City Declares April 15 'Harold Washington Day'
By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 11, 2013 9:20PM
April 15 isn't just for income tax returns anymore. City Council approved a resolution Wednesday to declare it “Harold Washington Day,” after the city’s first black mayor. (In a delicious irony, Washington was convicted in 1972 of failing to file income tax returns over a four-year period while he was a state representative and spent 36 days in prison.)
The resolution, according to Sun-Times City Hall correspondent Fran Spielman, will recognize Washington’s work in "reducing the widespread practice of political patronage and establishing a functioning affirmative action program for minority businesses." In another irony, Spielman reminds readers city hiring was rigged after Washington’s death by political allies of Mayor Richard M. Daley like the gone-but-not-forgotten Hispanic Democratic Organization, Daley patronage chief Robert Sorich, Streets and Sanitation commissioner Al Sanchez and the Duff family to benefit white-owned businesses.
If you want a good look back at Washington’s life and career, we recommend re-reading our reflections on the 25th anniversary of his death last November, which includes old videos and an embed of the classic This American Life episode on Washington’s life.