A national reporting team from NBC News recently came to town to report on the Hayward Russell City Reparative Justice Project in the context of the broader national discussion about reparations for descendants of slaves in America.
The video and written report—plus a related Meet the Press segment on reparations for slavery—can be found here. The reporting explores in-depth—through interviews and additional research—the origins of the Russell City Reparative Justice Project (RCRJP), its progress, differing views and perspectives on the work, as well as how it both relates to and is distinguished from reparations for slavery.
By way of background, Russell City was a then- unincorporated area of Alameda County located near the Hayward shoreline south of Hayward Executive Airport. The RCRJP was initiated by the City at the urging of the Hayward Community Services Commission. It is exploring potential reparative responses to the forced relocation of Russell City’s primarily African American and Latino population to make way for redevelopment of the area during the 1960s.
The project is now led by a Steering Committee of former Russell City residents and descendants chosen by former residents and descendants, and is supported by City staff, a facilitator consultant and academic researchers.
To learn more about the Project, visit the RCRJP home page on the City of Hayward website, where background information, recordings of Steering Committee meetings, reports and related documents can be found and are being regularly updated.
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