People talk about America being a racist nation. If it is, it has only become one in the last two years under the most divisive administration ever. But that still doesn't mean this is a racist country like it was before Martin Luther King and separate drinking fountains etc. But I am beginning to think Chicago is the most divided city in the nation. Not to mention the most corrupt, but that's for another day.
Mayor Daley announcing he would not be running for mayor again caused a big scramble for who was going to run. Rahm came home and proved he was eligible to run because boxes he left in the crawlspace of the home he rented out while in D.C. meant he was coming back. Chicago was still home and he always intended to come back. Unless something else happens, his name will be on the ballet. But even before he was approved, as soon as he came into town 2 or 3 people jumped off the ballet. You don't suppose he made them an offer they couldn't refuse, do you? Hmmm.
It looks like the main competition for Rahm just may be Carol Moseley Braun. A week ago Sen James Meeks dropped out, he was one of the main challengers to Rahm Emanual's residency status. A couple of days ago neither Braun or Danny Davis were budging, they were planning on staying in the race until Rev. Jesse Jackson called them to a meeting on Wednesday night at his Rainbow Push headquarters. Danny Davis dropped out yesterday, and is endorsing Braun whole-heartedly, it's all about unity. Black unity. A-freaking-mazing.
In Chicago it doesn't seem to matter what party you belong to. It matters what color you are. Jesse Jackson and other local black leaders are trying to narrow down the number of black candidates so they have the best chance of winning the mayoral seat for a black candidate.
On the other side of town I'm sure there are groups of white guys pushing other white guys to drop out of the race so they can put all their support and money behind the perfect white guy who can win.
NOT. If that were happening there would be an uproar! That would be racist and just not acceptable.
In another part of Chicago you just know Luis Gutierrez is planning some kind of civil disobedience because his dream act didn't pass. He said he would quit the democrat party if it didn't happen but I haven't heard a word. Gutierrez who has been quoted as saying he only has one loyalty, and that is to the immigrant community. In Luis-speak - that means the illegal immigrant community. He calls them all immigrants, the "illegal" part is apparently - offensive. This from the man who was the former leader of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party in Illinois. Not a surprise.
But call me silly. Shouldn't Gutierrez be loyal to ALL his constituents? I mean, a few of them have to have papers, right? And shouldn't he be loyal to the U.S. Constitution? Now he's talking about Latinos breaking off and starting a whole new party of their own, the tequila party!
We have politicians who are running for office based on race, and others who are putting people first who aren't even citizens! And there's a lot of it in Chicago.
We are not supposed to judge people by race, right? Isn't that what MLK wanted? Yet we aren't supposed to talk about how divided Chicago is by exactly that. Race. I guess it's only bad if it's white people doing things on the basis of race. Hmm. That's the new status quo I guess.
Hell pretty soon we're going to need affirmative action for us white people!
.
No comments:
Post a Comment