In the race to be Chicago's next mayor, Patricia Watkins has the ultimate mountain to climb: Fighting for name recognition (which she unexpectedly received after opponent Carol Moseley Braun's "crack" comment—said after this interview), she has been excluded from televised interviews because of her performances in the polls. Windy City Times talked with Watkins the day after she was turned away from a mayoral debate televised on WGN.
Windy City Times: Let us go back to last night. When did you find out that you would not be included.
Patricia Watkins: Oh, it was from the very beginning. When they started announcing it in December, just those four [Rahm Emanuel, Carol Moseley Braun, Gery Chico and Miguel del Valle] were announced.
WCT: So what happened last night? I know you had some supporters there.
Patricia Watkins: Actually, it started at about 4:00; we demonstrated in front of the WGN towers from about 4:30 until about 5:30. There were about 100 people saying, "Who's afraid of Patricia Watkins? WGN is afraid of Patricia Watkins." So that group then got on a bus and met me as I was going in with the other candidates.
Of course, I was stopped me at the door. They said, "Well, your name is not listed." I said, "I don't know why. I'm a mayoral candidate." Then someone else came out and that person said, "Your name is not on the list Miss Watkins. I'm sorry. There's no room." I asked if I could participate in the debate; they said, "There's no room at the podium for you." I then asked if I could sit in the audience; they said that there's a pretty tight crowd and didn't know if there'd be space.
So I went out and said, "I will not go quietly into the night. What you're doing is wrong. It's a disservice to the voters of Chicago." They also said that I polled at 1 percent and I said, "You've been feeding us Rahm Emanuel for breakfast, lunch and dinner so anyone who didn't have name recognition would already have a very hard time trying to even been heard." But [I] poll at 45 percent for name recognition—but how can people hear my ideas if I can't present?
WCT: So what about future debates?
Patricia Watkins: The people behind the debate from the Chicago Urban League and Harriet's Daughters have invited us. Then, ABC (Channel 7) said if we had 5 percent name recognition we'd be on, so we'll be there. WTTW has not invited us. I've been in all of the [non-televised] debates.
WCT: So it seems like your biggest liability is name recognition or exposure. What would you say your biggest asset is?
Patricia Watkins: [It would be] my history of working in communities and building bridges across ethnic, religious and racial lines. Also, it's would be working toward creating opportunities for Chicago families. I've done a lot of work around criminal-justice reform, education reform, human-rights work, multiethnic organizing... So I've had a lot of experience with a lot of populations that probably most of these groups don't know anything about.
WCT: Why did you decide to enter this race, and what do you think is the most critical issue the city is facing?
Patricia Watkins: For one thing, the way the city goes about solving problems has not worked. We use one sector, business, to drive education, criminal-justice reform, housing—that's an off-track model. It's impossible for one sector to understand problems as a whole. So we end up with murders being the leading cause of death for people under 35, a school system that has our kids falling far behind the rest of the world, a budget deficit of $600 million—all of these things tell us that the approach we've used is not the right [one]. I try to find ways to build bridges.
WCT: I want to go back to [WGN's] debate for a second. There was a point where each candidate got to ask another candidate a question. If you could've participated, what question would you have asked which other candidate?
Patricia Watkins: Well, I didn't watch the whole debate because I fell asleep; it was so boring. I need them to talk about the real issues.
So they got to ask questions? I would've asked Rahm Emanuel, "How is it that he can bring himself to talk about reducing taxes for low-income moms when he sat on the board of Freddie Mac for 14 months, collected $320,000 [and] ignored all the signs of scandal?" That was a precursor of the housing crisis in creating the largest shift in the history of the country. Also how could [Emanuel] have met with the Chinese president, Hu [Jintao], with all of the human-rights violations—and only talk about business?
WCT: What are your thoughts about Carol Moseley Braun being named the "consensus" Black candidate?
Patricia Watkins: I think that was a big mistake. I think the Black leadership missed an opportunity to promote relationship-building, to promote energy for people who have struggled to be heard. I think they did a disservice crowning her the consensus candidate. I think if they wanted to carry Harold Washington's or Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, ideas forward, they would've brought all candidates [spanning] ethnic lines together and talk about unity. I think that singling out African Americans and pretending like they're the only ones who are suffering is a big mistake.
WCT: You have quite the interesting life. You started off as a steelworker, and you're a community activist. However, you're also a minister. How LGBT-inclusive is your church?
Patricia Watkins: The church revolves around the word of God and the interpretation of the word of God. Everybody has a right to access opportunities, and no one has any right to judge; we have to judge ourselves first.
WCT: In our survey, when we asked if you support same-sex marriage, you responded, "I strongly support civil unions." So do you not support marriage equality?
Patricia Watkins: I do not at this point [but] I do support the rights that come along with it. I know that some LGBT people could not even live in peace. But I understand that there are other opportunities that ought to be available to people.
I don't think that people should be locked out of those federal opportunities because of how they live their lives. The important question is: Is this a family unit? They're still legitimate families. I want federal recognition of these unions.
Now, I can't say that I believe in marriage but I do understand that it's a disservice to society to leave people out who have committed themselves to each other and who love each other.
WCT: Elsewhere on the survey, you wrote, "Over time, I have become a supporter of LGBT rights." What led you in that direction?
Patricia Watkins: When I started working to improve human rights for all people, I formed a coalition called the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations. One group that was represented there had members of the LGBT community; I sat down with them to find out what [LGBT people] wanted and to understand the challenges they face.
I know that they're more well-off than the rest of us; they're not broke, so they have access. But I wanted to find out about the challenges they face. They want equal access to justice, and they won't be pushed back because of [how they live].
WCT: Did you say that the LGBT population is different financially?
Patricia Watkins: Oh, yeah—from what I read. I do as much research as I can.
WCT: There are a few people with money, but there are plenty of poor people in the community. Moreover, the homeless race—especially among teens—has skyrocketed. So don't necessarily believe everything you read.
Patricia Watkins: [Laughs] OK. That's why we need conversations—as long as we're willing to learn.
WCT: Let's say you become mayor. What would you like to accomplish within your first 100 days?
Patricia Watkins: I'd like to appoint a representative body to help run the city. I'd like to bring together the leaders of different communities and talk about a plan for moving Chicago forward. My plan is really about transportation; we could make Chicago the transportation center of the world. However, that's just my focus. But I don't want to lose sight of the challenges—the low-hanging fruit—that can be gathered right now to help communities.
For the city to progress, the people need to progress. That's a problem Obama has had—people don't feel like they've progressed. People are losing homes and jobs, and they don't feel like they're any better off than they were two years ago. I know it's a big job he has, but we have to find ways to help communities feel like they're impacting the government and the city.
See www.patriciaforchicago.com .
