I may have poisoned Chicago already.
Chicago Sun-Times (H/T James Edwards):
Commissioner Peraica accused of using racial slur for saying ‘those folks’
Commissioner’s criticism of use of phrase ‘absurd:’ Peraica
The phrase was “those folks.”
But was it a racist slur? Or is that interpretation “absurd”?
The controversy began Tuesday at a Cook County Board meeting when Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica delivered another of his windy speeches.
Peraica, who is white and represents the western suburbs, was talking about how cutting the county’s share of the sales tax could help the unemployed — mentioning specifically how the African American community has been hit especially hard by joblessness and how “those folks” could benefit from slashing the tax.
“What we need to do is concern ourselves with the taxpayers. We had 70,000 foreclosures in Cook County last year, we have conventions leaving, we have 11.2 unemployment rate in Cook County,” he said.
“In the African American community, it’s probably 40, 50 percent unemployment, among males in particular. This is not the way to help them. The way to help those folks is to let them keep their money in their pockets.”
(snip)
But the original two words set off Commissioner Deborah Sims, an African American whose district covers Chicago’s South Side and the south suburbs.
“I’m offended. ‘Those folks?’ If that isn’t the most racist statement that’s ever been made in this board,” Sims fired back.
Lost in the hubbub about Peraica’s racism is Peraica’s racism. His district is probably almost all white and relatively conservative, the only sane part of Crook County. Yet he can only think about jobs for young black men, even though if it were only up to young black men, he wouldn’t have a job. How about some jobs for middle aged white men and women, the kind of people in the kind of district that you can actually win in Chicagograd? That would be nice.
