Ever heard of Dorothy Tillman? She's an alderman on the Chicago City Council. She's also one of the nation's leading supporters of reparations for blacks who were descended from slaves. Tillman and her fellow aldermen have been stirring things up lately.
First, there's the story of Thomas Murphy. He's an alderman of the 18th ward of Chicago. His constituency is now 85 percent black. So, wanting to better represent his constituents, Murphy wanted to join the City Council's Black Caucus.
There's just one problem. Thomas Murphy is a white Irishman.
So the Black Caucus refused to give Murphy a full membership. Instead, they agreed to send a "representative team" to meet with him --- but only to discuss one issue. That issue is the redistricting of Chicago's 50 wards.
Evidently the Black Caucus isn't all that committed to representing Chicago's black population. It's just a club for black politicians. Whites need not apply, even if their electorate is 85 percent black.
Then there's the reception Dorothy Tillman hosted last October at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago. About half an hour before the event began, a Tillman staffer pulled the hotel supervisor aside. The staffer told the supervisor that the group wanted only minority (you can read that to mean black, if you wish) waiters serving the party. He then asked that two white waiters and a Hispanic carver be replaced with blacks.
The two white waiters have filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Hilton. Tillman isn't named as a defendant, but the suit makes a point that no one disputes: Dorothy Tillman wanted more black waiters at the banquet.
Tillman defended her actions to the Chicago Sun-Times. It's a matter of principle, she says. She adds that "We'll go to banquet after banquet after banquet, and we won't be served by our people. We shouldn't eat where we can't work. It's not personal against anybody, I'm just pro-my people."
Yeah, let some white politician say that he’s just “pro-his-people.” See how long that lasts.
Dorothy Tillman's real motivations are clear. She's not against all discrimination. She's just against discrimination against "her people." Discriminating against whites is justice. She's righting the injustices against her ancestors. To her, reparations are a big part of making things right. Evidently she sees herself as some great civil-rights leader--the kind who thinks everyone else is to blame for the black community's problems.
We'd better keep an eye on Dorothy Tillman. Especially if the reparations debate heats up.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hilt13.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cauc13.html
First, there's the story of Thomas Murphy. He's an alderman of the 18th ward of Chicago. His constituency is now 85 percent black. So, wanting to better represent his constituents, Murphy wanted to join the City Council's Black Caucus.
There's just one problem. Thomas Murphy is a white Irishman.
So the Black Caucus refused to give Murphy a full membership. Instead, they agreed to send a "representative team" to meet with him --- but only to discuss one issue. That issue is the redistricting of Chicago's 50 wards.
Evidently the Black Caucus isn't all that committed to representing Chicago's black population. It's just a club for black politicians. Whites need not apply, even if their electorate is 85 percent black.
Then there's the reception Dorothy Tillman hosted last October at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago. About half an hour before the event began, a Tillman staffer pulled the hotel supervisor aside. The staffer told the supervisor that the group wanted only minority (you can read that to mean black, if you wish) waiters serving the party. He then asked that two white waiters and a Hispanic carver be replaced with blacks.
The two white waiters have filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Hilton. Tillman isn't named as a defendant, but the suit makes a point that no one disputes: Dorothy Tillman wanted more black waiters at the banquet.
Tillman defended her actions to the Chicago Sun-Times. It's a matter of principle, she says. She adds that "We'll go to banquet after banquet after banquet, and we won't be served by our people. We shouldn't eat where we can't work. It's not personal against anybody, I'm just pro-my people."
Yeah, let some white politician say that he’s just “pro-his-people.” See how long that lasts.
Dorothy Tillman's real motivations are clear. She's not against all discrimination. She's just against discrimination against "her people." Discriminating against whites is justice. She's righting the injustices against her ancestors. To her, reparations are a big part of making things right. Evidently she sees herself as some great civil-rights leader--the kind who thinks everyone else is to blame for the black community's problems.
We'd better keep an eye on Dorothy Tillman. Especially if the reparations debate heats up.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hilt13.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cauc13.html
