The Most Corrupt City in the United States: Youth in Chicago Demand Change, But Will They Get it?

Protestors attending Laquan McDonald’s funeral in Chicago. Photo by Voice of America.

For decades, Chicago’s political machine has churned out mayors, governors, aldermen, and other city officials that have violated the city’s trust. A recent study conducted by the University of Illinois found that, despite a recent decline in corruption, the Windy City continues to be the most corrupt city in the nation. 

As a Chicago native myself, this phenomenon is not surprising. I have a distinct memory of watching the evening news at home as a middle schooler and seeing my classmate’s uncle—a United States congressman—being charged with laundering $25 million of federal campaign money for personal expenses. As a high schooler, yet another acquaintance’s father was an alderman who was pressured to step down under allegations of solicited campaign contributions and prostitution in exchange for political favors. 

Growing up in Hyde Park, a vibrant college town and former home to the Obama family, politics was ingrained into the fabric of the community. Yet corruption, although acknowledged, was never actively discussed among older generations, even in such a politically conscious area of the city. I distinctly remember classmates avoiding acknowledgment of corrupt city or state officials for fear of offending friends and being reminded by elders not to mention the topic at school. Adults around me rarely expressed surprise or outrage when yet another city or state official was taken into custody for corruption, and they certainly never sounded indignant. If anything, their responses showed   an attitude of “that’s too bad.” 

As I grew older, I seemed to stop hearing lackluster acknowledgements and began to hear loud condemnations. Corrupt officials perpetuated a negligent political system at the same time as social movements came to the forefront of Chicago’s politics, occupying the attention of a younger, politically awakened generation.

One example of this political awakening occurred in the spring of 2019, when the extent of the corruption committed by city officials in Chicago became crystal clear during the trial of police officer Jason Van Dyke. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder for shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald sixteen times. The three other officers who were at the scene of the murder were separately accused of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and official misconduct, yet were found not guilty, despite damning evidence. City officials withheld evidence, including the dash-cam footage of the shooting itself, which was not released for upwards of 400 days, while allegations of corruption and the intentional negligence of city officials became the rallying cry of Chicago youth. 

Now enraged and fearful that corruption in the city would reign over all else, the youth of Chicago started to organize, protest, and become more politically involved on a wide scale. The Black Youth Project 100, an organization founded after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case, resurged in Chicago after comparable events in the Van Dyke case. The Youth Project contributed to the social movement by accusing Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez of keeping the case’s details intentionally private. The Youth Project led direct-action protests by spreading the hashtag #byeanita on social media platforms, causing Alvarez to lose her bid for reelection. 

The murder of Laquan McDonald and subsequent youth rallies for change garnered national attention, prompting the U.S. Justice Department to launch a 13-month investigation into the case. The resulting report called into question the legitimacy of the Chicago police department and demonstrated the corruption of city officials. It uncovered officials’ unwillingness to investigate anonymous complaints, and the practice of a “code of silence,” used to cover up misconduct. Perhaps most egregiously, the report also noted that in the five years prior to the investigation, less than two percent of the total 300,000 police misconduct complaints were sustained. 

A flurry of protests reflected the dissatisfaction of Chicago youth, demonstrating that Chicago’s corrupt old ways—and the officials who perpetuated them—needed to go. At the top of the list of those officials is Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, whose approval ratings plummeted after the DOJ ’s report plummeted, leaving his legacy forever tarnished. He did not seek a third term.

On the eve of Election Day in 2019, history was made by these youth efforts: The voting citizens of Chicago would elect a black woman to be their mayor for the first time. Lori Lightfoot, a queer black woman, became the city’s new leader, marking an election that many hoped would bring an end to the systemic corruption and ill tensions of Chicago politics.

Chicago continues to prove that it deserves the title of “most corrupt city in the nation,” but that title is no longer met with ambivalence. A new generation is slowly but surely breaking down a harsh political environment that favors the status quo. It has taken public outrage, protests, and social media campaigns to draw attention to the problem of corruption. Despite their struggle for acknowledgement, the youth of Chicago roar louder than the corruption and negligent politics of the Windy City. 

Serena White is a staff writer for CPR and a first-year in Columbia College studying Political Science and Hispanic Cultures. She is a Chicago native.