Chicago Mayoral candidate Rev. James Meeks is putting out a major fire he started Wednesday when, during a radio interview, he claimed that only blacks should be eligible for Chicago’s city contracts set aside for minorities.
He went on to say Hispanics, Asians, and white women should not be referred to as minorities, because they have not been discriminated against as much as their African-American counterparts.
“The word ‘minority’ from our standpoint should mean African American. I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” Meeks said. “That’s why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against.”
Hours later Meeks, trying to amend his statement, saying he would only exclude white women if elected mayor, which of course only angered the female voters.
In a written statement on Thursday, Meeks tried to clarify what he said once again, but having already angered a number of people, it may have already been too late.
Rev. Meeks is one of over a dozen candidates running for Mayor of Chicago including Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico, Miguel Del Valle, Carol Moseley Braun, and a number of others.
