Founder of ReRan – reranforblacks.com, Howard Ray, explains why the black homeowners in Chicago should be exempt from property taxes
Dan Proft: The movement is still afoot, though. There are various proposals for reparations. One that we mentioned last week is the Reconstruction Era Reparation Act Now or ReRean, the handle, created in 2023, that would be last year, by black Chicagoans. I’m reading from their website reranforblacks.com. Created in 2023 by black Chicagoans because of losing their homes due to the increase of county and city property taxes. Yeah, somebody has been talking about that for 20 years. Wait, that’s me. Our solution is a demand that black Chicagoans pay no property taxes as a part of reparations, just a part. Okay, well, let’s hear the argument. I always want to hear the argument. The founder of ReRan … reranforblacks.com is the website. He is Howard Ray, and he joins us now. Howard, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
Howard Ray: Hello, Dan and Amy. Good morning to Chicago and Chicagoland areas. How are you guys doing today?
Dan Proft: Good. Good. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. So, yeah, property taxes in Chicago and Cook County in the collar counties in Illinois, you know, between us and New Jersey, highest in the nation. Not great. Destroys home equity, basically a government taking of your home. But it’s happening to everyone. Why should black Chicagoans be the only ones exempt from property taxes?
Howard Ray: Before I start, how did you guys hear about ReRan?
Dan Proft: You know, I’ve got a lot of birdies out there that feed me information about this and that. Somebody sent me a link to your website.
Howard Ray: Okay. Okay. Well, good. The reason why we’re saying black Chicago only right now, again, is just a start. Part of the reason is because we’re being affected tremendously. We’re losing a lot of the black culture in Chicago. A lot of the blacks are moving out of Chicago because of crime and taxes, and a lot of the blacks are moving to the red states or southern states. And what we want … when we see the numbers and we see the corporate, so we’re saying that by not paying property taxes, they should be able to be paid. And also, we see that our taxes, our demise … They’re using our taxes to demise our community here. They’re they’re using our taxes to support and advocate for illegal immigrants when it means that we’re getting pushed out. It goes back to slavery. The injustice that has been done to us as black Americans over the years, from slavery to Jim Crow, the lynching, redlining, numerous amount of things, incarcerated due to marijuana. You know, just recently the deal that the bill just passed with No Representation Without Population Act. That was another thing that pushed us out of our community. We didn’t get money from the federal government because they were using that money to supply downstate towns with the prisoner population, using those numbers to help out that help out those downstate resident townships that have prisons in their towns. So they used our people that were in Chicago. They went to prison to get those numbers, so they can get government funds.
Amy Jacobson: Mr. Ray, Have you met with any state lawmakers, legislators or Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office yet to discuss this and propose your idea?
Howard Ray: Well, we sent emails out. We have met with some local aldermen. Yes. We have. To answer your question. We have.
Dan Proft: Has anybody signed on?
Amy Jacobson: Yeah. What was their reaction? What did they say?
Howard Ray: Well, they said, well, you know, it’s a good idea, but, someone said it’s a good idea, but no one has, signed off on it or spoke publicly about it.
Dan Proft: What’s the qualification? Are you operating under the one drop rule for those who are those who would be eligible?
Howard Ray: So basically, if you for the last 100 years, signed on the census saying that you are a black American and you descendant of the slaves, you will qualify.
Dan Proft: Okay. And so again, describing the plight of black Americans in Chicagoland, why limit it to just black Americans in Chicago? I mean, obviously, you know, for example, the highest property tax rate as a percentage of home value in Cook County is actually Ford Heights, which is 99% black. So why not include the south suburbs? Why not include all of Chicagoland? Why not include all of Illinois?
Howard Ray: Well, it’s a start, but Chicago is a big city. And, Chicago, a lot of blacks are moving to other counties, and we’re trying to preserve the blacks to stay here. Again, we don’t want, you know, our people to leave this city when we’ve been through a lot. We built this city. We, you know, we have blood in this city, so we want to preserve, and we also want to entice people from Chicago Heights, from Los Angeles, from other places to come back to Chicago, enjoy this great city.
Dan Proft: There any means testing to this? You know, for example, it turns out that not all black residents of Chicago are similarly situated. Melody Hobson or John Rogers Jr., they would have the property taxes on their multi-million dollar mansions zeroed out just like a regular middle income black family would?
Howard Ray: Well, if you’re black and you’re a descendant of slaves, if you are, you have $1,000,000 property, or if you’re a millionaire, you in Chicago, you wouldn’t have to pay property tax.
Dan Proft: Okay, So the answer is yes. All right. So it was about 750,000 black residents of Chicago round numbers, which is down considerably, as you were sort of pointing out. Yeah. It turns out black residents, like white residents, like Asian residents, like Hispanic residents, they don’t like crime and high taxes. Shocking, but they like politicians who continue to promote policies that involve high taxes and lawlessness. Strange. Anyway, so 750,000, let’s say, to be generous, the average property tax bill is $10,000. Is that fair? Probably fair. When you look at the high end as well as the low end, even on a $5,000, that would be what, $3.75 billion. So ten grand would be about $7.5 billion. Yeah. So, so, you know, that’s what we’re talking about, right. You know, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 billion in property tax relief just to black residents of Chicago.
Howard Ray: Yes.
Amy Jacobson: Yeah. But where should that money come from? Should taxpayers, the white taxpayers, foot the bill for this?
Dan Proft: Well, they will.
