IRRPP Authors Report for Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission
Introduction
The Illinois Black Harm Report |
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In 2025, the Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission approached the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy to write a first of its kind report assessing how slavery and its vestiges enabled the racial harms and injustices Black Illinoisans experienced historically and continue to experience today. The resulting report, Taking Account: A History of Racial Harm & Injustice Against Black Illinoisans, is now available to the public. Drawing on scholarly analyses, historical archives, government data, and community perspectives, the report describes not only individual harms, but the accumulated impact of harm over generations. Ultimately, it provides an evidence-based accounting of Black life in Illinois that will help to inform the critical debate over how to repair, redress, and ameliorate these lasting harms. |