April 29--A South Side alderman on Friday defended his use of a racial slur when criticizing officials for dismissing an outspoken African-American principal while also saying Troy LaRaviere likely would have been fired regardless of his race for taking a public stand against Chicago Public Schools policies.
Ald. David Moore, 17th, was all over the map at a City Hall news conference. He called for LaRaviere's reinstatement at Blaine Elementary School but refused to back away from a Facebook post he released in the wake of the principal's reassignment last week that read in part "All I hear is, stay in your place N---, and don't you dare challenge the DICTATORIAL AUTHORITY designed to put corporate profits over effective public education." The Facebook post used the full word.
Moore, who also is African-American, said he simply was giving voice to the feelings of his constituents.
"Neither I regret, nor apologize," he said. "Yes, I used the word n--- to highlight what myself and many people in this city of all races believe to be a, not the, but a dictatorial authority engineering of Troy LaRaviere's ouster. In this context, the word n--- was purposely used as an evocative metaphor that highlights the pejorative reality that black people, our community and our voice has been and continues to be perceived as less than and irrelevant at the table of power."
Moore was asked whether LaRaviere would have lost his job at Blaine if he were white.
"You know what? I think the policies are bad, and anybody that pushed the policies that help our schools outside the corporate agenda policies, I think would have been probably removed," Moore said.
And without prompting, Moore said he was not claiming Mayor Rahm Emanuel used the slur.
"I would never imply, or state, unless there was a fact, that Mayor Rahm Emanuel used the word 'n---,' so I never said that," he said.
Emanuel has said he had no role in LaRaviere's removal. CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson has cited a dozen unspecified charges as reasons for LaRaviere's removal, including alleged "dereliction of duty, ethics violations of state and CPS policy, and insubordination."
Moore compared his use of the slur to President Barack Obama uttering it during an interview. "In a June 2015 radio interview with Marc Maron, President Obama invoked the most charged racial slur in American society," Moore said.
During an interview for the podcast "WTF with Marc Maron," Obama said: "Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say 'n---' in public."
LaRaviere was supposed to have a preliminary CPS hearing Friday to determine if there was basis to suspend him without pay. That hearing was delayed until the week of May 9, the principal and district officials said.
LaRaviere also has a pending hearing with the Illinois State Board of Education. The principal has not commented about the specific allegations the district has lodged against him.
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