Summary: <p><span>Last week, marked the 100-year anniversary of the race riots of 1923 in Rosewood, FL.</span></p> <p><span>After a white woman accused a Black man of assaulting her, a white mob destroyed the town and displaced hundreds of Black middle- and working-class families. This rural town was one of several Black communities in the US that suffered <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/05/us/whitewashing-of-america-racism/" target="_blank">racial violence and destruction</a>, and t<span>he violence resulted in the loss of economic opportunity and inequality for generations of people of color. </span></span></p> <p data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_4D98A67F-73F2-89AB-82DA-8877613E1B06@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">The massacre was dramatized in the 1997 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120036/" target="_blank">Rosewood</a>” by director John Singleton.<span> </span>Direct descendants of the families who once lived in Rosewood led the fight for reparations in the 1990s and are continuing to fight to reclaim their families' legacies.</p> <p><span>In St. Paul, Minnesota (the same state where<span> </span>George Floyd<span> </span>was killed by police) the fight for reparations to address systemic racism is happening as well. </span></p> <p><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/study-minnesota-racial-wealth-gap/"><span>The state of Minnesota has the third largest racial wealth gap in the nation</span></a>, a<span>nd the state’s income gap is the 5th largest. </span><span>When it comes to health disparities,</span><span> Black and Indigenous babies in Minnesota die at a rate twice that of White babies. A</span><span>ccording to the 2021 State of Black Minnesota Report, Black residents lived<span> </span></span><a href="https://ultcmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/SOBM-Report-2021-Final-rev.03.17.22-1.pdf"><span>7 years less than</span></a><span><span> </span>white residents.</span></p> <p><span>In response, </span><span>the city of St. Paul moved forward with its plan to address systemic inequities and racism against Black residents through the formation of a<span> </span></span><span>permanent</span><span> 11-member reparations commission. </span>The group will work to advise the city council on measures to address systemic racism faced by Black residents in the city.</p> <p><span>Trahern Crews, a social justice advocate who was a Co-Convenor of the St. Paul Recovery Act Legislative Advisory Committee, and<span> </span></span>Councilmember Jane Prince,<span> </span><span>St. Paul City Council member for Ward 7, </span><span>join us to discuss this new commission and why reparations are still necessary today. </span></p>
