KELLY: Racist column tells white voters not to vote in Chicago Mayor's race
This is vote-shaming based on race, writes Chicago reporter William J. Kelly
A new Chicago Sun-Times column claims that white voters have no right to be afraid of violent crime in Chicago or even talk about it.
Alden Loury, the editor for race, class, and communities for Chicago’s NPR radio station, who penned the piece, based his shocking conclusion on a statistic indicating that, since 2019, nonwhites in the Windy City are 14 times more likely to be a homicide victim than their white counterparts.
Loury’s reasoning is not only racist, but it’s also logically flawed. Blacks are 10 times or more likely to be the victim of a homicide than any other racial classification be it Hispanic, Asian, Indian, Native American, and, of course, White. Following his illogic, these racial groups can’t be afraid of violent crime either because they haven’t experienced it as Blacks have.
And what about other violent crimes like armed robbery, carjackings, or sexual assault? Do Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Whites have a right to be afraid of these crimes in Chicago? Is he saying they haven’t experienced these crimes? Or that they aren’t considered crimes?
What is the rate that a White or Indian business owner has experienced the crime of retail theft or smash and grabs or armed robberies or lootings? How many Hispanic or Asian voters have experienced carjacking in Chicago?
According to Chicago Police Department data, violent crime is up 60% since 2019 - citywide.
I’m White and I’ve survived two violent batteries and a hit-and-run “accident” in Downtown Chicago but, according to Loury, I haven’t experienced violent crime.
Last month, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wasn’t defeated in the Chicago Mayor’s race because residents’ fear of crime was unfounded. She was defeated because Chicagoans have been impacted and victimized by violent crime on a daily basis. They’ve watched in horror as the city they love endures executions in broad daylight, record carjackings, and widespread organized retail theft. Chicagoans see retailers fleeing Michigan Avenue and State Street, iconic restaurants closing, and tourists leaving - because of the fear and the reality of violent crime.
Yet Lightfoot continued to be tone-deaf to the end, yelling at me at her press conferences that “crime was down!”
But it gets worse. Loury also contends that white people, who are afraid of violent crime, certainly have no right to vote in the April 4th Chicago mayoral run-off election and if they vote based on this issue, they are just racist.
“I think white Chicagoans are afraid of something else. My guess is that they’re afraid of the communities where violent crime most often occurs — and the people who live there — Black and Brown people,” he wrote.
What Loury doesn’t say is that while most homicide victims in Chicago are Black, most offenders are Black as well. That is a sensitive issue that we need to deal with compassionately as a city and as a country.
At best, Loury’s column is an attempt to shut down discussion about violent crime; at worst, it’s an attempt to sway a tight run-off race for Chicago mayor. This isn’t just crime shaming; it’s vote shaming based on race.
Every voter - regardless of race, color, or creed - has a right to be afraid of violent crime in Chicago and to cast a vote for the mayoral candidate whom they think will make their neighborhoods and families safer.
Mayor Lightfoot viewed any criticism of her on the violent crime issue as race-based too. When, I asked her if she “honestly believed” that 99% of the criticism of her is based on the fact that she is a black woman? She said I didn’t have a right to criticize her public opinion.
National stories have been written about what Mayor Lightfoot’s epic loss for re-election in Chicago means and if it is a harbinger of things to come. Viewing the public’s legitimate fear of violent crime through a racial prism is wrong and it can cost a Democrat Mayor of a major U.S. city an election. Just ask Lori Lightfoot.
###
William J. Kelly is a veteran journalist in the City of Chicago who covers Lori Lightfoot and Chicago’s City Hall. His tough questioning of Mayor Lightfoot on violent crime has regularly gone viral with millions of views. Last year, Kelly sued Lightfoot for unlawfully revoking his media credentials.