(Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

For 21 years, every day I’ve woken up the sun has risen. Every day I’ve woken up, the grass has been green. And every day I’ve woken up, Richard M. Daley has been my mayor. On September 7th, King Richard II announced that he would not seek reelection in the next mayoral race, and I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.

As a Black person living in Chicago, there’s a complex relationship between myself and the man who has run my city since 1989. To channel Chris Rock, he’s less like a father figure and more like the uncle who put you through college, yet molested you. Daley turned Chicago into a world city: arguably still the convention capital of the country, a trendsetting big-city dedicated to green space, massive beautification efforts—Soldier Field aside—and, despite continued problems, a drastic reduction in The Go’s murder rate.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing on Lake Michigan for everyone, though.

Daley has never been able to—and may never be able to—distance himself from the economic inequality and corruption still rampant in the city. The luxuries and glitz of Rush Street are more a temporary vacation destination than a home for most of the city. For the most part, where you live in the city of Chicago is still determined by your race. The South and West Sides remain hotbeds of intense poverty and crime. In 2009, South Side police districts had, in some cases, 20 times more murders and violent crimes than their North Side counterparts.

This is not due to a dearth of morality, but instead to the virtual absence of opportunity. With the state of Illinois’ $12 billion shortfall, Chicago Public Schools—whose students are overwhelmingly Black and Brown—will have less teachers and after-class programs than ever before. Instead of trying to save the crop, over his tenure Daley has opted to just salvage the cream. As thousands and thousands of neighborhood school attendees face 40 percent graduation rates, the city touts the Selective Enrollment Program as proof positive of a healthy school system.

While he’s endured alleged ties to scrotum-shocking ex-police commander Jon Burge, the Hired Truck Program, and anything Rod Blagojevich ever said or thought, Daley was crooked. We could get all into political theory and how every politician is crooked to some extent, sure. But when you hear Chicago, you think corruption.

(photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

I’ll give him this much: Daley knows how to pick his spots. He leaves behind a city operating some $250 million in the red with a police department in turmoil and a nasty legal battle over citizen gun rights.

I’m excited for the election, I can’t front. Daley has created an archetype of a clusterfuck. I think my uncle Sonny is out fundraising for his campaign right now. Rahm Emanuel, Danny Davis, every alderman out there, Benny the Bull. Everybody’s running. Personally, I’m keeping my endorsement in my pocket until Harold Washington gets resurrected. I’m starting to really dig this whole “Black people as the face of White establishments” trend.

No matter what City Hall looks like come next year, Daley’s legacy will be a glamorous one—at least in the history books. For those old enough to remember Chicago in the 1980s, it must be just short of miraculous to take a stroll downtown or through the South Loop. Everything is more polished, more efficient, and more expensive. If you take away those first two, that even applies to the CTA.

There are few things we can count as guaranteed in life. They help us make sense of our inherently nonsensical lives. I’ve started coping with the fact that Richard M. Daley won’t be my mayor in a few months, stage five to be exact. The day after the elections though, I’m not going to bed until I see the sun rise.

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