*[Originally published on Publish0x.](https://www.publish0x.com/late-to-the-pol/chicago-mayor-mori-lightfoots-racial-discrimination-against-xpnwgmm)* #### **Introduction** On May 19, Chicago Mayor Mori Lightfoot announced that she will only accept one-on-one interviews with minority reporters. Any white journalist who wants to give an interview with the mayor is out of luck. This decision was inspired by her being “by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically” during her campaign. On Twitter, she double downed on her announcement, stating that she wanted to "break the status quo". She iterated that "diversity and inclusion [are] imperative across all institutions".

I ran to break up the status quo that was failing so many. That isn't just in City Hall.

It's a shame that in 2021, the City Hall press corps is overwhelmingly White in a city where more than half of the city identifies as Black, Latino, AAPI or Native American.
— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) May 19, 2021

*Just because the proportion of journalists are majority white, it doesn't necessarily mean there is a pro-white bias or an anti-minority bias.*

This is exactly why I'm being intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of my inauguration as mayor of this great city.
— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) May 19, 2021

*"Diversity and inclusion **are**", Mayor, not "is".*

We must be intentional about doing better. I believed that when running for office. I stand on this belief now. It’s time for the newsrooms to do better and build teams that reflect the make-up of our city.
— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) May 19, 2021

*I'm not sure how excluding a group of people constitutes as "doing better"...* #### **Lightfoot Called Out on Racial Discrimination** As you can see, her tweets got ratio'ed pretty hard. The majority of the responses to her justification criticized her for her racial discrimination. Those who defended the mayor also got ratio'ed.

This is “equity” in action. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. On the grounds of race. They believe in this deeply.
— Andrew Sullivan (@sullydish) May 19, 2021

We’re all Chicagoans! Treating people differently based on their race is disgusting bigotry, Mayor Lightfoot.
— Jonathan Hoenig (@JonathanHoenig) May 19, 2021

Can someone explain to me how this is any less racist then a white mayor in the south in the 60s allowing only white journalists to interview them?
— steve (@ordatcsteve) May 19, 2021

*Some responses critical of Ligthfoot's statement, calling her out on racial discrimination.* Minorities did not hesitate to express their disagreement, too. In fact, a Latino reporter, Gregory Pratt, vouched for white journalists and asked Lightfoot's office to rescind the condition. The office refused and as a result, he cancelled his scheduled interview. His decision drew a lot of praise on Twitter.

I am a Latino reporter @chicagotribune whose interview request was granted for today. However, I asked the mayor’s office to lift its condition on others and when they said no, we respectfully canceled. Politicians don’t get to choose who covers them. https://t.co/YMW8M8ZgJm
— Gregory Pratt (@royalpratt) May 19, 2021

#### **Closing Thoughts** Lightfoot's decision to racially discriminate against white journalists is textbook racism. Her advocacy for "diversity and inclusion" is hypocritical. Last time I checked, excluding people of a certain race is the total opposite of diversity and inclusion. What also baffles me is her very first thought when meeting with the press and media outlets is their "overwhelming whiteness", rather than the employees' credentials. I published an article about how the Oscars should focus more on meritocracy than on identity politics a while back and the same arguments apply here. When it comes to journalism, what matters is if the journalist can report events accurately and honestly. If the reporter is holding an interview, then I care more about if he or she asks relevant questions, does not slant to any side, and avoids complex question fallacies. Note how the skills and qualities I listed here have no relation to skin color. Unfortunately, with Lightfoot, she only cares about the journalist's skin color.