Chicago Mayoral candidate Ja’Mal Green accused a critic of one of his proposed policies to restructure traffic and parking violation enforcements of racism.
On February 17, Green tweeted that Chicago should “reimagine” how it handles tickets and fines for drivers. This would include eliminating giving drivers multiple tickets, eliminating some speeding rules, nixing red light cameras, and abolishing car boots.
A few hours later a Twitter user that goes by the name Brandon Johnson Lane Creature tweeted, “what the hell is this guy doing[?]”
The racism and privilege on this tweet is astounding. The fact that I can support all of the infrastructure plans, bike grid, free cta etc but you can’t understand that BLACK people have over a BILLION dollars in debt with bankruptcies because of this predatory system is terrible
— Ja’Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) February 17, 2023
Green claimed the tweet came from a place of “racism and privilege.” He stated that Black Chicagoans owed a billion dollars in debt due to the predatory nature of the city’s traffic enforcement system.
He dismissed online criticism of his policies because the critics weren’t “black or brown.”
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, Green spoke of policy proposal to attach a 1% sales tax on vehicles that cost $75,000 or more to replace the revenue projected to be lost by overhauling the city’s parking enforcement system such as eliminating parking boots and red light camera violation tickets.
“Booting is inhumane. It should be illegal. Folks are getting driven into poverty. … You double the ticket. There’s an extra $100 boot fee. You take the vehicle. Now, you have a fee for seizing [and storing] that vehicle.” Green said to the Chicago Tribune, “With just a couple of tickets, you’re at $1,000 or $1,500. A lot of people don’t have that type of money. It increases each and every day to the point where they just say, ‘Forget it’ and file for bankruptcy. It’s insane.”
Green has a lot of support among progressives. Former Bernie Sanders Nina Turner endorsed him at one of his rallies.