Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is not afraid of the Trump administration after the Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the city’s hiring practices that he boasted about.
Johnson, who has an approval rating in the low teens, has been outspoken about his efforts to counter President Donald Trump’s policies. Recently, Johnson bragged about how he has mainly staffed his administration with black people. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division announced an investigation after Johnson’s comments.
“Any group that has been marginalized, that has suffered under tyranny and oppression, we’re going to show up for them. We’re not going to be intimidated by the tyranny that’s coming from the federal government. The diversity of our city is our strength,” Johnson said in a social media video posted Saturday.
Johnson claims he does not leave out any racial group and listed several names of people who work for Chicago who are not black.
“And I’m not going to be intimidated or allow the failures of the past to dictate how we move forward. This is this generation’s opportunity to get something right. … And that’s why I’m very grateful that I’m in a position to build the safest, most affordable big city in America. And regardless of your surname, you get to find sanctity in this beloved city,” he added.
RELATED: Chicago mayor claims black people ‘are the most generous people on the planet’
Photo by Jeff Schear/Getty Images for James Beard Foundation
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
“If anybody has a problem with the liberation of working people in this city and this country, well, they’re going to have to take us all on,” Johnson declared in another video aimed at the Trump administration.
In the DOJ’s letter to Johnson, the Civil Rights Division explained the investigation is “to determine whether the City of Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (‘Title VII’). … Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.”
Johnson said during a public appearance how he was “laying” these positions “out” to “ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business.”
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Politics