What does a proper apology look like?
The recent resolution apologizing for slavery in the City Council, alongside Mayor Brandon Johnson’s so-called “reparations” initiatives, are little more than divisive distractions from the real harm the mayor and his progressive allies are inflicting on Chicago’s Black community.
Why did City Council members see fit to pass a resolution apologizing for slavery — and to revisit the issue of reparations — when Illinois never permitted slavery and played a crucial role in fighting for its abolition? Illinois contributed more than 250,000 soldiers to the Union cause during the Civil War. Nearly 35,000 soldiers died in combat or from disease or infection during the war. Does the Chicago Public Schools’ curriculum — now increasingly shaped by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) — accurately teach students about these Northern sacrifices for freedom? Somehow, I doubt it.
Consider the city’s demographic reality: The vast majority of Chicagoans are immigrants or their descendants. Today, 1.2 million residents are first- or second-generation immigrants. These apologies and reparations are being demanded from people — many of whom came here fleeing oppression — who have neither personal nor ancestral ties to the injustices of slavery. My own Greek ancestors, for example, immigrated after four centuries under Ottoman rule. To impose moral guilt in this context is not only misplaced, it fosters division among communities that share no culpability.
Mayor Johnson nevertheless leans heavily on racial grievances, casting every criticism as rooted in racism and every policy failure as a legacy of injustice. This approach does nothing to advance true equity; instead, it cheapens the legitimate demands for increased investment and support for Black Chicagoans. Johnson's apologies and reparations maneuvers are nothing more than political tactics, intended to distract and divide; they are designed to deflect criticism — especially among Black residents who rightly feel abandoned by City Hall’s migrant policies.
What is left out of these apologies is telling. The mayor has never apologized for years of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership of which he was a part of, which has dominated a school system that is overwhelmingly Black, Latino, and low-income, and systematically undermined it through repeated strikes and prolonged closures. CTU actions forced the district to close campuses for a cumulative 78 weeks, denying students — particularly Chicago’s poorest — of learning has been catastrophic for academic achievement, youth mental health, and public safety.
Aside from declining to offer contrition on behalf of the CTU for continuing to keep schools shut for more than a year after the science and experience of schools that had reopened proved it was safe to do so, the mayor has never expressed regret for joining efforts to eliminate vital alternatives to failing neighborhood schools. Following intense lobbying, the state government allowed the sunset of the Invest in Kids scholarship tax credit program — a modest effort that benefited many low-income children.
No apology for CTU efforts to eliminate even public school choice as the mayor and his former CTU employers are aligned in their efforts to discriminate against and ultimately close public charter and magnet schools. Public charters recieve over $8,600 less per pupil than the district average and little facility support while the public magnet schools on average receive less per-pupil funding. Meanwhile charter schools are capped in number and enrollment and a plethora of mandates is degrading their quality and forcing many to close or convert to traditional CTU schools.
For poor families, overwhelmingly Black and Latino, public charter and magnet schools are the only viable alternatives to local neighborhood schools that consistently underperform, many dozens of which are failing and under-enrolled. Denying these options is educational redlining by another name. Nearly 98 percent of charter school enrollees are Black or Latino and over 87 percent are from low-income families. Magnet schools are similarly diverse, with over 70 percent of their students body minority with a majority of pupils from low income families.
Mayor Johnson’s administration has done little to address public safety. Since 2019, nearly 1,700 officer positions have been cut — including 833 since Johnson took office — leaving law enforcement unable to respond to half of all 911 calls. Clearance rates for major crimes languish at just above five percent. Black Chicagoans account for nearly four out of five murder victims, and Black women comprise an outsized share of all violent crime victims at 30 percent. Yet, the mayor and his supporters continue to align with “defund the police” movement without concern for the consequences.
State leaders fare no better in this regard. Illinois’ Democratic Party has controlled both legislative chambers for nearly all of the past 40 years, yet the state consistently ranks at or near the bottom for racial economic equity. Despite Illinois residents paying the highest state and local taxes in the nation, Illinois has made little measurable progress in closing economic equity gaps between Black and White citizens ranking dead last in the nation among the 50 states.
If apologies are being issued, perhaps it should begin with the Democratic Party. This is the party of the Confederacy and slavery. It is the party of Jim Crow, of social policies that effectively destroyed the Black family. It is the party that current denies poor families education choice and is systematically working to undermining even public school choices. It is the party that is prioritizing migrants over needs of its impoverished citizens. Except for one Republican term from 1927 to 1931, Chicago has had a Democratic mayor since 1923, for a period of over 98 years.
Maybe the mayor should apologize for his budget, which is progressive only in rhetoric, not substance. The “Treatment Not Trauma” initiative has reopened only three of the 12 mental health centers closed under Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Offices created to address environmental concerns or reentry issues remain small and under-resourced. The youth summer employment program, widely touted as a major step forward in preventing youth crime, has merely restored pre-pandemic hiring levels. Meanwhile, the mayor’s tax hikes and increases to city fees and proposed taxes and fees impact those least able to pay.
Mayor Johnson’s affordable housing “commitment” is similarly hollow. In a hastily deleted social media post, Johnson claimed the city invested $11 billion to build 10,000 affordable units — an implausible $1.1 million per unit, a claim thoroughly debunked. In fact, recent city subsidies totaling $324 million have produced a mere 505 affordable units. Chicago issued only 4,039 new residential building permits in 2024 overall — compared to 52,000 in Houston — and none of the nation’s 10 largest homebuilders operate in the Chicago or Cook County.
At the same time, the blank check written for Chicago’s and Illinois’ “sanctuary” policies continues to grow — reaching an estimated $3 billion statewide, with over $600 million committed by Chicago alone. According to recent estimates, migrant costs to public schools alone could exceed $400 million. This spending occurs as the mayor and City Council repeatedly refuse to engage with federal immigration enforcement while demonizing federal agent. Johnson outrageously equates the struggles of new arrivals with the unique historical injustices faced by Black Americans.
Before the recent influx of migrants, Chicago’s population had already shrunk to a century low. More than 265,000 Black residents — mostly middle-income families with school-age children — have left since 2000. Black enrollment in Chicago Public Schools is now less than half its level at the turn of the century, with the population of Black children down 49 percent over the past two decades.
Despite this, Johnson and his allies seem unlikely to change course. Why should they, as migrants replace Blacks which is certainly acceptable to the mayor’s far left socialist supporters.
Lasting equity cannot be achieved through empty resolutions or symbolic reparations. It requires firm action: safer neighborhoods, accessible school choices, reliable public transit, and policies that foster family strength, local ownership, and generational wealth. Government should empower, not merely expand dependency. As Johnson’s administration continues to brandish the race card as a catch-all for Chicago’s ills, Chicagoans — especially Black Chicagoans — deserve more than rhetoric. Only thoughtful, well-crafted policy will suffice.
