Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson insisted to CNN that funding reparations in his new budget will help get to the root of the city’s record violent crime epidemic.
While speaking with network host Poppy Harlow on “CNN This Morning” on Wednesday, Johnson acknowledged the high crime rate in Chicago and declared that it will take “the full force of government” to solve it, including the city spending $500,000. to reparations programs.
Harlow motivated his response by citing statistics from the Chicago Police Department that reveal that, although “the homicide rate has decreased since 2022,” “all other forms of violent crime, Mr. Mayor, have increased from a year ago, a 17 % more in general.”
“Will Chicagoans be safer in 2024?” the presenter asked.
Johnson, who has been mayor of the Democratic-run city for about seven months, said the solution to the problem lies in a major government response, and that the “comprehensive community safety plan,” he said, “not only reaches root causes of violence in the city of Chicago”, but makes “critical investments”.
He listed the investments: “A quarter billion dollars to address homelessness, $100 million for violence prevention. We added $80 million more to our youth employment program, hiring 25,000 young people just this summer. “That’s a 20% increase from the previous year.”
Johnson also touted his proposal to “hire 4,000 more young people this summer,” adding: “We’ve set up an entire office dedicated to reentry. “So people returning to our communities who have been incarcerated due to failed policies will have a welcoming space for them.”
He then spoke about the city’s diversion of funds to provide reparations to its African American community. “I have added half a million dollars for restoration and repairs to address, again, the cycle of violence, which resembles the closure of schools and mental health centers, in which I have now invested. “We are going to open two mental health clinics that have been closed for two previous administrations.”
Johnson said the solution to the problem lies in a major government response and a “comprehensive community safety plan.” CBS News Chicago
“And so, in order for us to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago, investments are required,” he reiterated, “and that is what this budget has achieved: a $16.77 billion budget without raising taxes on property, and we are just getting started in the city of Chicago.”
Johnson also described being personally affected by the city’s hardships, telling Harlow, “Look, my wife and I are raising our three kids on the west side of Chicago. It is a beautiful part of the city. We love it. But it has also been the side of the city of Chicago that has experienced great disinvestment, due to school closures, due to lack of transportation, due to lack of investment; and that’s why I wake up every day in one of the most difficult areas of the city.”
“And because of that, there is no one in this city who thinks more about public safety than someone like me, who is raising a family on the West Side of Chicago,” the mayor added.
Chicago police work at the scene where several people were shot near a baseball field in Washington Park on Sept. 13, 2022. AP
Johnson’s reparations plan is the latest from Democratic Party leaders pushing this controversial policy. Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-New York, signed a bill this month creating a state commission “to study the history of slavery in New York State” and examine its impact on African Americans throughout history. of the state.
Earlier this year, the California Reparations Task Force proposed that Black Californians receive up to $1 million in repayment for the state’s treatment of their ancestors.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn