Black elected officials join forces — again
Nearly two years ago, the murder of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis’ 15-year-old grandson over a pair of gym shoes seemed to unite black elected officials in a way never before seen to combat the entrenched poverty fueling Chicago violence.
They came together to demand that at least 10 percent of all government funding be spent in neighborhoods where at least 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty line for the past 30 years. That included nine or 10 “endangered” Chicago communities, including Englewood, Austin and West Garfield Park.
Nothing changed. When the media spotlight was turned off, the politicians moved on. The violence continued.
On Tuesday, the weekend bloodbath in Chicago that left 12 people dead and 71 people shot triggered a similar political reaction.
Davis convened yet another news conference, where 16 African-American leaders joined County Commissioner Tim Schneider, co-chair of the Illinois Republican Party, to demand an infusion of resources to address the underlying social problems, such as unemployment, driving the violence.
That includes job training and counseling for ex-offenders, homelessness, mental health services and parenting skills for grandparents raising their children’s children.
Dr. Janette Wilson, a senior adviser to the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, mocked Mayor Rahm Emanuel for saying the weekend violence was, in part, a “values problem” that starts in the home.
She argued that the real “values problem” is the “systemic problem of racism” that has deprived violence-ravaged inner-city neighborhoods of the resources they desperately need.
At a separate news conference on the South Side, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush told Emanuel to “be real” after the mayor pointed a finger at South and West side community members in response to the weekend of horrific gun violence.
Championing anti-gun legislation he introduced a decade ago, Rush accused Emanuel of “sitting behind the big desk on the fifth floor, blaming the victim.” Emanuel’s office is on the fifth floor at City Hall.
Rush was referencing Emanuel’s Monday comments in which the mayor asked Chicagoans to blame gunmen, not Chicago police, for the violence plaguing their neighborhoods.
At the Davis event, former Chicago Police Officer-turned Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) did not point a finger at the mayor, who has been under almost constant fire from his mayoral challengers in recent days.
Taliaferro simply said it’s time for African-American aldermen to “stop asking for more and start demanding more.”