SOUTH BEND — Black residents of the city face significant harm ranging from economic disadvantages all the way up to dying younger than their neighbors, according to a new report.
Those harms are not the result of random chance but of many decades of systemic, intentional practices, according to a report from the South Bend Reparatory Justice Commission.
The South Bend Common Council formed the commission in September 2023, giving its members the task of studying long-term effects of racism in the city and recommending policies to address them.
Among the most serious findings in the report is that residents of the LaSalle Park neighborhood have a lower life expectancy than any other part of St. Joseph County. The area is also known as The Lake because of a 40-acre city park at its center, eight acres of which are a combination natural pond and storm water retention basin called Beck’s Lake.
That area saw significant, sustained industrial pollution while also being redlined as one of the only places Black residents could live in the early 20th century.
The Reparatory Justice Commission document is labeled final report and stamped with a May 4 date for its filing in the city clerk’s office, but it was released to the public late on May 7 by Black Lives Matter South Bend after the group requested the report from the City of South Bend.
Calling the findings “deeply concerning,” the group singled out the LaSalle Park death rates for attention.
“This is not an accident,” Black Lives Matter wrote in an email to supporters and local media. “It reflects decades of environmental harm, redlining, and systemic divestment by the City of South Bend.
“For years, residents of LaSalle Park have lived with the consequences of pollution and neglect. Now, the data confirms what the community has long known: this is a public health crisis that demands immediate action.”
Black Lives Matter South Bend called for three specific remedies in its email.
The group also announced a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12 at the Charles Black Center, 3419 W. Washington St. to discuss the findings and recommendations in the report.
This developing story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend reparations report IDs Black residents’ grave health outcomes
Reporting by Cory Havens, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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