proposed amendment to Illinois Constitution on racism

Below the fold is a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution to be a first step toward making Illinois a state committed to reducing racism over the long haul.

I believe it would make Illinois the first state to be anti-racism (as opposed to "race neutral" in the constitution). It also explicitly links racism to white supremacy.

The theory is that Illinois would obligate itself to quantify racism & work toward reducing racism over time.

Questions for WTTW about Phil Ponce's conduct in the March 31, 2015 candidate debate

Last night Phil Ponce moderated a candidate forum that has been widely panned.

Some of the media outlets that covered it:

• Did Phil Ponce Win Some Votes for Garcia By Bringing Up His Son? [Chicago Magazine (Carol Felsenthal)]

• Who is the loser in the Chicago mayoral debate? Phil Ponce [Chicago Now (Teresa Puente)]

• There's no debate: Phil Ponce blew it last night [Crain's (Steve Rhodes)]

• WATCH: Debate moderator booed when he asks Chicago mayoral candidate about son’s criminal history [Raw Story (Arturo Garcia)]

  The outlet I liked best captured the reaction on Twitter:

  WTTW’s Phil Ponce Crossed the Line in Asking Chuy García About His Son’s ‘Gang’ Past [Latino Rebels]

  Using MoveOn.org's petition feature, I created a petition calling for Phil Ponce to be fired. Within 20 hours it had 1,288 signatures.

  A number of people who signed the petition called for people to call WTTW and leave messages. Messages are good. Questions are better.

  Below the fold are some questions I came up with. But please suggest questions in the comments. Write in the comments the questions you asked and the responses you received.

BGA should create and enforce a no hate speech policy for its Facebook page

On its Facebook page, the Better Government Association asked me to file a complaint by email about a post on the BGA page that crossed the line to hate speech. BGA's initial reaction was to say that because Daniel Cannucci's statement that Michelle Obama should go back to Kenya wasn't "profane", it didn't violate BGA's standards.

My critique of BGA has two major points.

1. BGA should have a zero-tolerance approach to racism and hate speech. People who engage in racism and hate speech may be part of the "Conservative" political coalition, but they are not part of the good government movement.

2. BGA increasingly seems to be a home for people who hate government. Hating government is not the same as making government less corrupt or more efficient.

Below the fold for more details.