(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson raised eyebrows Monday by announcing a taxpayer-funded grant program for descendants of slavery — suggesting it would be reserved exclusively for black residents.
Johnson, a far-left Democrat, unveiled the program at a Juneteenth event, framing it as part of his broader reparations agenda, launched on the same holiday last year.
“When we talk about reparations, we are not talking about something that is far off in the distant future,” Johnson said. “There is work we can do today to repair the harms of the past and build a better future for posterity.”
Moments later, he announced a $4.11 million grant initiative as part of that effort.
“That is why today, in collaboration with the Department of Planning and Development under the leadership of Commissioner Sier Boatright, we are proud to announce a historic $4 million investment into community wealth building in the greatest city in the world, the city of Chicago,” he added.
The program offers grants of up to $500,000 for what Johnson called community investment and worker cooperative initiatives.
“It will fund community-driven wealth-building models, designed by the very communities that they serve, with up to $500,000 in capital grants per project and $3.5 million reserved for shared ownership models,” he claimed. “The investment will put economic power directly in the hands of the community that have been affected by historic slavery.
Johnson concluded his remarks with a defiant defense: “The impact of this initiative will be momentous. Investing in black is not a criminal act … I’m going to say it again, investing in black is not a criminal act.”
Johnson’s comments come roughly a year after he signed an executive order creating a “Black Reparation Task Force” to study policies that have harmed black Chicagoans since the slavery era in the U.S.
He was elected mayor in 2023, replacing Lori Lightfoot, who failed to qualify for the runoff that year.
