Little Diversity Among Occupy Chicago Protesters

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In her Chicago Sun-Times column, Mary Mitchell checks in on Occupy Chicago and finds little diversity among protesters. She surmises that a lot of professionals are not cheering for the marchers.

… But what really struck me was the small number of black and brown people among the marchers. I had to hunt for Brian Johnson, a 40-year-old African-American male who was surrounded by a group of college-age white males wearing bandanas. 

Johnson said he is committed to doing whatever it takes to support this cause.

"If we would pay attention to this movement, we would understand that it is not about young white people. It is about all of us," he said. "A lot of people are struggling when they don’t have to."

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Zakiyyah S. Muhammad was the only African-American female I spotted. 

"I'm here because this has gotten the attention of the people who make policy, but I don't think enough of us has gotten involved," she told me.

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"It’' a funny thing to see white people marching and black people sitting around talking," Muhammad mused.

"White people are marching for change like we used to do and black people are complaining."

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Read Mary Mitchell's entire column at the Chicago Sun-Times.