St. Louis’ Democrat Mayor Appoints Reparations Commission, Blames ‘Decades of Disinvestment’

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones (D) is creating a reparations commission to address the area’s past racial issues.

“St. Louis joins a growing list of places trying to determine how to make amends for past practices that have harmed Black Americans. The new commission will hold open monthly meetings. There is no stated deadline for recommendations,” the Associated Press (AP) reported Thursday.

Jones recently signed an executive order creating a volunteer commission whose purpose will be to recommend the manner in which reparations should be made.

Members of that group will be a civil rights advocate, clergy member, attorney, academic, public health professional, and a youth.

However, it was not immediately clear if money will be given to the area’s residents as other cities across the nation have done, KSDK News reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, Jones claimed, “The people closest to the problems are closest to the solution. I look forward to reviewing this commission’s work to chart a course that restores the vitality of Black communities in our city after decades of disinvestment. We cannot succeed as a city if one half is allowed to fail.”

Once St. Louis elected Jones in 2021, she was set to face “the dual challenges presented by a declining population and one of the worst murder rates in the nation,” Breitbart News reported at the time:

Police statistics show 262 people were killed in St. Louis last year — five fewer than the record of 267 set in 1993. But because the city’s population has declined sharply since 1993, the per capita homicide rate was much higher in 2020.

…

Tishaura Jones has pledged to bring in more social workers, mental health counselors and substance abuse counselors. She sees social aid as an alternative to adding more uniformed officers while her victory speech focused largely on overcoming racism and bigotry.

In addition, California may face $233,000 in reparations for black residents who qualify as descendants of African American slaves, per a consulting report headed for a state panel.

“Beyond slavery, the panel is considering payments to compensate for a variety of allegedly discriminatory practices, including housing discrimination and ‘mass incarceration,'” Breitbart News reported Sunday.