Baltimore Reparations Fund Plagued by Infighting and Struggles for Control
“The City Hall says the mayor has final say, while commissioners maintain the body was created to independently manage the funds”
When the state of Maryland legalized marijuana for personal use a few years ago, it designated a percentage of sales to be put in a special fund, which would be used in part to pay reparations for slavery and to fund various social programs.
The fund now contains upwards of $35 million, but almost none of the money has been paid out because of an ongoing power struggle to control it between pretty much everyone involved in the program. Who could have predicted such a thing?
FOX News reports:
$35 million in reparations money remains unused as Baltimore officials battle over who gets control: report
Millions in reparations money remain unused as Baltimore officials battle over who gets control, according to a local report.
The Baltimore Beat reported that the $35 million in revenue from the recreational cannabis tax has not reached residents yet due to infighting between City Hall and the Community Reinvestment and Reparations Commission, a 17-member body established in November 2024 to oversee how the funds are distributed.
Since Maryland legalized recreational cannabis three years ago, “not a single dollar has reached the people it was meant to help, and the first round of funding may still be a year away,” the report said.
“The City Hall says the mayor has final say, while commissioners maintain the body was created to independently manage the funds,” the Beat reported.
“That holdup means that while Maryland’s legalization of cannabis in 2023 led to over $1.1 billion in sales over the following year alone, even as Black communities continue to be targeted by the drug war, none of it has helped repair that damage,” the article explained.
Lots of people are probably expecting a big payday out of this. I have a feeling many of them will be disappointed.
More from the Baltimore Beat:
Jumel Howard, chief of external affairs in the Baltimore City Office of Equity and Civil Rights, said in a statement to Baltimore Beat that City Hall is “committed to delivering meaningful investments to impacted communities” and is working with the commission to create a plan and timeline for distribution with public input.
“Funds can only be distributed after a formal plan is released and a public hearing is conducted,” Howard said.
But commissioners allege City Hall has begun allocating millions of dollars from the fund without their approval.
In a statement to the Beat on behalf of the commission, Commissioner Khalilah M. Harris (who briefly worked at The Real News Network with several people affiliated with the Beat) said the city has allocated over $5 million that “the Commission did not authorize.”
Howard disputed that characterization and said that the city designated the Office of Equity and Civil Rights to administer the $5 million in support of the commission’s work, including staffing and outreach.
In 2025, amid the slow rollout of the cannabis repatriation funds across the state, Maryland lawmakers passed Senate Bill 894 that mandates counties to develop a formal plan for distributing the money, limit administrative costs, and report annually to the state on how the funds are being used.
This has disaster written all over it. You just know that no one is going to be happy at the end of this story.
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Comments
Well I know I’m stunned! Graft is a hard thing to manage in public.
“… Black communities continue to be targeted by the drug war…
Don’t take no illegal drugs and you can’t be targeted.
[Insert picture of Eddie Murphy tapping forehead here]
Seriously though this program has been designed as a grift from the beginning. As we have discussed before there are no pre-civil-war records which can identify who was -or wasn’t a slave. This whole thing is a classic Tammany Hall patronage to supporters scheme.
This is akin to the perennial whining that we hear from black “activists” and “leaders,” complaining that black males are allegedly over-represented in prison populations, and that said reality must only be the product of alleged “systemic/institutional racism.”
No; the prison stats are because black males commit violent felonies at a rate that is far greater than their percentage of the overall population. If you don’t want to be incarcerated, don’t commit violent felonies.
What about the thousands of blacks who were slave owners? Do they get reparations too?
I would imagine so, because the real fight is for ANY black “blood,” while a measure of “slave blood” would be more discriminating.
Now, in my blue state, I am off to identify as black….I will probably be in line behind Elizabeth Warren. Nah, she doesn’t stand in lines.
Come on. You don’t really believe any ‘reparations’ are going to reach a single negro these ‘funds’ purport to help, do you? These are yet more democrat money-laundering cons. The cash will go into select democrats’ pockets. And most of them caucasian.
Unexpectedly!
35 million isn’t a lot of cheese to go around the black population.
Let’s make some bets, how many blacks from across the country will either move or say they live within the Baltimore area?
Thomas Sowell famously stated that the welfare state has always been judged by its good intentions, rather than its bad results, and that good intentions can lead to disastrous consequences for a whole nation.
Al Sharpton will not celebrate the 250th anniversary of our independence due to slavery.
