Chicago’s Mayor Johnson under civil rights investigation

The Department of Justice opened an investigation into the City of Chicago to determine if it has been hiring based on race or ethnicity.

Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the United States Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) following the politician’s remarks about the benefits of having black employees.

‘Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.’

Dhillon’s letter said the Department of Justice is looking to determine if Chicago has engaged in a pattern of discriminatory hiring in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Particularly, Dhillon referenced remarks Mayor Johnson made at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, Illinois, about the “number of Black officials in [his] administration.”

“Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race,” Dhillon wrote, before listing half a dozen instances where Johnson seemingly bragged about employing a black person while “emphasizing their race.”

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Marc H. Morial of the National Urban League and Mayor Brandon Johnson in Houston, Texas. Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League

The examples from the civil rights office (which capitalized “black”), all quotes from Mayor Johnson, were as follows:

• “Business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a Black woman.”
• “Department of planning and development is a Black woman.”
• “Infrastructure, deputy mayor is a Black woman.”
• “Chief operations officer is a Black man.”
• “Budget director is a Black woman.”
• “Senior adviser is a Black man.”

Dhillon also pointed out that the mayor said he was “laying” those positions “out” to “ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business.”

The Chicago politician’s office responded by saying the federal government does not reflect the diversity the Illinois city does.

“Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either,” the mayor’s press office said, per NBC News.

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Johnson’s remarks on the day in question also included him saying that his critics complain that he talks only about “the hiring of black people.”

“No, what I’m saying is when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else,” Johnson claimed. “Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone, and everyone means you have to look out for the interests of black folks, because that hasn’t happened. That’s how we ensure long-term sustainable growth.”

Dhillon added that if top-level hiring decisions were being made in a discriminatory manner in Chicago, such decisions may also have been made for “lower-level positions.”

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