12.5 Million Enslaved Africans: The Scale Behind the Fight Over Local Reparations

The trans-Atlantic slave trade forced an estimated 12.5 million Africans onto ships bound for the Americas, a historical fact that anchors the current legal and political battle over reparations in the United States.

As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, President Donald Trump’s administration is challenging local government efforts to compensate Black residents. The executive branch has joined a lawsuit against Evanston, Illinois, the first U.S. city to implement a municipal reparations program. This city provides $25,000 housing grants to Black residents whose families were harmed by discriminatory housing policies.

Robin Rue Simmons, who now uses the name N'nanba, helped create the Evanston program. She is currently assisting more than 100 other communities in establishing similar initiatives. Simmons chairs Evanston’s Reparations Committee and served as a city councilwoman. She stated that despite the current administration’s barriers, federal redress remains a collective goal.

The federal government argues that race-based benefit programs violate the Constitution. In a lawsuit originally filed by Judicial Watch, plaintiffs claim that Evanston distributes funds based on race without identifying specific harms. Michael Bekesha, who represents the plaintiffs, said the Constitution prevents governments from choosing winners and losers based entirely on race. A federal judge recently allowed the Justice Department to intervene in the case. The department alleges the Evanston program violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and the Fair Housing Act.

Kiersten Pels, a Justice Department spokeswoman, stated that race-based government benefit programs are often unconstitutional. Last year, the department sent a warning letter to leaders in Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina, who were considering their own reparations plans. The administration’s campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has prompted some institutions to reconsider or scale back their efforts.

The debate has international dimensions. In March, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution describing the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. More than 120 countries supported the resolution, which urged reparations. Argentina, Israel, and the United States voted against it, while 52 nations, including England and 27 European Union members, abstained.

Higher education institutions are also facing pressure. Georgetown University continues to offer admission consideration to descendants of enslaved people connected to its history. However, new work in the sector has stalled. Richard Cellini, who previously led a Harvard project, noted that his team found nearly 500 living descendants of people enslaved by Harvard’s past leaders. Harvard fired the team days after Trump’s January 2025 anti-DEI order. Kirt von Daacke, a historian at the University of Virginia, reported seeing no new scholarship programs since Trump returned to office.

Despite federal opposition, some recipients are using the funds. Juan Woolfolk, 36, a descendant connected to Georgetown, is using a $10,000 scholarship to study museum studies at Southern University at New Orleans. Virginia Theological Seminary makes annual cash payments to descendants of people who worked on its campus, funded by an endowment that grew from $1.7 million to $2.8 million since 2019. In Evanston, recipient Joe Martin, 46, a Delta flight attendant, said the government reacts negatively when a legitimate program is created.