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To: President-elect Joe Biden and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Don't appoint Rahm Emanuel as Ambassador to Japan!
Rahm Emanuel had an atrocious record as mayor of Chicago, and his policies disproportionately harmed working families and Black and brown communities, including his cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald. President-elect Biden must not nominate Emanuel for any role in his administration.
Why is this important?
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been named Ambassador to Japan, but he hasn't yet been confirmed for the position. Emanuel had an absolutely disastrous record as mayor between 2011 and 2019. His decisions and policies had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans.
To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South Side and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black and Latinx families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side.
As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services.
Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color.
There's no reason why he should be rewarded with a public office, especially one in which he is representing the United States on a global stage.
We are asking that President Biden withdraws Emanuel's nomination—and we're also calling on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote to oppose it.