Sangamon Sun

Charles Thomas wants to change the black narrative in Illinois.

A former political reporter for ABC7 television in Chicago, Thomas has founded The Chicago Drum, a website he hopes will spark a new conversation about African-Americans in the city.

“First, understand that the black community is no longer focused on the South and West sides of Chicago," Thomas told Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson, hosts of "Chicago’s Morning Answer" radio show. "Most African-Americans in the Chicago region – 1.3 million people –- live in the suburbs.” 

Charles Thomas, Founder of the Chicago Drum | https://twitter.com/CThomasdrum?lang=en

Proft is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.

Thomas said that although most black families live in the suburbs, they are typically left out of news coverage.

“What we hear a lot about in the mainstream media is all the dysfunction that happens in these hardcore inner-city neighborhoods,” he said. “A lot of concerns of black people are not social programs. We care about property taxes, too, but our political leadership doesn’t express that."

Thomas said the Democratic Party has not served the black community well for the last 30 years, particularly in Illinois.

“African-Americans have the highest black unemployment rates in the country in Illinois," he said. "How does this happen when we have more black elected officials than any state in the country and they’re all Democrats."

Thomas said his website will also focus on why blacks are leaving Illinois in record numbers and often going to right-to-work states.

“These people are voting with their feet," he said. "I want to tap into that sentiment and tell that story from an individual basis. That’s what the mainstream media in Chicago is not doing."

Thomas said that while his goal is to give voice to black communities that care about property tax issues, school choice and other stereotypically conservative issues, he's gotten resistance from many liberals.

“They know that if the Democrats in the state do not receive 90 percent to 95 percent of the black vote, this state goes red,” Thomas said. “They want this sleepwalking on the part of black voters. They are encouraging it. This project scares the living hell out of them.”