My associate Isabel Miller recently interviewed Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago) about the national controversy he found himself in after posting a statement on Twitter. I thought I’d share it with you this week. Here’s Isabel…
A few weeks ago, Sen. Robert Peters posted a tweet that he knew would generate backlash. What he didn’t know was that it would go national.
The tweet was in response to teens converging on downtown Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported three teenagers were wounded in two shootings and 16 were arrested during the violence: “I would look at the behavior of young people as a political act and statement. It’s a mass protest against poverty and segregation.”
Now-former Fox News host Tucker Carlson jumped in, telling his millions of viewers: “So, what happens if you encourage this kind of behavior, if you cheer the mob rather than restraining the mob? Well, ugly and totally inevitable things will happen. Productive people will flee, innocents will die and ultimately you will get from this mob racial attacks. All of that is happening in Chicago right now. All of it.”
Peters said he was paraphrasing a 1966 quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
“If I actually said what Dr. King said, I think… [people] could’ve responded even more harshly,” Peters said. “I don’t want anybody to ever get hurt. I have a district where there’s a lot of violence, particularly in a lot of working class areas. And I think everybody deserves to have their fair share of safety and comfort and I think we seem to be caught up responding to the same questions in relatively the same way. And I think a lot of people are sick and tired of it.
“And we have to look at it from both the historical context and the present context about what are we going to do to change things. If a kid has had their school closed, or healthcare institution closed, or they’ve had their housing foreclosed or they’ve been evicted, or they’re living cooped up in housing too small, mismanaged, then we have to do whatever we can to change that. And it’s clear that we need to push back on what has been a terrible, terrible status quo for people.”
Despite receiving hate and threats for his comments, Peters said he remains committed to his stance. “I do not believe in violence, that needs to be clear. I just want a good-faith discussion about what it means to have safety in every zip code. Instead, I was met with a person [Carlson] who defended terrible people and far-right extremism and thought it would be good to come after me.”
Peters said he struggles with whether speaking out is worth the threats. “I don’t want to have to worry about not only my well-being, but the well-being of the people I care and love.”
“Everyone’s ‘tough on crime’ until they want to send dangerously violent, anonymous emails,” Peters said. “There was a massive contradiction and hypocrisy by some people, and it just goes to show some people authentically want to bring safety to every community and make sure that every kid and every parent and every person, whether they’re struggling with housing and health care, there are people who really want to do that. I think I belong to those people.”
Peters is known for carrying a heavy workload in Springfield, and he also served on Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s transition team. Asked how he balances all of his tasks, Peters said, “Well, I mean, I have the unfortunate thing of having been born with ADHD. And, you know, it has its ups and downs. But it’s almost sometimes this work is kinetic; you know what I mean? It’s moving quickly. And you have to make quick assessments and you need to power map what you can and cannot do, and you need to know… what is an immediate thing you can make happen and what is something that might be longer term.”
“When I was younger, I was told I would amount to very little. After my dad passed away, I struggled with what the meaning of the world was and sort of figured that out and you combine all the sort of kinetic sort of ADHD energy with a drive that the meaning of my existence is to show that nobody has to go through the things that myself or my family, or the people I love around me had to go through.”
- JS Mill - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:26 am:
I was not aware of Peter’s remark since I do not twitter.
=“I would look at the behavior of young people as a political act and statement. It’s a mass protest against poverty and segregation.”=
Sorry, no. Since the beginning of history teens (kids really but especially teens) have been bored and looking for something to do. Social media makes it easier for them to get together.
Growing up in the suburbs there was absolutely nothing to do, or at least that is what we thought. There were things to do, we just didn’t want to do them. When we congregated at the beach of the mall, usually something dumb happened.
Now, we have a proliferation of guns, and a generation of kids that have not learned/been taught how to interact with each other.
But don’t confuse that with a political statement because it is not.
- Chicagonk - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:36 am:
That statement from Peters is cringeworthy.
- Excitable Boy - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:36 am:
JS, you described exactly what Sen. Peters is saying. It’s not a conscious political statement, it’s driven by a lack of appealing alternatives.
