David Moore Is Not Backing Down for Using the N Word
Edited By Kai EL’ Zabar
Aldermen David Moore refused to explain or apologize for his use of the N-word to condemn the ouster of popular Blaine Elementary School principal Troy Raviere. Ald. David Moore (17th ward), a Black man, used the offensive and racist language to describe how whites dismiss African-Americans, in a Facebook post last week. He could have chosen a more politically correct choice of words, such as Black man to replace the N word.
Moore was pointing the finger at Mayor Rahm Emanuel insinuating that he engineered the ouster of the Blaine principal in retaliation for Troy LaRaviere’s outspoken criticism of the mayor’s education policies.
“All I hear is, ‘Stay in your place n—er.’ Not one elected official, who cares about the education of our children, should remain silent about this DICTATORIAL move!” Moore wrote not abbreviating the word. Clearly he was making a point.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel denied any role in the abrupt ouster of a Lakeview elementary school principal who’s been an outspoken critic of the mayor andChicago Public Schools, and school officials were jeered Monday during a community meeting over the administrator’s dismissal.
Before the City Council’s Zoning Committee meeting on Tuesday, Moore was asked whether he regretted or intends to apologize for his choice of words.
“There will be either a press conference or I will be putting out a statement so you all can get questions answered regarding it. I can’t right now,” Moore said.
Moore was asked why he felt it necessary to use the N-word and what kind of example that sets for constituents of his South Side ward.
“With all due respect, you’re gonna get all the answers. I’m gonna answer it all at the right time. And it’ll be this week. It’ll be this week where you get all of those answers. I promise you. And I’ll come and get you first. . . You will get all of the answers,” he said.
Last week like a scene from a movie, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders accused Emanuel of flexing his muscle in a “politically-motivated retaliation” against LaRaviere.
Sanders pinned the principal’s reassignment squarely on the mayor and on what he called “Emanuel’s unhealthy obsession with taking revenge.”
On Monday, the mayor fired back by flatly denying any role in the Blaine principal’s ouster.
“When I first became mayor, I set the city on a course to [get out from] under the Shakman decree, where there was political hiring going on and politics played a role in personnel in the city of Chicago. It took me three years, but we ended a 40-year federal judge oversight of our hiring,” Emanuel told an unrelated news conference at Dunbar High School.
“I do not get involved in a personnel decision. I can understand if I’m getting blamed. But, I’m just being clear. I’m adhering to the Shakman decree.”
Emanuel was reminded that LaRaviere is now vying to become president of the Chicago Principals Association.
The now-former Blaine principal also endorsed mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia over Emanuel in the 2015 election and cut a commercial for Sanders before the March 15 Illinois primary denouncing the mayor’s education policies.
MayorEmanuel maintained his stance, “I’ve said exactly what I said. I do not get involved in personnel decisions.”
Meanwhile, Blaine Elementary School’s local school council officially condemned Troy LaRaviere’s reassignment Monday, saying in a statement that its members were, “. . . outraged that CPS has removed our award-winning principal without due process.” Blaine parents, community members and high-ranking CPS officials filled the school auditorium Monday for what was frequently a heated hearing on the principal’s dismissal.
CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson — in remarks interrupted by jeers, comments, chants and applause — said the legal nature of the situation kept her from offering specifics about the principal’s dismissal. She said LaRaviere had been given detailed dismissal charges, which he was free to share publicly. Jackson, however, did cite a dozen unspecified charges as reasons for LaRaviere’s removal, including alleged “dereliction of duty, ethics violations of state and CPS policy and insubordination.”
BACK TO MOORE
This is not the first time Moore has been at the center of controversy. And given his intention to address the issues on hand, it may not be the last.
Moore was in emersed murky water aldermanic campaign, when he held an unfocused City Hall news conference to condemn as a homophobic smear a letter he claimed was being falsely circulated in his name claiming to come clean about his struggle with his sexuality.
The suspiciously written unsigned letter talked indicated that Moore’s 2011 aldermanic campaign had forced incumbent Ald. Latasha Thomas into a run-off, but fell 321 votes short.
“It’s the lowest of the low that you can go. … It’s untrue. It’s a lie. My friends, my family, my neighbors — everyone knows me. I don’t have to defend a lie,” Moore said at the time.
That controversy seems to follow Moore because it was not forgotten after the election.
More questions about his choices arose last summer, when Moore initially refused, then granted, without explanation, a city permit required to close the street for the annual summer block party outside St. Sabina’s Catholic Church in Auburn-Gresham because the party was co-sponsored by Spike Lee and the cast of “Chiraq.”
Soon after (2 months later), Moore accused a 22-year-old transgender prostitute who was arrested of opening his car door and punching him in the forearm.
The alderman claimed the alleged attack occurred after he left a rowdy party he was trying to rein in after neighbors complained.
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