By: Ted Dabrowski
Illinois and Chicago politicians have made a mess of opportunities for blacks in Chicago. In preparation for my Chicago Tonight’s Black Voices appearance last week – more on that later – I pulled together several key facts on how Chicago blacks were fairing vs. the nation’s other big cities. The data, straight from the U.S. Census or the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, is dismal.
Chicago is stuck in a vicious spiral, where too much spending has led to too much debt, including massive pension debts. Taxes, as a result, have become increasingly punitive. Pile on top of that failing schools and crime, and that’s chased out people and businesses, driving down job creation and investment. Based on the data, minorities are paying a big price relative to their peers in other big cities.
At the core of Chicago’s failure is a lack of economic growth. The metro area’s GDP, after adjusting for inflation, has grown only 4% since 2019. That’s the worst economic growth among the nation’s 15 largest metro areas.
It’s quite the opposite for cities with pro-growth, pro-business policies. The economies of booming metros like Dallas, Seattle, Miami and Phoenix have all grown 17% or more. That’s more than four times the growth rate of Chicago.
Unsurprisingly, jobs are a problem. At 12.3%, Chicago’s black unemployment rate was the highest among the nation’s 15 biggest cities, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Jacksonville’s black jobless rate was half that of Chicago’s, and Charlotte’s was just a third.
A less dynamic economy also means lower paying jobs. The median income for black households in Chicago is just $44,413 after adjusting for cost of living. That’s the third-lowest amount among big cities.
Chicago’s black poverty rate also leads among the nation’s 15 biggest cities. Over 26% of black Chicagoans are below the poverty line – nearly 200,000 people.
And then there’s government dependency. Nearly 57% of black Chicagoans are enrolled in the food stamp program SNAP – the 3rd-highest percentage among America’s 15 big cities.
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Despite the above, my fellow panelists on the Chicago Tonight show called for even more spending and tax hikes in the 2026 Illinois budget in the name of supporting the black community.
One panelist laid out a long string of programmatic spending he wanted to see, including money for schools and healthcare and early childhood and transit funding. The other panelist laid out how to pay for it. A CTBA staffer, she called for a 1.5 percentage point hike in Illinois’ personal income tax rate to 6.45%, and if not that, then an expansion in the sales taxes to include services. A link to the segment is here.
If I’m generous about their ideas, yes, tax increases in the short term can generate more money for more social programs. But more spending and tax hikes will only exacerbate the downward spiral Chicago is already in, creating even more dependency.
Chicagoans need the opposite. Instead of more spending and the tax hikes that go with it, lawmakers need to obsess about jobs, investment and economic growth.
Businesses and investment will only return when lawmakers tackle what makes the city so costly. Its massive $53 billion in pension debts need major reform. Chicago Public Schools can bring down its $30,000 per student spend by closing near-empty schools and cutting back on its bloated bureaucracy. The city’s transit agencies need to stop running near-empty trains and buses and instead right-size their operations. And the public unions, in particular the teachers union, need to be de-powered.
The problem is that our current leaders wear as a badge of pride how many people they can get on Medicaid and food stamps. They ignore the fact that people, no matter their color, can’t thrive without good jobs and good pay.
Illinois needs a new set of lawmakers that will prioritize economic growth over government dependency.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Illinois and Chicago failing badly at their own game: ‘equity’
- ‘Equity’ Fail (part 1): Illinois blacks suffer nation’s 2nd-highest unemployment rate, largest black-white gap
- Chicago’s black hole: Pension debts jump even though taxpayers pour billions into city funds
- Chicago property taxes rise 3.5 times faster than inflation in last decade
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Ted, spot on…
To gain a perspective about the entire state it’s not just true for Chicago but county Cook and the entire state of Illinois.
The math does not lie.
Do any of these CTU/Brandon/ progressive alder crew “new machine” equity hustlers have anyone that’s worked for a day in private sector? Answer NO!!
Maybe what’s needed is someone to call their fake EQUITY ‘guaranteed upper-middle class deals for me at the expense of thee’ con. Launch a 100% socialist party that will guarantee ALL Chicagoan’s same deal as a CTU members from pay to benefits. All city residence will be members of city resident union with same constitutionally guaranteed deals as public sector. All city private sector employers will have meet pay and benefits, etc., etc…..
Spot on Where’s. Let’s make the minimum wage $100 per hour and we’ll all be rich!
So , who wants to be the first to blame voters and insist this is what the voters want?
The quality of education, the dismemberment of the family, democrats keeping blacks down as they always have done since slavery, is the root causes. Look at any blue city/state. It’s not about spending more as whatever g er you fund, the unions take for themselves in the way of more salary, higher pensions and government ineptitude. Its all a really bad joke on blacks. Why do they keep voting the dems in? Are most now just looking for a check to just get by? What a crime while the elitists keep enriching themselves LEGALLY as they write the laws.
Dead on analysis.