- Homebody - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:40 am:
I agree with Peters. What his critics (and I’m being generous with that term) are missing about both Peters and King’s statement before, is that neither of them is saying that the kids are intentionally trying to make a political statement. They are saying this is a natural consequence of decades of policies that create this phenomenon. You don’t see this happening in communities with stable, affluent home lives, or in communities with low unemployment and high investment back into the community. American who are not living in those communities look at kids wilding out and see it as a personal failing on the part of the kids or their parents, but ignore the fact that crime and violence rates are heavily correlated with poverty, wealth inequality, and societal feelings of being left behind.
Both King and Peters are saying that you want to prevent this in the future, you have to address those root causes.
Quoting Peters above: “I think we seem to be caught up responding to the same questions in relatively the same way.”
This is it. This was Paul Vallas’s campaign message. Keep doing the same failed responses with zero imagination or heart. It was Willy Wilson saying the solution was to hunt kids like rabbits. Zero intellectual or empathetic desire to actually inquire or understand/b> why this was happening in the first place.
Americans keep thinking they can arrest and incarcerate their way out of every society problem. We can’t. That is just making things worse.
- Amalia - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:44 am:
Good work, Isabel. and nice of you, Rich, to share the page.
- Perrid - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:47 am:
JS Mill, it might not be a CONSCIOUS political statement, I don’t think that’s what Peters is saying though. If there are policy decisions - or societal decisions which are slightly different- that make people unhappy and thus result in bad behavior, it’s worth examining those policy decisions. Nothing happens in a vacuum. But, just because someone is unhappy doesn’t mean they have a valid point. Look at the entirety of the Republican party, for example. Complex topic.
- City Guy - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:50 am:
Sen. Peters didn’t just make one tweet. He also had a series of immature tweets making fun of an Alderman for being upset about the mob of kids harassing, terrorizing and attacking random people downtown.
- Sjoh - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:52 am:
=Growing up in the suburbs there was absolutely nothing to do, or at least that is what we thought. There were things to do, we just didn’t want to do them. When we congregated at the beach of the mall, usually something dumb happened.’
There is a much to do in the loop and Michigan Avenue areas (attracts tourists and locals alike…) and not so much for youth to do in underserved neighborhoods. A low cost train fare and you are where the attractions are.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:52 am:
===making fun of an Alderman===
If that was RayLo, he is not a serious person.
- Luke Steele - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 9:56 am:
I concur with all of the points made by Homebody. Spot. On.
- Tinman - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 10:05 am:
What happened wasn’t a protest or statement, it was kids out looking for things to do when the weather gets nice. When you get a large group of young people some in the crowd get and do stupid things. They are young and the hormones are raging . I get the need by some to turn this into a political statement but your wrong.
- Back to the Future - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 10:11 am:
Really appreciated the focus on something positive coming out of Springfield.
With the choice between a Bailey and a Pritzker, the recent ComEd 4 case exposing the culture of lobbying corruption and the constantly expanding list of people involved in corrupt schemes going on in government, it was really appreciated to have a story about an elected official like State Senator Peters doing good things as well as showing real leadership skills.
We have almost daily news on corruption and violence. It takes a lot of insight as well as solid writing skills to step away from the “if it bleeds-it leads” so common in TV journalism and put together a column like this Sunday’s read.
Also we really need some stories on elected officials that we can share with younger folks and this story certainly fills that need.
As to the post, I knew Senator Peters was a hardworking and successful member of the General Assembly. His statements about the problems in Chicago were a breath of fresh air and gave us all a chance to reflect on not only the reasons for the disturbances as well as some reflections on a direction we can move in to improve things.
Really appreciate the well written and encouraging column. Nice way to start a Sunday morning.
- cermak_rd - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 10:13 am:
I also agree with Homebody.
I see some similarities with the situation in Germany where they have an underclass made up of people with a migrations background and when the lads behaved badly at Sylvester (New Years Eve), similar discussions were had. In both cases, many of the kids have been traumatized by the violence they’ve suffered, whether in Chicago due to violence in their neighborhoods, in the case of Germany the wars many of them have experienced.
- H-W - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 10:20 am:
@ JS Mill
I am going to have to disagree with you.
Dr. King’s message (I give lectures on King’s body of work) was in response to rioting (I believe it is from his speech in Michigan). King denounced violence in that speech. But he also said we need to look at why Black folks were rioting, rather than simply dismissing them or condemning them.
