The City of Boston has decided to drop plans for a report on the history and legacy of slavery in the city after one of the researchers’ works came under question earlier this year.
A spokesperson with Mayor Michelle Wu’s office told Boston 25 News Tuesday that Tufts University has returned $335,000 to the city that was originally supposed to be for a report on Boston’s historic role in the Slave Trade.
In 2022, Boston created a task force to study how it can provide reparations and other forms of atonement to Black Bostonians for the city’s role in slavery and its legacy of inequality. But the action plan, which was to be guided by research from local schools like Northeastern and Tufts, has experienced numerous delays.
Kerri K. Greenidge, a former Tufts University professor, was one of three researchers tasked with completing Tufts’ report, according to The Boston Globe.
Greenidge, who received widespread acclaim for her 2022 book “The Grimkes”, has come under fire after several scholars began to fact-check her work and accused her of mis-citing sources, according to The New York Times.
A spokesperson with Wu’s office says Greenidge is no longer employed by Tufts University.
“The City and the University have reluctantly come to a decision to cancel the contract for the first volume of the report,” the statement reads. “The university has been unable to identify a replacement researcher with the subject-matter expertise necessary to deliver a report meeting the standard that the City and the University both expect. Tufts has returned the full contract value to the City.”
While Tufts’ commissioned report was never completed, Northeastern University’s report has been turned into the city. Wu’s office says the Reparations Task Force is reviewing Northeastern’s section of the report, focusing on 1940-2020.
“The Task Force will then make the report available for the public in the near future,” the Mayor’s office said.
The city says the $335,000 for Tufts will be redistributed to other Reparations Task Force priorities.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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