Amy Jacobson: What do you suggest?
Dan Proft: I mean, that’s by definition, white and Latino and Asian and everybody else.
Howard Ray: Well, we have a formula. We don’t want to disclose it as of right now, but we have a formula for which what you’re speaking about. But our formula, it won’t take any way from the budget. It won’t take away from the other people that living in Illinois. So we do have a formula, but we’re going to hold off on that until we’ve finished talking to all the elected officials that we need to talk to.
Dan Proft: What about have you talked to like Chicago Teachers Union? Do you have any of the unions on board? Because we have the unions on board. Then you have the politicians they own, you know?
Howard Ray: No, we haven’t talked to the unions and anybody like that, but we’re in the process. Again, this is a new process that we’re putting out now. And our basic concern right now is to create awareness and get the demand, particularly from the black Chicagoans. Once we get that demand and that support, then everything is gold. We’re going to push on, and we’re going to talk to the necessary people we have to talk to.
Amy Jacobson: Well, what about, you know, Father Pfleger or Reverend Jackson? Have you reached out to either of them?
Howard Ray: No, we haven’t. We haven’t reached out to them. Again, our thing is to reach out to the people because the people, they are about to lose their taxes, the people who have lost their taxes. We’re reaching out to those people, and we’re reaching out to the community. And once we get the community where we want to get them, then we’re going to reach out to everybody that you have in your mind right now that we should think, think to reach out to.
Dan Proft: I mean, Brandon Johnson is a proponent of reparations. Stacey Davis-Gates is a proponent of reparations, as I understand it. I would think that they would jump on the chance to champion this, right?
Howard Ray: Yeah. I mean, anybody that has a reparations solution, we welcome it. I mean, this is this is a start. And, and we’re looking for a lot of ideas that come about.
Dan Proft: What do you think about politicians that are that are in charge, that have put so many black families in the position you’re describing, where they’re losing their houses because of confiscatory property taxes or they’re leaving because of the combination of confiscatory taxes and violence in the communities and neighborhoods in which they live. I mean, you know, how many generations of black representation do you need at the ward level, at the city level, at the county level, at the county state’s attorney’s level, before you start to say, you know, maybe it’s a policy perspective that is wrong rather than a personnel problem, we just need more black representatives. We just need more people who look like us. But if they don’t think right, then it I suppose nothing changes.
Howard Ray: Well, if you see. You’re going to start seeing billboards across the city. Right. And on the billboards is saying that if the candidates aren’t advocating for what we’re advocating for. This should have been done a long time. We should not be voting for the same elected officials that have been putting us in this situation since the sixties, seventies, eighties, whatever, with the same philosophy. So, yeah, they need to go. And we’re going to … we’re going to seek out new candidates. Candidates that that are advocating for this policy. And we’re going to get those people to vote this way. So that’s what this election 2019, we’re going to see a change. We’re already working on candidates now.
Dan Proft: Howard Ray, founder of Reran, reranforblacks.com. What’s your background? Have you been involved in politics or policy fights before?
Howard Ray: Yeah, I, actually, I’ve founded West Humbolt Park Community Coalition, and we advocated for a CBA with Amazon here on the West Side. So I’ve been involved with that fight because we’re big. Our organization, are a big advocate for, for the CBA to become an ordinance in Chicago. I actually, at one time, ran for alderman here on the West Side. So I’ve been very involved with the community. And so my whole thing is to make this city a great city regardless of what ward race is here. Because, you know, everybody should enjoy the city, Nobody should be pushed out that there’s legal here, you understand?
Amy Jacobson: Yeah, well, that’s what I was going to ask you. What about immigrants or illegals from Africa who’ve just come here that are staying on the South and West Side? Can they be included on this?
Howard Ray: This is only for people who are descendants of slavery here in the United States. Chicago, black Americans. Now, I would say this, across the world, slavery has gone on in other countries. So those countries should be doing the same thing.
Dan Proft: Yeah, sure. And in some cases, it still persists today, unfortunately. But, okay. Howard Ray is the founder of ReRan. The website reranforblacks.com. The proposal is to exempt black Chicagoans from paying property taxes.
Howard Ray: Another thing for you, of course, if anyone’s listening who advocate, who’s who understand what we’re doing, please go to our website and find the petition. And also, we’re looking for volunteers. You can call 224-370-1242. Please call us. We need your help.
Dan Proft: All right. We’ll look forward to seeing how this proposal shakes out and when you can get some people to, you know, publicly sign on rather than just privately express support.
Howard Ray: Yeah, we’re going to have a press conference in the near future, probably in the next week or two. I’ll get back in touch with you because we’re going to release … put a new billboard up on the West Side and South Side. So we’re going to have a press conference.
Dan Proft: I’ll tell you what. You should reach out to you to yard sign vendor, get some regular yard signs because I think you can create momentum for this movement beyond the city proper. I mean, certainly we have the ability to distribute those signs in places like, you know, the rich white suburbs like Glen Ellyn and Hinsdale and Naperville. I mean, I’d be happy to put these signs next to their “Hate Has No Hope Here” signs. Well, yeah, you know, expand it regionally.
Howard Ray: Okay. I got your email. You got my email. Can you send me that or we can talk?
Dan Proft: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I’ll pitch in. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Howard Ray founder of ReRan reranforblacks.com. Thanks, Howard. Appreciate it.
Howard Ray: Thank you. Bye bye.