Why Chicago’s School Closings Are Racist
By Hector Luis Alamo, Jr., Gozamos
This week, hundreds, if not thousands, of angry parents, teachers and their supporters marched on Daley Plaza to voice their opposition to Mayor Emanuel’s planned school closings — currently slated at 54, which would make it the largest school closing in the nation’s history. The rally is the culmination of three days of marching ahead of the Board of Education’s vote.
That all of the school closings are taking place on the city’s South and West Sides — well, except for the two on the North Side — has prompted many of the mayor’s opponents to label him a racist for what they deem to be a flagrantly racist campaign against the city’s black and Latino neighborhoods.While calling the mayor a racist may seem a bit much, it’s unfortunately dead on.
Admittedly, when Mayor Emanuel had his people come up with a list of schools to close, the motive wasn’t to target black and brown Chicagoans intentionally. The Rahminator didn’t order his minions to devise a plot that would lower the city’s education budget while simultaneously gutting black and brown neighborhoods.
What he did demand is that they do it in a way that wouldn’t affect the people who helped him win City Hall two