University of Chicago Students Demand School Give $1 Billion in Reparations to South Side

A University of Chicago student organization is demanding that the administration pay over $1 billion in reparations to the city’s South Side.

In an op-ed on Feb. 9 in The Chicago Maroon, UChicago Against Displacement argued that the University of Chicago should pay over $1 billion in reparations to the city’s South Side over 20 years, arguing that it will “protect South Siders from displacement.”

“We at UChicago Against Displacement (UCAD), too, believe that the South Side is owed reparations. The University exists as a legacy of chattel slavery. Moreover, it has been an active participant in segregation, redlining, and supporting developments that work to isolate the University from its neighbors and put Southsiders at risk of displacement from their homes,” the group states.

The group proposes that the University of Chicago provide a “$20 million annual fund for rental assistance and local schools” and “$1 billion over 20 years ($50 million annually) in grant funding for long-term true affordable housing”

Additionally, the group is demanding that the university “reaffirm” their agreement not to expand into Woodlawn and Washington Park, expand employer-assisted housing for low-income employees as well as working-class employees, pursue “accountability” around university owned land in Black communities, and engage with local schools in supporting STEM programs.

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