Chicago’s Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after he openly boasted about using race as a criterion when hiring employees.
The DOJ probe comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting racist hiring practices and restoring merit-based opportunities.
However, Mayor Johnson appears to have violated the order by selecting employees based on the color of their skin.
Johnson caused outrage by boasting about the number of black people he has hired.
On Sunday, the mayor appeared at a church and suggested that he had staffed his administration based on race.
On Monday, the DOJ informed Johnson of the probe.
In a letter, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told Johnson that the investigation would examine whether the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Title VII prohibits racial discrimination in employment.
Dhillon told Johnson the investigation was “based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.”
On Sunday, Johnson appeared at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn and talked about the racial makeup of his administration.
He also emphasized hiring “our people.”
“When we say ‘our people hire our people,’ I just want to name this,” he said.
He continued by pointing out how the percentage of white people in the mayor’s office had dramatically decreased during his administration.
He then claimed to have used racist hiring practices to achieve “the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago.”
Johnson’s office later released demographics of staffers in the mayor’s office.
The statistics indicate that 34.3% of the mayor’s employees are black, 30.5% are white, 23.8% are Hispanic, and 6.7% are Asian.
He then went on to suggest that black people should be in charge because they would govern for the “greater good.”
“There are some detractors that will push back on me and say, ‘The only thing that mayor, the mayor, talks about is the hiring of black people,’” he said.
“No, what I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else.
“We are the most generous people on the planet.
“I don’t know too many cultures that have play cousins.
“That’s how generous we are,” he said as he continued to promote racist stereotypes.
“We just make somebody a family member, right.
“That’s just how we are.”
He then went on to list senior positions in his administration staffed by black people.
“Business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a black woman.
“The Department of Planning and Development is a black woman.
“Infrastructure deputy mayor is a black woman.
“Chief operations officer is a black man,” Johnson gloated.
“Budget director is a black woman.
“Senior advisor is a black man.
“And I’m laying that out because when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business?
“Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone — and everyone means you have to look out for the interest of black folks, because that hasn’t happened.”
Dhillon said that these comments prompted the question of whether similar racist decisions were being made systematically throughout the city’s government.
“Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” Dhillon said.
“If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions.”
Johnson responded to the investigation by saying he was proud to lead the most “diverse administration in the history of our city.”
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