Chicago City Wire

Jesse Arm, Executive Director of External Affairs at the Manhattan Institute, said that Mayor Brandon Johnson employs racially divisive governance and favoritism, alleging that he prioritizes race over merit in city leadership. Arm made these remarks on a podcast shared by Chicago Contrarian.

"Brandon Johnson isn't just incompetent, he's the lowest form of unapologetic race hustler in American public life," said Arm, executive director of external affairs & chief of staff. "He's not governing Chicago on behalf of the 2.7 million people who live there, he's carving it up along racial lines, and treating public employment and contracting as spoils to be handed out to what he literally called his people. There's no pretense of merit, no apology for the bias. If a white mayor had said anything even vaguely similar, it would dominate headlines."

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated a civil rights investigation into the City of Chicago's hiring practices. This follows comments by Mayor Johnson highlighting the number of Black officials in his administration, as reported by AP News. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division is examining whether these practices suggest a pattern of racial discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

According to WTTW, in response to the investigation launched by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, Mayor Johnson defended his administration's actions, stating that his appointments reflect the city's demographics and values. He said, "The diversity of our city is our strength." The composition of the Mayor's office includes 34% Black, 24% Latino, 7% Asian American, and 30% White individuals. The probe was initiated after Johnson mentioned during a church event that he intentionally surrounded himself with Black senior advisers.

According to a DOJ letter addressed to Johnson, the investigation is "based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race," which violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.