The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the city of Chicago after Mayor Brandon Johnson touted the number of Black officials in his administration while speaking at a church on Sunday.
The DOJ announced the probe on Monday in a letter addressed to Johnson from the head of the department’s civil rights division, Harmeet Dhillon.
“So when we say, our people, hire our people, I just want to name this,” Johnson said while speaking at the Apostolic Church of God.
The mayor said that during other administrations the majority of the city’s employees were white, but noted that under his leadership 45% of the administration is Black, 25% is Latino, 30% is white and 8% is Asian.
“It is the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago. And here’s why I’m naming this is because there are some detractors that will push back on me and say, you know, the only thing [the] mayor talks about is the hiring of Black people,” Johnson said. “No, what I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet.”
According to Chicago ABC station WLS, Johnson’s comments went viral and caused an uproar on social media, with some users calling for an investigation.
Dhillon directly cited Johnson’s comments in the letter and said that the investigation is “based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.”
The letter also pointed to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
ABC News reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
Johnson, who said in a March interview that the “soul of Chicago” is its “multi-ethnic coalition,” said in his remarks on Sunday that having a diverse administration will help “ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business.”
“Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone and everyone means you have to look out for the interests of Black folks, because that hasn’t happened,” Johnson said. “That’s how we ensure long-term sustainable growth.”
Johnson, a former Cook County commissioner and teacher, won the mayoral race in April 2023 after running a progressive campaign with a platform focused on addressing racial and economic disparities in the city.
“I hear people wanting more,” Johnson said in March when asked what Black Chicagoans want — whom he said have been historically underserved in the city — during an interview with The Triibe, a Black media outlet in Chicago. Speaking about economic inequalities, Johnson said during the interview that “our pain is so deep and so severe,” so the investments in the Black community “have to go deep and wide.”
“One of the first things that I did was it’s not enough to win the power, you have to protect the power,” Johnson said during the interview while touting his administration’s hiring of Black officials. “And the first thing that I did for our people was made sure that I put key Black people in positions of power to protect it.”
The DOJ investigation comes amid a sweeping crackdown by the Trump administration on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the federal government and in the private sector.
The president issued a series of executive orders after taking office in January in which he mandated that his administration work to end DEI practices — policies and guidelines that he called “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
ABC News has reached out to the DOJ for further comment.
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