No longer waiting for the federal government to sort out the issue of reparations for Black Americans, a growing number of churches and other faith groups have started reparation programs of their own, reports Newsweek. The definition of what constitutes reparations varies widely, with, for example, one church in Baltimore giving five $100,000 grants over a five-year period toward criminal justice reform, affordable housing, safe drinking water, more urban green spaces, local schools and more jobs for black youth.
Historian Jemar Tisby believes that the federal government should be the primary source of reparations funding, but Christian institutions that directly benefited from slavery should pay up as well. Those that did not benefit from slavery can voluntarily do reparations “as a way of loving and serving their neighbors of African descent.” Despite reparations having been paid to Japanese and Native Americans over historical wrongs, there never has been a federally sanctioned system of reparations for blacks.