The city of Chicago is violating the civil rights of its residents by relocating polluting businesses from white communities into Black and Latino areas that already are overwhelmed with environmental and health issues, federal officials have found after a nearly two-year investigation.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is demanding that Chicago change its unlawful planning, zoning and land-use policies so they don’t discriminate against communities of color, according to a letter HUD sent to the city.
If Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration doesn’t agree to work on a plan to overhaul its processes and policies, City Hall could lose hundreds of millions in federal housing money.
In 2021, HUD says City Hall distributed $375 million in grants and other funding from the agency among 13 departments.
The investigation was sparked by a complaint from community organizers who challenged the city’s role in the planned relocation of the General Iron metal-shredding business from mostly white Lincoln Park to a majority-Latino Southeast Side community surrounded by Black neighborhoods.
Is HUD getting ready to get rid of the function of local government?
