* Uh-oh…
No location? The kid is wearing a Cubs hat.
If you click here and read the mentions, the reaction was pretty harsh. And the Radical Candor IL account fired off a sharp projectile.
* Rep. Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago) threw down…
Not to mention that TIF districts don’t take money from black and brown kids.
* Rep. Mitchell then went on a tweet tirade. He posted much of it to his Facebook page…
PI: I’m going to do this in a series of tweets, so please bear with me. First: we have had a series of policy disagreements. That’s expected.
But I am extraordinarily disappointed in your organization and your leadership for the way you’re handling this situation.
1st) I disagree with your point, but that is not the issue here. You could have drawn a CPS building, You could have put CPS on the cap. You could have drawn another kid. You could have drawn an african american child without exaggerated features (ie lips), like the white male in the same photo. But you made a different choice, one that links to a dark and troubled history, and when confronted with it, decided to double down. It’s a choice, but not a great one.
2nd) A group whose staff looks like a Trump Org. photo, with minimal front facing diversity, a group who sued to block same day voter registration, with a disproportionate impact on minority voters, a group whose budget book slashed programs with a disparate minority impact, a group who is right now, despite data and evidence, attempting to take $500 million from predominately poor, minority kids around the state, Lacks both the credibility and should, in theory, have too much shame, to be the arbiter of what is fair to black kids in Chicago. You have made your choice. But understand that that choice - especially this week - is incredibly tone deaf and provocative.
…Adding… The cartoon was the topic of House floor debate today…
*** UPDATE *** Mayor Emanuel…
“At the same time the President of the United States is throwing his arms around neo-Nazis and Klansmen, Governor Rauner’s brain trust at the Illinois Policy Institute weighed in on the SB1 debate by publishing an unambiguously racist cartoon. The critical debate over education funding in this state should be about ensuring a better future for students in every corner of Illinois, regardless of race, income or zip code – and not as an opportunity to divide us further. It’s particularly frustrating because CPS students are making historic academic gains. In fact, three CPS high schools were recently recognized among the top 10 in the country, and seven of the top 10 in the state. Over the past five years, virtually all of Illinois’ academic progress is attributable to Chicago’s students.
We’d call upon the Governor to use his influence as IPI’s largest funder and alumni-employer to demand this tasteless cartoon be taken down, but what’s the point? Instead, it provides a useful window into his outlook and determination to continue punishing poor and minority children instead of grasping the opportunity in front of him to right decades of unfair and unequal funding for school districts across Illinois. What a disgrace.”