King focused on poverty from the beginning of his life to the end. Poverty creates the conditions lead some poor people to lash out. King never accepted the lashing out, but he tried to understand its source - a community in which there are very, very few opportunities. The conditions of poverty mean few will escape, and most will fail to rise up. Change those circumstances and you will reduce violence.
Where I disagree with your argument is that you assert teenagers are all the same. Poor kids, middle-class kids, working-class kids and rich kids. All kids get bored and do stupid stuff, you argue.
The latter may be a truism - all kids get bored, and many do stupid stuff.
But kids who get bored in urban poverty do not respond the same as bored kids in the suburbs. The ways in which kids respond to boredom in the suburbs are not always acceptable, but they are less violent. I would suggest the are less violent because they have more choices when bored.
Urban kids witness violence, death, hunger, poorly funded schools, ill-health, and teachers who are not “at the top of the list.” They see few jobs, fewer neighbors who have risen up and succeeded, etc.
Kids in the suburbs experience life differently, and even poor kids in the suburbs experience life different.
Change the circumstances that define poverty, and you will see fewer poor kids resorting to violence when frustrated, bored, defensive, scared, etc.
That was King’s message that Peters shared.
- Retired School Board Member - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 10:56 am:
Homebody and H-W SPOT ON!
Not too long ago, before SB100, Illinois schools were expelling kids left and right- often with no progressive discipline and very little due process. They expelled those students with no regard for where they would land. Not realizing that those students didn’t just disappear into the ethers. Those students, denied access to legitimate economic opportunities were left to choose illegitimate economic options because at the end of the day, they had to procure provisions to survive. Most school board members gave much thought to where zero tolerance policies sent those teenagers. They just followed the policies and went home to the safety of their beds at night.
My point is that no policy lives in a vacuum and unintended consequences abound as a result of the unwillingness of decision makers to dig a little deeper into the long term effects of their policies.
I would suggest that the negative effects of bad policy magnifies as time goes by, not unlike mercury poisoning in the ocean. As it moves up the food chain, it becomes more and more lethal.
- Retired School Board Member - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 10:58 am:
*Most school board members gave NOT much thought to where zero tolerance policies sent those teenagers…
Sorry for the confusing verbiage…
- Earnest - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 11:18 am:
Great article that covers so much ground and nice work by Isabelle. Sen. Peters’ management of his ADHD is an impressive accomplishment. I worked with a guy who struggled for years with ADHD and somehow found a combination of medication and a completely different approach to his work and became amazing. It seemed like he was the fastest to get paperwork done and was somehow everywhere at once on top of things. It’s a rare person to overcome hardship and challenges, turn them into strengths, and not lose empathy for those still struggling. Agree or disagree, Sen. Peters brings a valuable perspective to the conversation.
- JS Mill - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 11:51 am:
= JS, you described exactly what Sen. Peters is saying. It’s not a conscious political statement, it’s driven by a lack of appealing alternatives.=
I respectfully disagree. There was no political message either intended or unintended.
I think the senator does not understand how patronizing he was being. I don’t think that was intentional either.
I have served high poverty populations for my entire career. I have never worked in a wealthy area. Poverty and lack of things to do does not equate to large events like we saw last week. This has been unique to Chicago, at least as far as Illinois goes. SO blaming it on everyone but those responsible is not helping in my opinion.
=Not too long ago, before SB100, Illinois schools were expelling kids left and right- often with no progressive discipline and very little due process.=
Once again, a blanket statement that is largely wrong. Some districts were expelling large numbers of students. But that is all Kim Lightford looked at. Never the why. Just the numbers and then making inaccurate assumptions based on misunderstood data.
But your statement is a gross exaggeration.
- Hannibal Lecter - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 11:52 am:
I don’t think the solution to these problems have to be one or the other. We can have effective policing and law enforcement at the same time as working to address the root causes. There have to be both consequences and alternatives.
Also, let’s not lump all suburbs together as the same either. There are some suburban communities with the same problems as the poorest communities in the City.
- Chris - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 1:31 pm:
“ if you cheer the mob rather than restraining the mob?”
I’ll take “Things that make you go hmmm” for January 6th, Ken.
Typical ‘Liberty for me, but not for thee’ from Tucker there.
