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Filed in Clerk's Office
<br /> Jun 17, 2026
<br /> BILL NO.26-18 Bianca Tirado
<br /> City Clerk, South Bend, IN
<br /> RESOLUTION NO.
<br /> A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND,
<br /> INDIANA,FORMALLY ACCEPTING THE HISTORICAL SECTIONS OF THE FINAL
<br /> REPORT OF THE REPARATORY JUSTICE COMMISSION AND THE HISTORY OF
<br /> RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLACK RESIDENTS DOCUMENTED
<br /> THEREIN,ACKNOWLEDGING THE ANALYSES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
<br /> SECTIONS OF THE REPORT FOR PURPOSES OF POLICY DISCUSSIONS,AND
<br /> ISSUING A FORMAL APOLOGY FROM THE COMMON COUNCIL AND ON
<br /> BEHALF OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND
<br /> WHEREAS, on September 25, 2023, the Common Council of the City of South Bend
<br /> established the Reparatory Justice Commission to examine the history of racial discrimination
<br /> against Black residents of South Bend and to recommend measures by which the City might repair
<br /> the documented harms of that history; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the Commission, composed of community members with expertise across
<br /> housing, employment, education, health, civil rights, and public service conducted eighteen
<br /> months of research,public testimony, archival inquiry, and community engagement; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the Commission produced a final report of 138 pages documenting an
<br /> extensive history of racial discrimination in economic opportunity & employment, housing,
<br /> education, health & mental health,policing& criminal justice system, sustained over more than a
<br /> century, and identified sixty-two specific recommendations for the City, the Common Council,
<br /> allied institutions, and community partners; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the historical record the Commission has compiled draws on official
<br /> municipal records, federal and state archives, scholarly research, and the lived testimony of South
<br /> Bend residents whose families experienced the harms documented therein; and
<br /> WHEREAS, this Council recognizes that an accurate account of the City's history is the
<br /> foundation on which any honest reparative efforts must build from; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the Commission's analyses and recommendations represent a substantive
<br /> framework for further discussions from which the work of repair, with the Common Council and
<br /> the administration of the City of South Bend, along the South Bend Community School
<br /> Corporation,the Housing Authority of South Bend,the St.Joseph County Health Department,area
<br /> hospitals and universities, faith communities, philanthropic institutions, and the broader business
<br /> community bear collective and shared responsibility for the implementation of policies and
<br /> legislation within the bounds of the Constitution and applicable law to benefit all residents.
<br /> NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of South Bend,
<br /> Indiana as follows:
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