La Grange Official Discusses Local Black Experience

LA GRANGE, IL — Shawana McGee, a local youth minister who was appointed to the La Grange Village Board two months ago, told a local Black Lives Matter rally recently that she was the victim of police brutality.

In an interview with Patch, the lifelong La Grange resident spoke about her experiences as an African American in town, including her time at Lyons Township High School. She said things have improved, but racism persists.

McGee, who runs La Grange's Caring Place Foundation, also described an incident about eight years ago in La Grange that she said involved the brutality she spoke about during the rally. Back then, she responded to an altercation between two young women to which La Grange police were called. This is the type of thing McGee handles as part of her youth minister duties. The women were brought to the house of one of McGee's family members, and McGee hoped to take them to her house to work out their differences.

An officer outside, McGee said, refused to let her go inside, even when she explained what she was doing. When McGee tried to walk around him, the officer walked up to her and nudged her, saying, "You better watch your back," she said. An officer inside the house radioed his colleague to let McGee in.

The first officer "followed me out of the house, nudging me. He was walking right behind me. He said, 'You don't disrespect me. You don't know who I am.' He followed me all the way to the car. It did frighten me," she said.

McGee said she filed a complaint with the police department. Because of that and other issues, he was let go not long after, she said.

Overall, McGee said her dealings with La Grange police have been positive. She said she has cooperated with them for years with programs helping local youth.

"I work closely with the La Grange police to promote the programs to bridge the gap between the east-side community and the police department," McGee said.

She said her husband, Maurice McGee, works in Elk Grove Village, so he must drive through a number of towns to get there. She said she worries police may give him problems along the way because of his race, although she said she did not have that fear with the La Grange police.

At a recent protest in Western Springs, Mya Jackson, a recent African American graduate of Lyons Township, said in a speech that she had been called the N-word and told to go back to Africa. "It really does hurt," she said.

Asked about Jackson's statements, McGee said, "I was told the very same things at Lyons Township when I was there in the 1970s. My experience at Lyons Township was not positive."

She said being called the N-word was not unusual in those years. In one incident, she said, a teacher told her she should be hung like other African Americans, using the N-word.

McGee informed her parents what the teacher told her, but the teacher denied it. When a white student backed up McGee's allegation, the teacher was fired, she said.

McGee has had children go through Lyons Township. "I see prejudices, and I have seen changes made," she said.

She said she was happy many young people are leading the protests.

"God created us all equal," McGee said. "My job as a minister is to promote love and harmony and peace among all people. What I've been trying to do since the protests is to try to bring people together. If we don't try to get to know one another, we are part of the problem."

La Grange is 6 percent African American and 8 percent Hispanic.