GREENBELT, Md. — The residents of Greenbelt, Maryland voted "yes" to creating a 21-member commission to review, discuss, and make recommendations on local reparations for African American and Native American residents of Greenbelt.
This historic vote makes Greenbelt the first U.S. city to put the issue of reparations on a ballot to be voted on, according to Greenbelt Mayor Colin Byrd.*
The ballot measure passed with 63% of the vote.
City council members in the City of Greenbelt approved a resolution in August to include this vote on the ballot for election day. Monday to include the issue of reparations on its 2021 referendum.
Byrd, who also chairs the City Council, said this vote means that the Greenbelt Reparations Commission would be a group of 21 members appointed by the city council, who would recommend reparations for African-American and Native American residents of Greenbelt.
The City of Greenbelt has had a long history of excluding African-Americans from the city, Byrd told WUSA9. Since its founding in 1937, Greenbelt was notable for being the first and largest of three "greenbelt towns" built with the contribution of African-Americans.
Byrd is the youngest mayor ever elected in Greenbelt history. Among many things, he has been very outspoken about his opposition to the proposed D.C. to Baltimore Maglev train.
Known as a progressive Democrat, Mayor Byrd most recently worked to prevent the SCMaglev project because he believed that only an elite commuter class would use the maglev, rather than a broad swathe of his constituents.
Mayor Byrd has served as a member of the Greenbelt City Council since 2017 and was only the second African-American elected to the city council. He's a member of the Urban League and the youngest ever Regional Director for the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.
*For context, the town of Amherst, Massachusetts created a reparations fund for Black residents to atone for slavery and discrimination. The plan never reached a ballot for a vote. Greenbelt is the first U.S. city to add it to a ballot for residents to vote.