In this episode of “Imagine the Hysteria if a White Person Had Said That”…

Embattled Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — who accomplished the Herculean task of becoming an even worse mayor than former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot — stepped into it big-time on Sunday while explaining to a predominantly black church why he exclusively hires black people for key jobs in his administration.

For a guy who generally only opens his mouth to change feet, Johnson’s explanation was not only bizarre, it was also 100 percent textbook racism and 100 percent illegal — in my not-so-humble opinion, that is.

Speaking to the congregation at the Apostolic Church of God in the Chicago neighborhood of Woodland, Johnson proudly said:

Detractors will push back on me and say ‘The only thing the mayor talks about is the hiring of black people.’ 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. … That’s just how we are.

And so Business and Economic Neighborhood Development, the deputy mayor, is a black woman. Department of Property Development, a black woman. Infrastructure, the deputy mayor. Chief Operations Officer, is a black man. Budget Director, a black woman. Senior Advisor, a black man.  

I’m laying that out because when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business, having people in my administration that will look out for the interests of everyone, and everyone means you have to look out for the interests of lack folks, because that hasn’t happened. That’s how we ensure long-term sustainable growth..

My oh my, questions abound, beginning with the most obvious: How’s that all working out, Mr. Mayor?

Mayor Brandon Johnson: “The reason I hire so many blacks to run Chicago is because we’re planet earth’s most generous race” pic.twitter.com/b2qEzWOR5x

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 18, 2025

Before we get into more questions, allow me to explain my first question, above. I’m not suggesting that hiring black people — or people of any color — lessens the chances of success on the job. What I am doing is pointing out that so-called “equity”-based hiring vs. merit-based hiring continues to prove to be a disaster on multiple levels.

More questions:

If “we always look out for everybody else” is true, why in 2024 did Chicago again lead the nation in the number of homicides — for the 13th year in a row? And why, according to data from 2023 end-of-year analysis by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, is the homicide rate in Chicago 20 times higher among black residents than among white residents?

More questions, and predictable answers, abound, virtually zero of which support Johnson’s claims.