As Chicago Burns, Mayor Uses Race Card to Explain His “Slow Start”
Chicagoans should have known what to expect when they elected radical socialist Brandon Johnson as Mayor: a city engulfed in violence, robberies and chaos.
Johnson, however, is quick to point fingers at anyone other than himself for the abject failures in his first few months.
Rather than address the crime that is consuming the city, Johnson sued automakers Kia and Hyundai, blaming them for the significant increase in car thefts in the city.
He said of the lawsuit, “The failure of Kia and Hyundai to install basic auto-theft prevention technology in these models is sheer negligence, and as a result, a citywide and nationwide crime spree around automobile theft has been unfolding right before our eyes.”
Johnson has even placed the blame for violence in the city on big corporations.
When hordes of violent teens repeatedly took over city neighborhoods-committing actual crimes-Johnson was more concerned with policing words than policing the streets.
In Johnson’s first 30 days in office, crime rose 38% from the prior year. In his first 100 days, there were 204 homicides.
On Tuesday, Johnson hit back at critics and gave yet another excuse for his poor leadership and declining city by pulling the race card.
He told the Chicago Tribune that he is held to a “different standard” as a black man saying, “There is a different standard that I’m held to. There is…and that’s not something that I’m mad at, but that’s just the reality. I’m not the first person of color, particularly a Black man, that will be held to a different standard than other administrations.”
Even the word “slow” is racially charged in his world.
A progressive who won the April runoff election with the backing of labor unions, Johnson alluded to stories and headlines that mention a “slow” start to his administration. His administration still has commissioner vacancies in key cabinet departments such as public health, planning and development, transportation and housing. But the mayor objected to the use of the word “slow” and told his allies, “I also need you all’s help to call it out.”
“You all read the press. I don’t. But you all look at these dynamics. You all know how there’s been a certain, particular coverage of me, right? Think about it. You know, there’s coverage of me being slow, right?” Johnson said. “These are microaggressions, that if you don’t have the lens of those who have lived through these experiences, you would just miss it. You would, because the same — some of the folks who would call me slow, do you understand what that term means? Particularly (toward) the Black community. So you have these forces that perpetuate a particular view of Blackness.”
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“Perhaps things should go without saying, but as far as this dynamic that a Black man executive can’t make decisions on his own,” Johnson said before lambasting “the same forces” that he said didn’t believe he could balance a budget, unite the City Council or win the election. “Well, let me just offer news for the city of Chicago: The people of Chicago elected me as mayor, and if anybody has a problem with it, come see me in four years.”
Brandon Johnson is a fool and a racist and oh so sensitive now that all can see he has absolutely no clue. HT. @TomBevanRCP https://t.co/kkxLNWJQe8
— John Kass (@John_Kass) September 8, 2023
From the Editorial Board:
Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t just play the race card at a public event Tuesday night discussing his first 100 days in office. He pretty much laid out the whole deck. https://t.co/6wjnAPh52i
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) September 8, 2023
