‘A Dangerous Shot’: Trump’s Justice Department Threatens to Investigate North Carolina County If Reparations for Black Citizens Are Passed
The Department of Justice has officially warned municipal leaders in a North Carolina county that its office will be forced to investigate if the county awards reparations to descendants of enslaved people. Officials in Buncombe County and the city of Asheville have spent the last three years considering what reparations would benefit Black communities disproportionately impacted by systemic patterns of displacement, economic exclusion, and criminalization since forming the Community Reparations Commission in 2022. After drafting its final recommendation report, the commission presented it to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 2. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office on August 25, 2025 in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Two days later, the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ penned a letter to the board titled "RE: Unlawful Race-Based Discrimination," expressing concerns that the reparations recommendations would violate federal civil rights laws if they were adopted. "To the extent these recommendations are formally adopted, you are now on notice that my office stands ready to investigate and enforce violations of federal civil rights laws to the fullest extent possible," Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general to the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, wrote. ‘Reparations for White People’: Donald Trump Slammed for Proposing ‘Restitution’ for Americans Who Are Harmed By ‘Unjust’ DEI Policies; Joy Reid, Don Lemon Sound Alarm The 39 policy recommendations listed in the Community Reparations Commission report address five focus areas: criminal justice, education, housing, economic development and health and wellness. The report lists examples of these recommendations, like "establishing a Black wealth-building fund, creating community land trusts, expanding access to culturally responsive healthcare, reimagining school curricula to reflect Black history, and transforming public safety systems." Dhillon warned that these recommendations might violate the Fair Housing Act, Title VI, Title VII, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The commission was set to present the report to the Asheville City Council on Sept. 9. Although the DOJ letter was only addressed to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, the county agency shared it with the Asheville City Council. A Buncombe County spokesperson told WLOS that since the Sept. 2 meeting, the commissioners “took no action, and no additional actions are scheduled at this time." A spokesperson for the city of Asheville stated that at the Sept. 9 meeting, city council members will "consider if any actions will be taken on recommendations that fall within the purview of the City.” "Our legal team will advise the City Council and staff on the legality of the Commission recommendations, in order to ensure compliance with current law. Because the letter was not addressed to the City of Asheville, nor was any response requested, the City does not anticipate providing one at this time," the statement from the City of Asheville spokesperson states. https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/1963761376591016330 News of the Justice Department's letter drew numerous reactions and comments on social media. Some people debated the necessity of a DOJ intervention, and others argued about the legality of reparations. "Seems like the decision should be with the County…what's with the Federal overreach?" one person wrote on Facebook. "City of Asheville knows it is illegal to use public funds to benefit any particular group of people -- one particular race, one particular sexual orientation, one particular political party, etc. They've already been through lawsuits on this and they choose to spend more time and attorney fees trying to violate federal law," another person argued. "Reparations aren’t about 'giving free money for slavery a long time ago.' Asheville’s plan is about repairing documented, ongoing harm caused by policies right here in our city. Things like housing discrimination, redlining, and systemic disinvestment that created generational wealth gaps," one commenter wrote. "And let’s not pretend public money has never been used this way before,” the Facebook user continued. “The GI Bill, farm subsidies, and housing loans were taxpayer-funded 'uplift',but they overwhelmingly went to white families. Reparations are simply saying: if government policies created the damage, government resources should help repair it." Author Nkechi Taifa, who is the executive director of the Reparation Education Project, said the DOJ's move is hypocritical and accused the department of "firing a dangerous shot across the bow of Asheville." "The DOJ claims that race-based remedies could violate federal civil rights laws. Let that sink in: a department ostensibly tasked with advancing justice is instead being weaponized to stifle it," she added. "The irony is staggering. The Supreme Court recently gave immigration agents the green light to use race as a factor in stops, effectively legitimizing racial profiling. In other words, race can be used to oppress, but not to repair. The DOJ’s warning to Asheville perfectly captures America’s hypocrisy: race is acceptable when wielded as a tool of state violence but forbidden when invoked as a tool of justice."
