Good evening, Council members and Knoxville Residents. I am Crystal Flack and my family has a Century of heritage here in Knoxville TN. Last night I had addressed the African American Equity Restoration Task Force about their failure to fulfill their mandate. Tonight, I'm here to address YOU about why you created a structure designed to fail from the beginning.

YOUR ADMISSION, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

In December 2020, City Council unanimously passed Resolution 367-2020. You officially admitted the City deliberately destroyed Black neighborhoods through Urban Renewal from 1959 to 1974. You documented demolishing 72 homes, 9 businesses, and 2 churches for one project alone. You acknowledged these actions "disproportionately targeted minority communities" and caused "devastating consequences."

You committed $100 million for restoration. That was your word: restoration. Not "opportunities for wealth building." Not "community programming." Restoration.


WHAT YOU ACTUALLY CREATED
This year alone, in February 2025, the task force distributed $150,000 to ten nonprofits for karate classes, mentoring programs, and transportation services. When I asked last night for the total amount distributed since 2020, no one could provide that figure—not even the staff member responsible for tracking expenditures. That information allegedly exists on the city website, but I couldn't find it, and neither could they produce it at the meeting. What I do know: Not one dollar went to displaced families. Not a single property was returned. Not one descendant compensated and restored.

But the problems go deeper than deviation from the Mandate. You designed this to fail at the onset:

First: Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie sits on both City Council and the task force. She oversees herself. That's a textbook conflict of interest, and you allowed it.

Second: The task force composition is wrong. Bank executives. University administrators. Corporate DEI professionals. Where are the civil rights attorneys who specialize in property reacquisition? Where are the displaced families or their descendants? Where are grassroots community members who actually suffered the harm?

You appointed people with institutional loyalties and corporate careers to protect. Consequently, no economic restoration within the African-American community has taken place.

Third: The task force has no real power. They don't control the money. They make recommendations that you can ignore. They meet four times a year. They can't even maintain quorum. This is oversight theater, not restoration.

Fourth: You told them to "work with existing community agencies to develop policy recommendations." That's consultant language for "study it forever and do nothing." You should have said for example: "Identify every displaced family; calculate what they're owed based on current property values and pay them within two years."

But you didn't, because you never intended actual reparations. We are already in year five out of seven. Your commitment was to restore the African-American impacted by Urban Renewal within seven years according to your website.

WHILE YOU STUDIED, OTHERS PROFITED

Let me tell you what's happening on the land you took from African-American people:

The Smokies Stadium sits on Urban Renewal land. It is projected to have an economic impact of $480 million over 30 years and has already generated approximately $970,000 in sales tax revenue through a public-private partnership with the City of Knoxville. It receives tax benefits while African-American families whose land was taken receive nothing. They don't own shares. They don't get dividends. They were forced out, and now they watch others profit.

The Chamber of Commerce announced this year it's selling its Market Square office for $7.5 million. That building sits on land where African - American homes, businesses, churches, and libraries were destroyed during Urban Renewal. Those families received maybe $5,000 in the 1960s which was often insufficient to cover the cost of a replacement home. Knoxville Chamber of Commerce’s Office is listed for $7.5 million today.

That's not just a wealth gap. That's theft, acknowledged by you in Resolution 367-2020, with no remedy provided. THE GRANT-MAKING SHELL GAME The task force operates as a grant-funding mechanism right under your noses, with zero oversight of its deviation from Resolution 367-2020. The Resolution said restoration. The task force gives out sponsorships and program grants. Where's the accountability? Where's the Council oversight ensuring they're actually doing what you mandated?

Resolution 367-2020 was about restoring what was taken. The task force is creating "opportunities to build generational wealth." Those are fundamentally different things.

If I steal your house, I don't restore equity by offering your grandchildren a scholarship. I return the house or pay you what it's worth today. That's restoration.

OUR LEGAL STANDING IS INDEPENDENT

Let me be absolutely clear: Our standing does not depend on the task force's performance. The City's official admission in Resolution 367-2020 establishes liability. The documented harm creates quantifiable damages. Your inadequate response over five years demonstrates bad faith.

We can file under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 for civil rights violations. We can pursue state claims for continuing tort and fraudulent misrepresentation. We can bring unjust enrichment claims against current property owners holding stolen land.

When we calculate damages properly—original property values plus 66 years of appreciation, plus lost rental income and business profits, plus compound interest, plus punitive damages for deliberate discrimination—the number far exceeds $100 million.

WHAT YOU MUST DO

You have limited time to fix this:

One: Remove Councilwoman McKenzie from the task force immediately. The conflict of interest is indefensible.
Two: Restructure the task force with majority control by displaced families and descendants, plus civil rights attorneys who specialize in property claims.
Three: Appropriate the actual $100 million now. Show us the budget line items. Stop playing word games about "commitments" versus actual appropriations.
Four: Direct the task force to identify every displaced family within 90 days and establish a compensation formula based on current property values.
Five: If you won't do this, admit publicly that Resolution 367-2020 was performative and you never intended to pay.

CONCLUSION

You admitted wrongdoing in Resolution 367-2020. You created a task force that has failed to adhere to the mandate in the last five years. Your meeting minutes, your task force structure, your failure to provide transparent accounting of funds—all of it becomes evidence in federal and State courts.

We are not asking for your permission. We are informing you that legal action is proceeding with or without your cooperation. We have standing. We have damages. We have your admission. You can choose to be part of meaningful restoration, or you can be named defendants. Either way, we're moving forward.

The time for performance and empty gestures is over. The time for actual compensation has come.

Thank you,

Crystal Flack
Knoxville Resident/Community Researcher
God Qualifies the Called
Email: GQTCWUA@GMAIL.COM

*Note: This document was made available to the Mayor and the Council Members at the City Council Meeting on 10/14/2025