From Staff Reports 

To cover the payment of reparations to local blacks for what was termed injustices from the past, the  Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on July 17 voted unanimously to approve $2 million in its fiscal 2023 budget — and to add $500,000 to future reparations budgets, with an annual increase of 2 percent.

The county reparations budget approval followed the City of Ashville’s commitment — also on a unanimous vote — to an initial  reparations investment of $2.1 million in its 2022 budget — and included an additional allocation of $500,000 for 2023.

“We are at the intersection of yesterday, today and tomorrow,” Commissioner Al Whitesides said, according to a county press release. “This is going to make our whole community stronger. This is something that will help us heal.”

Meanwhile, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) quoted Whitesides as saying the following at the meeting: “This is not to just help the African-American community. This is going to make our whole community stronger, because we all know one thing — a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”

News 13 reported that “Whitesides motioned during his comments for the county to mirror the city’s efforts by having a line item for reparations.”

Whitesides also said, as News 13 noted, “When you look in business, education and look in every other field, we (blacks) have to fight for every inch of what we get,. Folks, I’m not talking about what I’ve heard or read. I’m taking about what I’ve gone through in my lifetime.”

Buncombe commissioners’ Chairman Brownie Newman added, “Our local governments had a direct role in creating a community we live in today. I’m hoping we can play a practical and productive role to help remedy some of the things we would all loved to have been able to do differently. But we can do differently today.”

“I absolutely support there being an ongoing budget line,” Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara was quoted as saying in the county release. “I certainly understand the many reasons why the commission wants to have a clear foundation of what baseline funding looks like.”

Agreeing with Beach-Ferrara’s assessment, Commissioner Terri Wells said, according to the county release, “I feel like with our commissioners’ strategic priorities for early childhood and affordable housing, $500,000 is a good start. 

“To me, this is about investing in wealth-building opportunities. By doing this, Buncombe County is going to be stronger for many generations,” Wells asserted.

The county release began by noting, “At its July 17 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners received an update on the Community Reparations Commission’s work to date, including a June 6 motion by the Community Reparations Commission that stated:

“‘The Community Reparations Commission recommends that the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners include a line item in their budget for reparations for Black people in Buncombe County as a percentage of the overall budget in perpetuity.’

“The Board of Commissioners also heard about the Community Reparations Commission’s other major topics of interest — community and youth engagement. 

“The commission is expected to make its immediate recommendations on October 1, 2022, with short-term recommendations to follow in March 2023, medium-term recommendations in August 2023, and long-term recommendations in February 2024. The commission’s work is anticipated to close out in April 2024.”

The Community Reparations Commission will next meet from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 15 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center - Asheville, located at 87 Haywood St. in downtown Asheville.