An Open Letter To Rahm Emanuel From CHICAGO
August 1, 2012
The Kitchen Cabinet received this thoughtful letter from a fan, and we felt that it represented the views of a LOT of Chicagoans we are hearing from this week.
Rahm Emanuel Mayor
City of Chicago
121 N LaSalle Street
Chicago City Hall 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602
Dear Mayor Emanuel,
As a native Chicagoan who grew up on the far west side, graduated from DePaul University and launched my career in Chicago, I am concerned and confused by your recent comments in response to the statement made by the CEO of Chick-fil-A supporting traditional marriage. You said: “The values expressed are not Chicago values.”
Chicago Residents AREN'T With Mayor Emanuel
I am confused about what are “Chicago values.” Apparently, freedom of expression and freedom of religion are not “Chicago values”. Mr. Mayor, don’t you have more important things to focus on? This year alone, as of July 10th there have been 275 murders in Chicago. The murder rate in Chicago is worse than for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Chicago: More Murders Than New York City
Since 2001, more than 5,000 people have been killed by gun fire in Chicago (over twice the rate of troops killed overseas).
Unemployment rate in Chicago is at a staggering 9.3%, over a point higher than the national average. Unemployment is considerably higher for minorities and youth (also the victims of higher crime rates)
Nearly 40 percent of Chicago Public School students drop out.
In 2011, the Milken Institute ranked Chicago in the bottom 25 percentile (155th out of 200) in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth.
Jobs...Not Politics
Gang violence in Chicago is among the worse in the nation. Young people who can’t find jobs and who suffer from ineffective or non-existent parenting join gangs and resort to crime often turning very young children into innocent victims. Violence in Chicago is so bad the city had to deploy 200 Chicago police officers to secure the perimeter of a recent wedding reception so the President and First Lady could attend.
What’s confusing to me is why you would attack a principle that all reason and logic tell me you
should be supporting. In response to the mounting murder rate and increasing gang violence you are quoted in The Outlook on July 10, 2012 as saying: “It’s not about crime, it’s about values… They (gang members) have the wrong values.”
Mr, Emanuel, to be blunt, I would say the same to you.
You have the wrong values.
Compelling statistical research exists to support the fact that children who
Chicago Has Some Of Worst Schools In America.
come from traditional families are less likely to drop out of school, join gangs, or engage in criminal behavior than those who don’t. Why would you verbally attack a company who could offer you solutions to your moral, economic and jobs crises?
Normally I wouldn’t offer my opinion where it wasn’t solicited. In this case,
Americans More Likely To Support Chicken...Than Rahm Emanuel.
Mr. Emanuel, since you did so vis-a-vis your Chick-fil-A statement, I am making this exception. Here are three things I would suggest you do to address the out of control violence, crime, homicide, unemployment and school drop-out rates in our once great city:
1. Don’t always do the politically expedient or politically correct thing; Do the right thing. You should be welcoming and encouraging potential employers with every resource at your disposal. One of the biggest correlations to predict the probability of criminal
behavior especially among youth is whether or not they have a job. How many of the 275 murder victims this year and over 5000 the past decade would be alive today if their assailant was at work instead of on the street?
2. Stop besmirching successful businesses. You should be embracing employers (and tax payers) and welcoming them to Chicago, instead of judging them with your misguided sense of “Chicago values.” To the rest of the country, your statement is almost comical. In politics, “Chicago values” are synonymous with corruption, incarceration, bribery, graft, clout, and intimidation. Instead of lauding “Chicago values” why don’t you return our city to the “American values” of entrepreneurship, hard work and free enterprise?
Chicagoans Want FAIRNESS...FOR EVERYBODY.
3. Check your personal beliefs. Mr. Emanuel, given the enormity of your job, you should be praying to God every day and repeatedly throughout the day to help you protect and serve the people of our once great metropolis. Instead of demeaning God and his values, invite Him to join you and guide you every day and on every decision. Find a minister(s) who believes in America’s principles and seek his/her counsel. Our children and their future are depending on you.
Mr. Emanuel, I hope that my words to you and my passion for my beloved city are not in vain. I pray Mr. Emanuel that the good Lord will give you the courage to do the right thing in every situation, the wisdom to know what that is and the humility to seek and to hear His divine guidance so that all Chicagoans can experience peace, freedom and the American dream.
Sincerely,
Ralph J. Serpico
Footnotes
http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/chicago-homicide-rate-wor_n_1602692.html
http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/comment/4823
http://www.areavibes.com/chicago-il/employment/
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