A really perfect-grandson of Mayor Richard J. Daley has referred to as out a number of individuals of his prolonged circle of relatives, accusing them of being “committed to white supremacy” in an open letter printed closing week.
In “A Letter to My Cousins,” printed Wednesday in South Side Weekly, Bobby Vanecko calls his great-grandfather a “horribly racist mayor” and issues to great-uncle Richard M. Daley’s involvement “in covering up evidence of Chicago police torture.”
Vanecko, a regulation pupil at Loyola University Chicago who used to be raised in Sauganash, has signaled his reinforce for defunding police departments and abolishing prisons in a chain of social media posts.
He serves as an intern for First Defense Legal Aid, a bunch that “mobilizes lawyers & overpoliced community members to fill gaps in public defense & create, protect and engage replicable alternatives to the criminal system starting with its entry points,” in step with its challenge remark.
He declined to remark thru a spokeswoman for the gang.
Vanecko’s op-ed additionally objectives Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th), certainly one of his father’s cousins. Vanecko criticized the alderman for in need of “to give even more power and resources to CPD,” which Vanecko attributes to Thompson’s “idolization” of Richard J. Daley.
Thompson informed the Sun-Times it’s “unfortunate” Vanecko used a public platform to boost problems in regards to the circle of relatives.
“That young man is entitled to his own interpretations of facts and history,” Thompson mentioned. “As a ways as his feedback about me, my recognition amongst everybody I’ve ever recognized and labored with speaks for itself. That’s all I’ve to mention.
“The way I was raised and the way I conduct myself, that speaks for itself,” Thompson added.
Vanecko says his political circle of relatives member’s reinforce for racist insurance policies can also be traced again to Richard J. Daley, who dominated over the town from 1955 till his loss of life in 1976 and resisted efforts towards desegregation.
“The first Mayor Daley was enduringly successful in shaping his city, and his legacy influences Chicago’s politics today,” Vanecko wrote. “Chicago remains one of the most segregated cities in the country, while public schools, health facilities, and housing have been closed and divested from; at the same time police spending per capita has tripled since 1964.”
The elder Mayor Daley’s usual of “law and order” denied other folks preventing by contrast racism, Vanecko wrote, nodding to each President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden for campaigning on identical notions within the 2020 presidential election.
Vanecko mentioned this development persisted with Richard M. Daley, Vanecko’s great-uncle and previous Cook County state’s legal professional and Chicago’s mayor from 1989 to 2011. His great-uncle “was involved in covering up evidence of Chicago police torture,” Vanecko mentioned. Richard M. Daley has denied figuring out anything else about police torture all over his tenure.
“Many people in our family are still committed to white supremacy today, even if they are not racist interpersonally,” Vanecko wrote.
“They support racist politics and policies like mass criminalization, privatization, and austerity, otherwise known as neoliberal capitalism.”
Cook County Commissioner John Daley, Richard M. Daley’s brother, additionally driven again on Vanecko’s incendiary allegations.
“Rich Daley came into a city that was so divided racially, and he united it,” John Daley mentioned of his brother. “We had big problems, and he reached right out after he was elected in the minority community. And he knew he had to do that.”
John Daley, who additionally serves because the 11th Ward committeeman, mentioned the letter used to be “very offensive” and claimed he had “no idea” why his great-nephew selected to air his grievances publicly. He flatly denied the claims his circle of relatives is racist.
“My dad, me, Rich, [Vanecko’s father Robert G. Vanecko], we don’t carry those views. And we never carried those views in our family,” he mentioned.
Vanecko mentioned…