Park dist. says Friends of the Parks report on discrimination ‘distorts’ data
In its recent report alleging that racism still tinges Chicago Park District distribution of resources 30 years after a consent decree, Friends of the Parks “manipulates and distorts to highlight its own agenda,” park district officials say.
In a 40-page response, Park District Supt. Michael Kelly called the report from Friends of the Parks “incendiary and divisive,” adding that it “intentionally cites old data and manipulates and distorts the analysis and methodology of current data.”
Kelly’s response, dated Dec. 21, addresses point by point the allegations by Friends of the Parks that more resources are funneled to parks in wealthier white communities while parks in poor black and Latino communities are neglected — 30 years after exiting a U.S. Justice Department consent decree that stemmed from a 1982 lawsuit by Friends of the Parks.
Friends of the Parks says it found significant inequities in programming and capital investments correlating with race and income levels, including:
◆ Programming on the predominantly white North Side significantly greater than that on the predominantly black South Side.
◆ Capital investment requests in black communities approved at half the rate of those in white communities.
◆ Latino communities had the least amount of parkland and investment in their parks.
“The report is inaccurate and blatantly disregards important capital and programmatic gains that have been made in parks across Chicago. As a result of massive expansion of park acreage and facilities since 2011, 99.6 percent of Chicago residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park,” Kelly writes.
“Notable investments have been made in predominantly AfricanAmerican and Latino communities in the last three years,” Kelly added. “Meeting with us monthly over several years, but never raising these issues, shows FOTP’s agenda for what it is — an attempted smear campaign, rather than any real intent on improving the parks.”
Friends President Juanita Irizarry said Wednesday the report is based on the district’s own data.
“We’re glad for any actual or potential progress. But imagine how bad the situation has been if those gains the Chicago Park District brags about bring us to the state of the parks that we outline in our report based on their data,” she said. “There’s still an awfully long way to go to get anywhere near equity.”
The report’s author, Daniel La Spata, noted the district gathers no data on whether local residents are being served at facilities like those Kelly listed.
“When Supt. Kelly recently made a claim in the media that the overwhelming majority of those who will benefit from such new facilities will be neighborhood kids,” La Spata said, the group requested more data.
“We found that the park district currently doesn’t require those entities who provide programming through privatized contracts to track racial/ethnic demographics. So how would they know who they are serving?”
Kelly noted in the district’s response that race is not considered in budgeting.
“The Chicago Park District prioritizes capital spending based on community needs, and not according to race,” he wrote. “That said, we recognize the importance of dividing resources equitably.”