In a press conference on Monday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson drew a comparison between those who oppose his plans for public school funding and individuals who resisted the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States.
Since holding office, Johnson has been vocal about his commitment to improving Chicago’s public education system, a key promise of his mayoral campaign.
“I’m a man of my word, and that means bold leadership in a moment that doesn’t nibble around the edges and look for incremental gain,” Johnson stated. “Our people in this city are tired of political leaders that want the status quo to nibble around the edges, and then when children don’t get what they deserve, they blame the very communities that they’ve divested in. Not on my watch.”
Johnson went on to criticize those who argue against his educational policies on fiscal grounds, likening their stance to the arguments made by pro-slavery advocates during the 19th century.
“And then the so-called experts, the so-called fiscally responsible stewards are making the same argument. When our people wanted to be liberated and emancipated in this country, the argument was, ‘you can’t free Black people because it would be too expensive,’” Johnson said. “They said it would be fiscally irresponsible for this country to liberate Black people.”
“And now you have detractors making the same argument of the confederacy when it comes to public education in this system,” he added. “These are the people who package these gimmicks, lied to our people, stole money from our people, refuse to pay into the pension system, left the taxpayers with the bill, and for me to fix it.”
“The city leaders have long resisted investing in our children. I am no longer going to accept the status quo,” Johnson continued. “We have schools right now who do not have dollars for buses to take their kids to sporting events. We have a system right now that can’t adequately bus children to the very spaces that they say they believe in, and so that is why I was elected to fight and fight.”
During the press conference, Johnson also introduced six new nominees for the Chicago Board of Education, with a seventh nominee to be named later. The nominees will undergo vetting before they can officially join the board. Johnson noted that the board will expand in January to a hybrid model, as reported by Fox News.