- Retired School Board Member - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 2:30 pm:
=Once again, a blanket statement that is largely wrong. Some districts were expelling large numbers of students. But that is all Kim Lightford looked at. Never the why. Just the numbers and then making inaccurate assumptions based on misunderstood data.=
Um, Not basing my statement on Senator Kim Lightford= Basing it on my own experience as someone who had to vote on expulsions in a climate where zero tolerance laws prohibited any options regardless of circumstances.
My point in referencing expulsions was to provide an example of how short sighted policy (such as zero tolerance laws) can lead to much larger and complex problems that require significantly more resources to fix. I believe that Senator Peters is also saying that we need to do better when we enact these policies that have the potential to create much worst problems.
- JS Mill - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 3:09 pm:
=zero tolerance laws prohibited any options regardless of circumstances.=
They were district policies not laws mostly. There are still laws on the books that are zero tolerance- bringing a weapon to school is a mandatory 2 year expulsion. I happen to think that is a good one.
And just to be clear, you were speaking from personal experience (as I often do) about one single school district, not districts. ANd that makes my point exactly, many even most districts did not have this issue. But one powerful legislator wants to pander to a constituency and enacts legislation that creates problems not solutions.
If you district was expelling too much, you as a board member had an obligation to do something about it. That does not mean it had to be in a meeting, at least not at first.
My experience is with more than one district in three different regions in the state- just as an FYI. Zero tolerance policies were largely done away with by the time Lightford decided the problem at CPS and Proviso wasn’t student behavior.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 3:22 pm:
===I respectfully disagree. There was no political message either intended or unintended.===
Then, what are we discussing? It’s clearly a political issue. Just because the young people in the Loop don’t have signs doesn’t mean there is no political message. When we consider why they are there, doing what they are doing, and the non or ineffective police response, there is plenty to unpack from a policy and governance standpoint.
- Flapdoodle - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 4:22 pm:
@JS Mill with considerable respect — I think you’re drawing the boundaries of the political too narrowly. Whatever the intentions of the youngsters may have been, their actions had political implications and consequences. The boredom out of which they may have acted has political dimensions, for example, in the failure to address that boredom and its probable consequences. Failing to understand the political more broadly constrains our responses to events like these, leading to an unproductive blame game and narrow, ineffective solutions.
- JS Mill - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 5:12 pm:
@Flapdoodle- maybe you are correct and I am looking at this too narrowly. I agree with you and others that the actions of the kids has a political dimension, and that there are political consequences for the failures by many to prevent or address the issue.
Working with teens as I have, across socio economic strata, I continue to grow concerned by the willingness by well intentioned adults to give bad behavior a pass and blame it on other issues and conditions. Do not patronize kids like that. They are far more knowledgeable and savy today than their peers one or two decades ago. They know that they by and large get a pass. Holding them accountable will make them stronger and more productive adults. Holding them accountable is not code for mass incarceration either.
With respect to all.
- RNUG - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 5:42 pm:
== There is a much to do in the loop and Michigan Avenue areas … ==
*if* you have a bit of cash in your pocket.
If your don’t, your options are more limited … and often result in what society considers unacceptable behavior.
- RNUG - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 5:54 pm:
As to schools and expulsions …
I don’t know the CPS system, so I can’t address how they handle things.
But I can address how District 186 (Springfield) handles things. 186 has a separate school, Douglas, where troublemakers (for lack of another term coming to mind) are sent when they are expelled from their regular classes (grades 6 - 12). When Mrs RNUG worked as a sub for the district, Douglas was one of the schools she often subbed at. District 186 describes the school as an alternative education program. So they do attempt to keep kids in school.
Students can commit offenses that get them completely expelled, but those are the more serious offenses where you would expect expulsion to happen.
- RNUG - Monday, May 15, 23 @ 6:01 pm:
Finally, I get exactly what Peters is saying about ADHD. We raised an ADHD kid. And I suspect I have undiagnosed ADHD myself … if my pediatricians diagnosis of me as ‘the worst behaved kid he ever saw’ was accurate. Even today,I have to be multi-tasking almost all the time. Luckily Mrs RNUG tolerates me.
If you’re smart, and Peters appears to be so, you learned coping mechanisms to work with it / around it.