But if a black person were to serve in congress, that would change things. There are 67 blacks in congress. Nope, not good enough
But if a black person were to be elected mayor, that would change things. The four largest U.S. cities have black mayors. Nope, not good enough
But if a black person were to serve on the Supreme Court that would change things. Numerous blacks have been on the Supreme Court. Nope, not good enough
What if we had a black astronaut go to the moon? Nope not good enough
But surely if a black person were to become VP of the US. Nope, not good enough
How about president then? If a black person were to be president of the United States, that would….Nope, not good enough.
I am beginning to understand. So if every black person were given 10 million dollars each in reparations. Surely? Nope. Not good enough
I give up
Give up is the whole idea. This grievance can never be allowed to end. Too much loss of revenue, air time, and votes for Democrats.
Of course the grievance won’t end. If reparations are paid those blacks alive today because their ancestors were slaves, what would prevent the next generation of blacks for claiming reparations for the same reason? Will they not be similarly aggrieved as today’s blacks? A payout now will not change the nature of future generations’ ancestry.
“What would prevent the next generation of blacks for claiming reparations for the same reason?”
What if you pour water into a cup that has no bottom? Will it ever get full?
To paraphrase Reagan in a hopelessly tail-recursive manner:
“When you subsidize entitlement, you get more of it.”
Give up? I go extremely long on Colt 45 (both types).
And “beauty supplies”, nail salons, and stock in Red Lobster.
You’re not getting it. He has a valid point, which echoes Frederick Douglass’s famous July 5, 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”.
From that point of view, no matter how good the USA is now, from the point of view of black people it was a terrible place 250 years ago. Independence 250 years ago was a step backwards for the slaves; it made their lives worse. So why should a black person celebrate the anniversary? Even the greatest black fan of the USA as it is now can say he’d rather celebrate the anniversary of when it started to become good, after the Civil War, not the anniversary of an independence in which his ancestors had no share.
Douglass himself did celebrate the achievements, however flawed, of the USA’s founders. At least after the Civil War he did retroactively celebrate the Revolution, though he thought the Civil War was the greater and more worthy achievement. But Sharpton, charlatan though he is, is entitled to stick to what was directly achieved 250 years ago and say that that’s not something worth celebrating, at least for the descendants of those it harmed, even if they did eventually benefit from its long-term consequences.
One might reasonably argue that it was the slavers back in Africa that were the cause of black troubles. While the U.S., like many countries, tolerated slavery, we did fight a major civil are to end it, among other things.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I don’t recall the founding documents to expressly permit slavery, nor did they object to it, except in “all men” phraseology (countdown to lefties whining about “man” vs “people).
If blacks were really concerned about slavery and its history, they would not be Democrats.
Baltimore is bankrupt, with the worst performing and most expensive (per pupil) costs in the state. The monopoly given to the teachers union to run the schools has mostly driven parents to the suburbs. Meanwhile, it costs about 200,000 per Baltimore city police officer, most of which new recruits never see because BCPD is lopsidely top heavy.
Baltimore does not need more money. It needs to be forced to make better decisions so it can fend for itself. There was a time when tax revenues from Baltimore kept state finances flush. Now it’s the other way around.
Coming to a city near you.
And let’s all remember this little factoid: the city of Baltimore is under full control of a certain minority group, and it’s been that way for a generation or more…and look at the utter depravity there, along with the terrible crime, drugs, homelessness; let alone all the failures in their schools…it’s a lesson in how NOT to govern a large city…and I’ll leave it at that…except to say that all the money made available and now adding “reparations” will improve nothing.
It should be Wakanda after all the “investments.”
Since proving slave ancestry is so difficult, the answer is to legalize slavery in Baltimore. Those blacks volunteering to serve their new white masters can draw upon the $35 million when they meet retirement age.
Retirement implies that they have ever actually had a job. And retirement age? Only for the lucky (he says, wearing his “All in the Game” T-shirt.)
Voluntary servitude is already legal. The 13th amendment only bans involuntary servitude.
I would prefer “informed servitude.”
It is rather unseemly to watch all this fighting over grift dollars. Not unexpected but still unseemly. I need more popcorn.
Promising money for votes is one thing. Giving away that money when it’s in your pocket is another.
Oh boy, using marijuana taxes for reparations? Folks, I have a personal history of growing the stuff purely for personal use. Never more than 2 plants at a time. I know the numbers backwards and forwards, inside and out. I can be truly boring on the subject in every dimension, so I will just state my conclusion, which I reached several years ago and which is coming true in the Pacific NW right now.
