CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey are among those who participated Saturday in Juneteenth festivities at the DuSable Museum, which also celebrated its 60th anniversary and reopened after being closed during the pandemic.
"As we rise through pandemic and loss, through protest and pain, we rise as a city, as a people and as a world class institution," said museum President and CEO Perry Irmer of the African-American history museum that’s located in Washington Park on the South Side.
The mayor spoke to the crowd about racism and the road ahead.
"Because of historic and purposeful racism that denied us lack of access to high-quality, affordable health care, education, housing and economic opportunity for too long," Lightfoot said.
The mayor and McCaskey shared a podium at the event after the team's bid for the Arlington International Racecourse property became public and created some tension.
McCaskey did not acknowledge the tension with the mayor. But she did ... sort of after both had some kind of words for one another.
"Thank you, mayor, for leading us out of this pandemic," McCaskey said.
Lightfoot then said, "I also want to acknowledge Chairman McCaskey of the Bears and welcome him, but also thank him for his commitment to this museum. There's a lot of a lot of great jewels throughout our city, and particularly in Black Chicago, and I'm happy to be your tour guide for opening up opportunities for the Bears to invest in Chicago.”
The Bears is one of the DuSable Museum’s sponsors. McCaskey noted the team has been sharpening its focus on racial justice and racial injustice.
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