During my 25 years as a journalist at ABC7, I covered the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, and the politics that govern the people who live here.

I know how those politics, along with corruption and institutional racism, harm the black community.

And I know a bamboozle when I see one.

Politicians hoping to distract us from the problems within our education system have launched an attack on an Illinois Policy Institute editorial cartoon.

This is a political game aiming to silence a group that shed light on an important truth: Many of the policies that dictate how our kids’ schools are funded have racist outcomes. I reject any claims of racism or racist intent in the Institute’s cartoon.

It is an outrage that politicians would rather grandstand than get to work dismantling these harmful policies. And it is an insult to the black community that a handful of politicians are trying to rile us up over a cartoon when they have done nothing to address the economic and educational injustices the state has perpetrated against us for years.

I’ve known Institute CEO John Tillman for many years. He is a man of integrity, who believes passionately in helping people of all backgrounds get ahead in life.

In fact, Tillman predicted attacks of racism from lawmakers when he joined me a couple of weeks ago on the WVON Morning Show.

The people disagree with the politicians on this one. That’s because they see this attack for what it is: pure politics.