It is this: Marijuana prices and tax revenues will collapse. In Oregon, the same ounces that sold for $150 three or four years ago now sell at retail for $20. The wholesale price for outdoor weed (15% THC) is now $200/lb., i.e. $12 an ounce. The natural pre-tax clearing price for the stuff is maybe 10-15 cents an ounce if it were as legal as any other agricultural commodity.
I predicted this quite a few years ago, and like I say it’s coming true in the early “legalization” states. I can easily back this up with details if anyone cares. Bottom line: No matter what you think of reparations, Baltimore’s marijuana-funded reparations kitty is destined to fail.
So there. Have fun.
The other is issue is how ‘legal’ is it gonna be? Beer and Bourbon are both ‘legal’ but that doesn’t mean without basic restrictions on age of use, hefty taxes, required tax stamps on containers, limits on untaxed amounts, limits or even bans on home production, limits on sales, limits on use while driving or even an ‘open container’. IMO it won’t ever be any less regulated than alcohol.
Now that personal, recreational adult use is legal in 24 states + D.C., and “medical” in 15 more, the taboo has been broken. Marijuana is now broadly acceptable. I don’t expect the authorities to permit it to be grown, processed, and distributed the same way wheat is, and only used the 10-15 cents an ounce number to illustrate how cheap the stuff is if unregulated.
“Legalized” prices are crashing because even the inefficient cultivation required by state laws in “legal” states is very cheap. Backyard cultivation is even cheaper. That $20 retail in Oregon costs $2 in the backyard. Marijuana is one of the easiest plants in the garden; now that it’s legal to possess and use in 24 states + D.C., and another 15 states with a bogus “medical” card, it is impossible to enforce any ban on home production.
So I went through everything with Claude A.I. (the best of the bunch, IMO) and the answer that industrial agriculture marijuana production cost would be 5 to 6 cents/ounce. This implies 10 to 15 cents at retail, pretax.
At home, production cost is $2/ounce with clones, 80 cents with seed. Marijuana is much easier for even a novice than, say, beer or wine, and it stores much better. Bottom line: States (or cities) that think they’ll derive much marijuana tax revenue over time are ignoring agricultural basics, and Econ 101.
Not that anyone in authority in Baltimore knows jack s*** about any of that.
wht people asain browns etc must demand reparations for allll the damage done by the blmplo street armies
How about the $29 trillion in wealth transfer payments to the negroes [mostly] since that skunk Johnson?
and we just sit back and have to watch the r ape of america,,the further r ape of civility by some that wont even bother to raise their own children
Jumel?
Where are my reparations for my ancestors who were serfs in Europe? AFAIK, none of my ancestors was kangs. I’m still not a kang, so obviously I’m still being oppressed.
Roughly 350,000 blacks in Baltimore so that’s $100 per head. It’s not a process issue because you could just cut a check and be done but rather a fight as to who’s gonna steal these funds.
Once the courts get involved and declare that reparations are illegal as is pending in Evanston, then the politicians can plunder these funds at their leisure.
So expect the delay to continue.
There may be 350,000 Blacks in Baltimore, but there are 1.8 million Blacks in Maryland Accord ng to the 2020 Census. That math of 35 million dollars divided by 1.8 million people works out to less than $20 per person who happens to be Black. The overhead cost of that distribution though specified by law as “limited” will reduce the payment per person. Each county in Maryland is tasked with determining the details of distribution which increases the overhead costs.
“Who could have predicted such a thing?”
Chaucer.
To paraphrase Santayana, “Those whose schools no longer assign The Pardoner’s Tale are doomed to re-enact it.”
Reparation is simply a form of neosocialistic income redistribution dressed up in a manner that makes it more palatable for the gullible virtue signalers to rationalize while being fleeced. Sociopaths will flock to the process due to the marvelous opportunities for exploitation with minimal accountability. However, that will change once the transfer really starts to hurt those who can least afford it. Democrat Socialists hope this will accelerate the destruction of the bourgeoisie, who are seen as the mortal political enemies of the proletariat.
The Wire wasn’t a TV show, it was a documnetary. To me, it ended too soon. Have season 6 dive into the graft in city hall.
Reparations??? Wow. ARE YOU PEOPLE HIGH?
Probably, which is why they think they’ll finance it with marijuana taxes.
Gee, a big pile of money that is primarily going to be consumed by fraud and people are bickering who controls it. What an amazing turn of events.
Has anyone proposed a lawsuit to block this racially discriminatory program? Seems like it should be enjoined before any funds get paid out.
Whites should be receiving reparations for having to live in the same country as blacks.
We all black. When we get paid?
Under what law can a government give the tax payer’s money directly to members of one race?