The painful effect of immigration on Black communities was laid to bare Wednesday during a heated debate by the Chicago City Council, which ultimately voted in favor of transferring $51 million in city funds to help migrants.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) spoke through tears on the issue. Her ward has been the center of controversy after residents there criticized plans for a shuttered school to be used as a respite center for migrants. Residents worried migrants would only make access to food and transportation more difficult.
Similar concerns fueled the City Council debate. “I’m so tired of, when it’s a crisis for everybody else, we go, ‘We gotta do something.’ But, when we’re having this violence in the Black community, nothing gets said or nothing gets done,” Taylor said. “It ain’t our responsibility to take care of everybody else, and we’re tired because we do just that. When we fought for civil rights — when we fought just to drink out of a damn fountain — it was just us.”
Her powerful speech prompted a standing ovation from fellow council members. But when she voted in favor of the funding for migrants, the activists in the gallery called her a “sellout” and “traitor.”
The crab theory: Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) described the Black v. migrant tension as “crabs in a barrel.” When one group gets ahead another pulls it back down.
Voting no on the $51 million for migrants were Alds. Greg Mitchell (7th), Michelle Harris (8th), Anthony Beale (9th), Marty Quinn (13th), Raymond Lopez (15th), David Moore (17th), Derrick Curtis (18th), Monique Scott (24th), Nick Sposato (38th), Emma Mitts (37th), Anthony Napolitano (41st), Brendan Reilly (42nd) and Jim Gardiner (45th).
Mayor Brandon Johnson tried to keep the calm throughout the 90-minute hearing, allowing activists to shout out from the gallery up to a point before asking the sergeant at arms to escort them from the chamber.
Later, he told reporters he was heartened by the debate. “The vast majority of people recognize the challenge we have. Is anyone going to disagree that Black communities have been disinvested? No one’s going to disagree with that,” he said, adding the tone of the meeting “was a demonstration of how we move forward. … There really is enough for everyone.”
Johnson’s challenge: The $51 million allocation is expected to care for migrants only through June. It will allow the city to find housing for 500 migrants who have been sleeping in police stations around town as well as provide other food and other necessities.
Asked about his long-term plan on the issue: “It’s been two weeks,” he said, referring to his brief time in City Hall.
, we're always gonna get the short end.
