In politics, women of color are in jeopardy.
A Flossmoor man has been charged in Cook County Circuit Court with assaulting Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, allegedly by throwing a liquid in her face and driving his truck toward her as she was walking near her home. Foxx “was forced to step off of the road onto the parkway grass due to her fear of being struck,” according to court documents.
On June 21, from the driver’s seat of his truck, William Swetz “tossed a brown liquid substance from a drink cup onto the face of the victim,” reported the Chicago Sun-Times, citing the Flossmoor police.
Swetz, 34, allegedly put the truck in reverse and “accelerated towards the victim.” Swetz was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery. He was released from custody and ordered to have no contact with Foxx. Swetz was hauled back into court a few days later after he was allegedly seen driving past Foxx’s home, according to news reports. A judge ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Foxx is no stranger to this kind of abuse. She is a prominent and powerful Black woman.
These harsh political times have given the haters permission to target us. For them, racism, sexism and misogyny are the coin of the realm. Foxx is not alone. During her years as Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot endured verbal abuse, threats and worse.
In early 2022, Joseph Igartua was charged with three felony counts of stalking Lightfoot and another for reckless discharge of a firearm. Igartua, 37, drove past Lightfoot’s Logan Square home 15 times over a month, the Chicago Tribune reported. At times, he circled her block.
Igartua reportedly approached Lightfoot’s home with a gun but was stopped by the mayor’s security. Lightfoot, her wife and her daughter were home at the time. “It’s been terrifying,” WLS-Ch. 7 quoted her as saying.
Another time, he fired five shots down an alley, not far from her home.
Igartua was angry about receiving traffic tickets, according to news reports. The felony stalking charges were later dropped, but Igartua was found guilty of reckless discharge of a firearm in the case and sentenced to 18 months of probation.
Women of color are frequent targets in politics, no doubt inspired by the caustic rhetoric of former President Donald Trump and his allies, who have made such attacks their modus operandi.
They speak to people who feel threatened by the browning of American society and the nation’s recent, while halting, embrace of racial reconciliation and equity. For them, the political strategy is to demean, threaten and traumatize women of color. If they can denigrate us, they can diminish what we stand for.
Foxx, Lightfoot and other influential politicians, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, members of Congress such as Maxine Waters of California and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and former first lady Michelle Obama, have been subjected to racist and misogynistic vitriol. The more these women speak up for the marginalized and oppressed, the more they are attacked and reviled.
As a Black female columnist, I am treated to a regular stream of hate mail in response to my commentaries from readers in Chicago and around the nation. All men. Their missives fling insults, profanity and threats. They attack my race and gender, even when I am not writing about those issues.
This dangerous attitude is becoming dangerously common. For high-profile political leaders such as Foxx and Lightfoot, the verbal assaults have gone far beyond name-calling on social media platforms. Now, those who would threaten these women are showing up at their doors, accosting them on the street.
In the Foxx assault, there is no public information about Swetz’s motivation. I can guess. During her two terms in office, Foxx has been excoriated for her advocacy of criminal justice reforms, including restorative justice and the end of cash bail. According to critics on the political right, she is “soft on crime” and coddles criminals.
Foxx has made mistakes. She is not the first politician to do so, and she won’t be the last. Just ask the long line of those elected officials who have ended up behind bars.
There is former Ald. Ed Burke, the erstwhile political powerhouse who just received a two-year prison term for a federal conviction on 13 counts of racketeering, extortion and bribery. There is a slew of aldermen, legislators and governors who have preceded him. Burke is the 10th alderman to be sentenced to prison since 2006, according to Block Club Chicago.
Foxx isn’t going there. As she leaves office at the end of her term, she will depart as a dedicated public servant who has contributed mightily to criminal justice reform in Cook County. She has been hailed by progressives nationwide for her major contributions toward a more equitable system. Foxx does not deserve this.
Thanks to President Joe Biden’s poor performance at Thursday’s debate, Kamala Harris, the most powerful and prominent Black woman in America, is coming to the forefront.
This is waiting for her.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.
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