Amherst Groups Seeking Racial Equity And Reparations Meet To Share Work

Six Amherst groups working for racial equity assembled virtually on Tuesday, March 23 to share information about their efforts, which range from raising awareness about inequalities to seeking reparations for Black residents. 

About 185 people joined the Zoom roundtable called “Working Toward Racial Equity” organized by the League of Women Voters of Amherst’s Racial Justice Task Force (RJTF).  (Amherst Media’s video of the event is here.

“This has been amazing,” said RJTF Chair Marcie Sclove. “I really appreciate that all of you have come to share your work and your struggles.”

The participating groups included the Racial Equity Task Force, Interfaith Opportunities Network, Amherst Regional High School People of Color United, Jewish Community of Amherst, National Coalition of Blacks in America for Reparations – Amherst (N’COBRA), and Reparations for Amherst. (Information about the organizations is here)

A report this fall by the RJTF found that based on available data, “disparities of racial equity and justice are very real” in Amherst, and are present in employment, health, education, and many other aspects of life. 

The groups were asked by Moderator Andrea Battle to talk about their work and describe obstacles they have encountered. Battle also sought comments on how the public can support racial equity efforts under way. 

Michele Miller and Matthew Andrews, co-founders of Reparations for Amherst, said they continue the campaign launched last year to establish reparations for slavery and for post-slavery racism here. The group’s petition drive calls on the Town to “establish a funding source devoted to local reparations.” 

Miller noted that this past Monday was “a big night for the reparations movement,” as Evanston, Illinois became the first city nationwide to officially adopt a reparations program.

Miller said she heard about the successful Evanston vote when she was at the Amherst Town Council meeting  to discuss her group’s request for $5,000 for racial disparity research in Amherst. 

“It was a really neat moment,” Miller said, adding that Reparations for Amherst will be presenting more about its funding request to the Town Council in the future. 

Andrews described Amherst as a White enclave  that has historically discouraged Black people from buying homes in a variety of ways, resulting in an opportunity cost for many families. 

Kathleen Anderson, a New England chair of N’COBRA (a coalition of organizations seeking to broaden support for reparations), said she is in touch with Evanston Alderman Robin Rue Simmons and looks forward to additional conversations about the city’s programs.

The Evanston City Council plans to spend $10 million on reparations over 10 years, tapping funds from a recreational marijuana tax. The goals include compensating Black residents for past discriminatory housing practices with mortgage assistance and grants for home down payments. (See a related article here.)

Anderson said she was glad that the LWVA brought groups together Tuesday for an online version of a “house party.” Such events can help combat “silo syndrome,” she said, in which organizations may be similarly active, but do not talk together.

“Here we have an opportunity to come together and see who we are and try to strategize on the next steps we can take,” Anderson said. Anderson and others called on members of the public to reach out to elected officials and press for the adoption of reparations on local, state, and national levels. 

Amilcar Shabazz, of the Racial Equity Task Force, said there “did not seem to be much racial justice going on at all” when his family moved to Amherst in 2007. Shabazz said he became involved in local efforts to protect young people of color from disproportionately harsh criminal prosecution and sentencing. Shabazz said he was deeply concerned by recent events nationally, including the March 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor, 26, in Louisville, Kentuckyby White plain-clothes police, and the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd died during an arrest, for allegedly passing counterfeit bills, after a White officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Those events, among others, have prompted many people to question police procedures and accountability in their own communities, Shabazz said.

Floyd’s murder also led to the launch of a racial justice initiative at the Jewish Community of Amherst, said Rabbi Benjamin Weiner. The initiative, called “Tzedek,” which is Hebrew for justice, has included discussions on the similarities between religious persecution and racism, and questions of skin color and privilege. JCA member Amy Mittelman said Tzedek and its four subgroups are working to make the JCA “a more actively anti-racist institution.”

The JCA is among 20 religious organizations involved in the Interfaith Opportunities Network (ION) based in Hampshire County, along with First Congregational Church of Amherst, Grace Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist Society, Hope Community Church, and Goodwin Memorial AME Zion Church. The lay-led network seeks to strengthen respect, and understanding between people of different faiths, said ION member Anita Sarro. ION has a history of activism dating to 2005, but Sarro said Floyd’s murder was a “galvanizing moment” for many in its predominantly White member communities. An ION conference on reparations from a faith perspective is set for late April. 

Dee Shabazz, of the Racial Equity Task Force, said that “layers of bureaucracy” in Amherst make progress here difficult. People who are not native English speakers, and those who are deaf, are in effect “locked out” of local government decision-making because no translation services are provided, she said. Noting that many children in the Amherst Regional Public Schools are bilingual, Dee Shabazz was also critical of the proposed fiscal 2022 elementary schools budget, which eliminates a now-vacant full-time post for a bilingual psychologist. 

Dee Shabazz urged White residents who are seated on boards and committees to question why there aren’t more people of color serving with them, and said White allies can also advocate for public funds to be spent in ways that support racial equity. 

Phoenix Ferreira Ford, vice president of Amherst Regional High School People of Color United (POCU), said he and other students have spoken at protests and other events in town. “We know that our words as youth empower and energize other folks,” he said.  Monica Cage, president of POCU, added that the group sought answers when racist and anti-Semitic graffitti was found in chalk outside the high school in December. “What we’ve learned as very engaged students is to not rely on the people in power,” she said. 

Funds Allocated In 2021 To Address Systemic Racism In Amherst
At the meeting, recent efforts to address systemic racism were discussed. For example, a report by the RJTF’s report last fall found that while Amherst’s population (including college and graduate students) grew from 37,820 in 2010 to 39,925 in 2019, the number of Black residents declined from 13.5 percent to  6.1 percent. The median Black family income here was $45,464 in 2019, less than half the median White family income of $108,500, while 51 percent percent of Amherst’s Black population was below the poverty line, compared to 30 percent of the White population. 

A resolution passed by the Town Council in December called for an end to structural racism in Amherst and for racial equity. The resolution’s goals also include ensuring that all community members feel protected and heard, and are involved in shaping local policies.

At Monday’s Council meeting, Bockelman updated the Town Council on the use of $80,000 in funds it allocated to address systemic racism for fiscal 2021.

About $67,000 of the total has been committed, according to a memo Bockelman submitted to the council. Funds earmarked so far include $9,000 to provide $1,000 stipends to each of nine Community Safety Working Group (CSWG) members, and $58,000 for a contract with the CSWG’s consultant. About $12,600 remains, and Bockelman presented three options for how the funds could be used, including fulfilling Reparations for Amherst’s request; supporting a Core Equity Team of volunteer Town employees who are working to address structural racism; and additional data collection on racial disparities in Amherst, which the RJTF has suggested.

The RJTF is compiling information gathered at Tuesday’s event, including resources and links, that will be sent to all the attendees. Sclove said the RJTF will also be contacting participants to ask what they see as next steps.  

“We see the event as a first step in a process to build more involvement and communication and to take the enthusiasm that was generated and see how it can manifest into more action,” she said.