Ives: Evanston reparations “didn’t actually require any black resident to prove they descended from a slave”

Former Illinois representative Jeanne Ives said Evanston, Illinois’ reparations program is not requiring proof of descent from enslaved people and instead distributes housing-related cash grants to Black residents tied to a historical residency window.

“Evanston's reparations program didn't actually require any black resident to prove they descended from a slave, the $25k grants that could be used for anything were simply handed out to any black who lived in the city between 1919-1969,” Ives wrote in a June 20 post on X. “The city leaders said these residents were affected by housing reclining, but a lawsuit claims that wasn't true and in fact Evanston had favorable policies for Blacks. You can't make this stuff up. Only in Illinois.”

Ives’ post highlighted comments from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who discussed the city’s program on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Dhillon said Evanston has already distributed millions of dollars through its initiative and warned that race-based government payouts risk setting a broader precedent for public policy disputes over historical discrimination.

“If we start doing this, this is going to be a slippery slope of haves and have-nots,”  Dhillon said. “So I think this is un-American and we're going to put a stop to it.”

Ives represented Illinois's 42nd district in the House from 2013 to 2019 as a Republican and ran in both the 2018 gubernatorial primary and the 2020 congressional election, according to her official biography from the Illinois General Assembly.