The reparations movement is gaining steam in the United States as the protests and national reckoning over racial injustice continue across the country. In addition to renewed interest in federal bill HR 40, progress is being made at the local level. Last week alone, the cities of Asheville, North Carolina, and Providence, Rhode Island, took important steps toward considering or providing reparations to victims of systemic racism – and in doing so, showed that reparations can take various forms, such as an official apology alongside direct compensation, targeted investments in social and economic programs, institutional reform, and more.

At a July 14 meeting of the Asheville City Council, officials voted to issue a formal apology for slavery and to provide reparations to Black residents. The decision follows the county health board’s declaration that racism is a public health crisis.

In historic move (and by a unanimous 7-0 vote), Asheville, NC approves #reparations for black residents. The city apologized for slavery & discrimination & will set up a commission to create concrete #reparations proposals to close disparity gaps. https://t.co/MPP2HNCQpG
— Dreisen Heath (@dreisenheath) July 15, 2020

“It is simply not enough to remove statutes,” said Asheville Councilman Keith Young. “Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature.”

Asheville’s reparations program would not include direct payments, USA Today reports. Instead, the City Council resolution says the program will include community investment measures such as “increasing minority home ownership and access to other affordable housing, increasing minority business ownership and career opportunities, strategies to grow equity and generational wealth, closing the gaps in health care, education, employment and pay, neighborhood safety and fairness within criminal justice.”

The day after the historic vote in Asheville, the mayor of Providence announced that the Rhode Island city is considering providing reparations for its Black and Native American residents.

Providence, Rhode Island’s mayor signs order to pursue truth, #reparations for Black & Indigenous peoplehttps://t.co/yZ8t24iFki
— Dreisen Heath (@dreisenheath) July 16, 2020

Mayor Jorge Elorza signed an executive order on Wednesday to establish a “Truth-Telling, Reconciliation and Municipal Reparations Process.” According to the Providence Journal:

The process in Providence, Elorza said, will start with members of his administration and a group of African-American advisers meeting with historical societies and researchers to come up with a plan for sharing the state’s role throughout history in the institution of slavery, genocide of Indigenous people, forced assimilation and seizure of land.

The administration would then bring the community together for conversation and healing, as part of the “reconciliation” phase. The details of reparation payments, including the amount and forms they would take, would be decided in the last stage of the process.

In an interview with WBUR, Eloze discussed the feasibility of reparations in Providence. “I know that at the municipal level, there is no way that we can make good on all of the injustices,” he said. “This has to happen at every level: at the state, at the federal and from private institutions. But there's a lot of value to showing leadership at the local level to taking the initial steps. And then also, you just never know what the future holds.”