Leon County, Florida, wants to address “historical harms” like many other local municipalities, cities and states, but was warned against it.
The Leon County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday in Tallahassee to revive a measure that would address historical harms by conducting a study of the past and providing some sort of compensation.
However, county leaders must also comply with the new incoming state law, SB 1134, banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across public institutions and local governments. The Florida House in March approved legislation to ban local governments from funding, promoting, or taking official actions related to DEI initiatives.
Commissioners changed the language of the county’s initiative to avoid any state or federal law violations by slashing all references to slavery, DEI and reparations.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Leon County government staff asked commissioners to avoid the measure as they risk losing $16.8 million in grant money and potentially being removed from the board.
“SB 1134, in part, prohibits the County from funding, promoting, or taking any official action related to DEI and creates a cause of action that may be brought by a resident against a county that violates the bill,” staff reportedly wrote in the agenda.
“The bill also provides that a member of a county commission acting in his or her official capacity who violates the prohibitions commits misfeasance or malfeasance in office and is subject to removal.”
Beyond Florida, reparations have been a growing trend by lawmakers at the local to state level. Similar to Leon County, local municipalities and states have adopted or are considering adopting task forces to study historical harms of slavery, Jim Crow, and redlining policies that led to housing discrimination.
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