love,
Trevor