The U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are preparing to investigate self-professed “progressive” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson after he admitted that he prefers to hire black people.
Federal authorities are looking to determine if the Democrat mayor is breaking civil rights laws with discriminatory hiring practices in the wake of remarks he made at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn on May 18, according to WLS-TV.
During his comments at the church, Johnson congratulated himself for having the most “diverse” city hall in Chicago history, and even claimed that hiring black job candidates is “looking out for everyone” because black people are “the most generous people on the planet.”
Johnson took great pride in pointing out that the positions of deputy mayor, Department of Planning and Development chief, chief operations officer, budget director, and senior adviser are all now held by black men and women.
But in her letter informing Chicago about the coming DOJ-EEOC investigation, Trump Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wondered if Johnson’s possibly discriminatory hiring policy holds throughout city government and not just among top officials at city hall.
“If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions,” Dhillon said in her notice.
The Mayor’s troubling statements have led the @TheJusticeDept @CivilRights and our colleagues at the EEOC to open an investigation …. Stay tuned. https://t.co/6UUzQklHwC
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) May 19, 2025
In response, Johnson released the percentages of employees by race and ethnicity for his administration. He claimed that 34.3 percent of his city hall employees are black, 30.5 percent are white, 23.8 percent are Hispanic, and 6.7 percent are Asian.
Johnson’s comment about his hiring practices was panned by his chief critic, 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez, who accused Johnson of “excluding” many residents.
“Hearing what he said and seeing this investigation, taking part, unfolding today, I think validates the concerns that many people have that this isn’t a mayor for everyone,” Lopez said. “I think many people throughout the city of Chicago have felt as if they have been excluded under this administration.”
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