Lightfoot slammed by member of US Commission on Civil Rights for 'immoral' race-based interview policy

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Media top headlines June 14

MSNBC’s Joy Reid getting slammed for claiming students learn ‘Confederate Race Theory,’ an NPR TV critic doubling down on an op-ed urging Tom Hanks to be ‘anti-racist,’ and Biden muttering that he’ll get into trouble with his staff round out today’s top media headlines

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was slammed by a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) over her policy that barred White reporters from being granted interviews to mark the midway point of her first term in office. 

In a letter sent to Lightfoot that was shared by The Daily Caller's Thomas Catenacci, USCCR Commissioner Peter Kirsanow invoked the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which prevents "official conduct discriminating on the basis of race," something "any elected official in the United States should know."

"A government official, such as yourself, depriving individuals of opportunities, on the basis of their race is explicitly discriminatory," Kirsanow wrote. "Government-sanctioned bigotry is the same sort of horrid behavior that Americans of all stripes rejected, fought against, and ultimately conquered decades ago. An objective observer cannot help but wonder why such immoral and un-American attitudes are coming from the Office of the Mayor of Chicago."

JUDGE ORDERS LIGHTFOOT TO CLARIFY POLICY THAT ONLY GRANTED INTERVIEWS TO JOURNALISTS OF COLOR

Kirsanow also sent the Democrat a list of questions including which reporters did she grant and deny interviews, if she and the city of Chicago "discriminate" on race in other areas and in public service, and whether she instructs law enforcement to "enforce the law on a preferential basis."

Lightfoot's office did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment. 

Last month, Lightfoot sparked controversy after she began rejecting interview requests from White journalists and only granting them to Black and Brown journalists on the subject of the two-year mark of her term. 

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The Democratic mayor defended the controversial stance, slamming the "overwhelming whiteness and maleness" of Chicago's media institutions and calling for more diversity in newsrooms. 

The Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) filed a lawsuit against Lightfoot after her office did not respond to the conservative outlet's multiple requests for an interview.