The Chicago mayor is facing a lawsuit after admitting she doesn’t want to give interviews to journalists who are white.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who became the head of Chicago back in 2019, last week sparked a heated debate after revealing she would only give one-on-one interviews to people of color.
“By now, you may have heard the news that on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of my inauguration as Mayor of this great City, I will be exclusively providing one-on-one interviews with journalists of color,” she wrote in her open letter.
“As a person of color, I have throughout my adult life done everything that I can to fight for diversity and inclusion in every institution that I have been a part of and being Mayor makes me uniquely situated to shine a spotlight on this most important issue. I wanted to reach out to you directly to ensure you understand my thinking behind that decision.”
Despite receiving an instant backlash and calls for an apology, the controversial mayor went on to double down on her remarks by saying that the move to exclude white journalists is a part of her battle for inclusion and diversity.
Refusing to apologize for her discriminatory decision, the mayor was on Thursday sued by Thomas Catenacci, a white Daily Caller reporter, who was allegedly denied an interview because of his skin color.
According to the lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch and Daily Caller News Foundation, the Chicago mayor discriminated against the reporter by violating his First Amendment rights.
As the papers argue, Lightfoot failed to respond to Catenacci’s three emails in a timely manner because of his skin color.
Speaking of the matter, Ethan Barton, the editor-in-chief for the Daily Caller News Foundation, accused the mayor of racial discrimination.
“It’s absurd that an elected official believes she can discriminate on the basis of race. Mayor Lightfoot’s decision is clearly blocking press freedom through racial discrimination,” Barton said.
Slamming the mayor’s decision to hold exclusive interviews was also Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton who called Lightfoot’s actions “illegal and immoral.”
“Racial discrimination has no place in America, especially in the halls of government. Mayor Lightfoot’s admitted policy of race-based discrimination is flagrantly illegal and immoral. Simply put, we’re asking the court to find Mayor Lightfoot’s racist abuse unlawful,” Fitton said.
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