DOJ Puts Buncombe County on Notice Over Reparations Plan
By Marge | Published 2025-09-08T15:48:37.434+00:00
News
Buncombe County -- September 9, 2025: A local plan to address racial disparities through a series of reparations recommendations has drawn legal scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which has warned Buncombe County and the City of Asheville that some proposals could violate federal civil rights laws.
The action places the county at the center of a national debate over how to address the legacy of slavery and systemic racism.Origins of the PlanThe reparations initiative began in 2020 when the City of Asheville and Buncombe County passed resolutions acknowledging the historical harms of slavery and segregation. The resolutions called for the creation of a Community Reparations Commission to develop recommendations. Appointed in March 2022, the commission, composed of community members, was tas