{"id":2569263,"date":"2026-02-12T09:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/city-sued-after-it-rolls-out-reparations-theres-a-right-way-and-a-wrong-way\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T09:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:58:09","slug":"city-sued-after-it-rolls-out-reparations-theres-a-right-way-and-a-wrong-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/city-sued-after-it-rolls-out-reparations-theres-a-right-way-and-a-wrong-way\/","title":{"rendered":"City Sued After It Rolls Out Reparations: &#8216;There&#8217;s a Right Way and a Wrong Way&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcity-sued-after-it-rolls-out-reparations-theres-a-right-way-and-a-wrong-way%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2569263&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-nations-second-largest-teachers-union-influenced-cdc-on-school-reopening-guidelines-delayed-return-to-classrooms\/\" title=\"Report: Nation\u2019s Second Largest Teachers Union Influenced CDC On School Reopening Guidelines, Delayed Return To Classrooms\">conservative watchdog group<\/a>, Judicial Watch, has filed a lawsuit challenging Evanston, Illinois\u2019 plan to issue reparations. The Reparations Committee announced a program to distribute $1.1 million, providing $25,000 to 44 Black residents who are descendants of people who <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >faced housing discrimination<\/a> in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. Judicial Watch argues that basing eligibility on race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and would create winners and losers based on skin color rather than harm. The suit seeks to halt further racially classified payments and to make whole any non-Black residents who would have qualified otherwise; Evanston officials have not commented due to the pending litigation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A conservative watchdog group has filed a lawsuit against an Illinois city that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thank-god-there-wasnt-a-twitter-meghan-mccain-admits-she-was-really-stupid-when-she-was-younger\/\" title=\"\u2018Thank God There Wasn\u2019t A Twitter\u2019: Meghan McCain Admits She Was \u2018Really Stupid\u2019 When She Was Younger\">recently announced plans<\/a> to pay out reparations to black residents.<\/p>\n<p>The Reparations Committee of Evanston, Illinois, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/illinois-city-issues-25000-cash-black-residents-reparations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> last week that it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-spike-in-florida-coronavirus-cases-despite-no-mask-mandate\/\" title=\"No Spike in Florida Coronavirus Cases Despite No Mask Mandate\">moving forward<\/a> with a plan to pay out sizable reparations to black residents.<\/p>\n<p>In total, $1.1 million would be doled out, amounting to $25,000 payments to 44 individuals.<\/p>\n<p>The 44 individuals are descendants of people who claimed that they experienced housing discrimination in Evanston between 1919 and 1969.<\/p>\n<p>Given how touchy a subject reparation payments can be, this decision engendered a lot of critical discourse.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>It also engendered a lawsuit, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/watchdog-group-sues-illinois-citys-reparations-program-over-giving-money-based-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Judicial Watch, the aforementioned watchdog, has officially filed a complaint in response to these reparations moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a right way and a wrong way to do them,&rdquo; Michael Bekesha, a senior attorney at Judicial Watch, said. &ldquo;So reparations are to repair. And so we have provided in this country reparations in the past when somebody has been wronged by the government, and we try to make that person whole.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He further noted, &ldquo;The reparations programs that you&rsquo;re seeing around the country that are being talked about aren&rsquo;t that. They are just entirely giving money, usually to Black residents solely on the basis of race.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And I mean, that&rsquo;s just problematic.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Judicial Watch is representing five plaintiffs that are taking specific issue with the fact that race was an eligibility requirement for these reparations.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Judicial Watch alleged that using race as an eligibility requirement is in direct violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>Bekesha argued that the five plaintiffs, if not &ldquo;for the color of their skin, would be eligible for $25,000.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Equal Protection Clause is that the government can&rsquo;t discriminate against citizens based on their race or gender or national origin,&rdquo; Bekesha explained. &ldquo;The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-and-harris-paths-to-2024-win-may-rest-on-arizona-ballot-measures-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Trump and Harris paths to 2024 win may rest on Arizona ballot measures - Washington Examiner\">government shouldn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t pick winners and losers based on characteristics that are completely separate from whether or not somebody has been harmed or injured.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>And what exactly is Judicial Watch striving for?<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The best outcome would be for the court to declare the policy unconstitutional, prevent the city of Evanston from providing any more reparations payments based on race, and make whole any non-Black resident or descendant of a resident who, you know, would be otherwise eligible for the payment,&rdquo; Bekesha said.<\/p>\n<p>Evanston officials did not comment on the matter due to pending litigation.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, has sued the city of Evanston, Illinois, after it announced plans to pay reparations to Black residents. The Reparations Committee proposed a total of $1.1 million, distributing $25,000 to 44 descendants who say they faced housing discrimination in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. The decision sparked significant debate about reparations. Judicial Watch argues that using race as an eligibility requirement violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and that the five plaintiffs would have been eligible for the same amount if not for their race. The group is seeking a court to declare the policy unconstitutional, halt further race-based reparations, and compensate any non-Black residents who would have qualified otherwise. Evanston officials have not commented due to the ongoing litigation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2569264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-02-11T190531.933.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33274,50410,4585,73672,9128],"class_list":["post-2569263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-civil-rights","tag-controversy-2","tag-lawsuit","tag-municipal-policy","tag-reparations"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-02-11T190531.933.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2569263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2569267,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569263\/revisions\/2569267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2569264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2569263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2569263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2569263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}