WASHINGTON – Against the backdrop of protests across the country over police shootings of unarmed Black people and racial disparities, some mayors and local officials propose ways to examine the impact of slavery and help atone for it, including reparations. Last week, Providence officials pledged some form of reparations for Black people, indigenous people and people of color. Only a few local governments have passed reparations measures, including the California Assembly, which approved a plan last month to create a task force to study how reparations would be implemented.