St. Paul’s reparations commission plans to contract with a research company for a “harm study” examining the impact of “historic and ongoing harms” suffered by the city’s Black descendants of chattel slavery, an undertaking budgeted for up to $250,000.

While the city council appears to be on board, the evaluation process surrounding competing research proposals recently drew objections from some of the city’s Black elders, as well as the city council’s two Black members, who were of opposite minds about a full restart.

The city’s request for proposals for a researcher closed on Oct. 3 after being extended in September because it had drawn just a single response. Three research companies have since responded to the solicitation, though details have yet to be made public. While a single ap

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