The city of Decatur apologizes for slavery

A reparations task force will be formed to study the city’s involvement in slavery and make recommendations

Decatur, Georgia – The city commission will be selecting 11 people to be a part of a task force that will study the city of Decatur’s involvement in slavery, redlining, segregation, and property seizures.

The task force will have 60 days to research and provide a recommendation to the city commission. The task force will consist of historians, legal experts, youth representatives and more. The

Decatur is the county seat of DeKalb County, the fourth largest county in the state. The southern community of DeKalb County is a very large unincorporated area that is often referred to as the city of Decatur, but is not. This community simply uses the city of Decatur’s name for postal reasons and is managed by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners.

During the 1990s and 2000s, DeKalb County was recognized as the most affluent county in the county among Blacks. But due to gentrification over the years the demographics of DeKalb County have changed. According to DeKalb County’s Wikipedia page, the county still has a majority Black population with 50.29% in 2020 United States Census.