4 MILLION Views for Speech Defending Child Care Assistance Against Racist ‘Daddy’ Remarks Made by Rauner Lieutenant

Rockford lawmaker’s speech against plans to dismantle funding for child care goes viral

UPDATE: Check out Chuck Sweeny’s column for the Rockford Register-Star about State Rep. Litesa Wallace’s amazing vital video about the importance of child care in Illinois.  

CHICAGO – The video of a speech in the Illinois House of Representatives last week by state Rep. Litesa Wallace, D-Rockford, defending the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) against the racist remarks made by state Rep. Jeanne Ives, a Bruce Rauner lieutenant and Tea Party follower, has gone viral, topping 4 MILLION views. 

Wallace gave the Internet-busting speech last Wednesday, just after Ives spoke in defense of Bruce Rauner’s dismantling of the CCAP, which already has denied access to thousands of Illinoisans. Rauner himself remained silent on the despicable characterizations by Ives.

On the House floor, Ives, who has a history of bigoted remarks, defended Rauner’s devastating new rules changes, and conjured racist and misogynistic stereotypes of individuals who receive assistance, warning: “You better know who the daddy is…”

This prompted Wallace, a survivor of domestic abuse and former participant in CCAP, to rise to the program’s defense:

“The overtones, undertones, implicit and explicit, ongoing stereotypes about what working families look like are at the core of why we have cut so many services in this current discussion, or have voted not to fund services, because we believe a particular segment of people don’t deserve something, we think those people don’t deserve childcare assistance, those people don’t live in my district.”

You can watch the full video here.

You can watch the racist Ives defense of the Rauner changes here.