Mayor appoints commission as Kansas City becomes next Dem-run city seeking reparations for black residents

Kansas City, Missouri joins a growing list of Democratic-run cities seeking reparations for black residents as Mayor Quinton Lucas, who is also a supporter of Black Lives Matter, appointed 13 members to a commission that will seek payments funded by taxpayers.

Building a better community for all requires our city to address past wrongs, ongoing patterns of discrimination, and tools by which we may create equal opportunity for all Kansas Citians,” Lucas said, according to KSHB. “I thank the members of the Mayor’s Commission on Reparations for engaging in the important review and work essential in providing a template for City Council, Kansas City businesses, and our entire community for how we can support long-term equitable growth for all parts of Greater Kansas City.”

The commission was voted on and approved in January by the City Council. The ordinance, which required the commission’s formation within 90 days, passed 10 to 1. Councilwoman Heather Hall was the lone dissenting vote.

Lucas and 10 other US mayors, including St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, pledged to form a commission “to study and develop” proposals to pay reparations for slavery to black residents in their respective cities almost two years ago. The group, “Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity,” has since grown to 13 mayors according to KSHB.

“The Mayor’s Commission for Reparations” will ostensibly research the city’s historical treatment of black Americans and, according to a 2022 proposal, be “expressing apologies on behalf of the City of Kansas City and declaring the City’s intent to make amends for its participation in the sanctioning of the enslavement of Black people.”

Those appointed to the commission include Chair Terri Barnes, Linwood Tauheed, Cornell Ellis, Dionne King, Madison Lyman, Ryan Sorrell, Kenneth Ford, Fritz Riesmeyer, Bridgette Jones, Kelli Hearn, Will Bowles, Danise Hartsfield, Ajia Morris, Ex-Officio Mickey Dean, and Ex-Officio Ester Holzendorf, FOX4 reported.

According to Fox News, “The city filed Ordinance #220966 in 2022 that laid out the city’s reparations proposal and ‘expressing apologies on behalf of the City of Kansas City and declaring the City’s intent to make amends for its participation in the sanctioning of the enslavement of Black people and any historical enforcement of segregation and accompanying discriminatory practices against Black citizens of Kansas City, encouraging others to join the City in this effort, and establishing a commission within 90 days to be known as the Mayor’s Commission on Reparations to advise the City regarding reparation issues.'”

The amount of the reparations payments, if they occur, is unknown at this point. What is known, is that “the Commission will issue a preliminary report of its findings within one year of its inaugural meeting and a final report will be issued within six (6) months thereafter.”

Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, who helped spearhead the movement, asserts that the commission will take time to determine how Kansas City has participated in the disenfranchisement of black residents and what reparations should look like.

“Proposals should focus on five impact areas, including housing (homeownership and affordable housing), economic development, health, education, and criminal justice,” the ordinance contends. “The Commission should include members who understand and are sensitive to the needs of the Black community.”

Kansas City is one more big city under Democratic control to propose paying black residents for something they never experienced and penalizing taxpayers for a crime they were never part of. San Francisco, CA wants to insanely charge each taxpayer an estimated $600,000 for reparation payments to eligible black residents. That would bankrupt the city and Kansas City’s fate will be the same if they insist on outrageous sums to be paid to residents because of the color of their skin.

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