Confronted with protests decrying systemic racism and a pandemic disproportionately impacting Black residents, Providence mayor Jorge Elorza decided it would take two bold actions to heal his city: Telling the truth about racism and paying reparations. The debate over whether and how to repair present-day harms wrought by centuries of racial injustice has long focused squarely on the federal government’s responsibility to apologize and pay for national wrongs against Black Americans — including slavery, housing discrimination, and racial violence.