Illinois GOP chair says Obama Center is political operation on public land
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan says the Obama Presidential Center functions as a political operation and headquarters for the Obama Foundation rather than a traditional presidential library. Grogan discusses public land, taxpayer-funded infrastructure, the Center’s endowment shortfall and why critics continue to oppose the project.
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Following its Juneteenth opening, the Obama Presidential Center is embracing a message tied to one of the modern left’s most contentious ideas: that America was built on land “stolen” from Indians.
During Thursday’s dedication ceremony, Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett opened proceedings by acknowledging the American Indian tribes who originally inhabited the land where the center now stands.
But the acknowledgment extends well beyond the opening ceremony.
Just a few feet from the center’s landmark museum tower and near the Obama statue, visitors encounter a permanent display titled “Acknowledging Indigenous Peoples’ Land and Territory.”
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Composite image showing Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett speaking during the Obama Presidential Center opening ceremony, the Center’s museum tower and a permanent Indigenous land acknowledgment display located on the campus in Chicago. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital; Fox Flight Team; Mustafa Hussain/Bloomberg via Getty)
The sign states that the Obama Foundation acknowledges “the sovereign Indigenous peoples who have, since time immemorial, inhabited and stewarded the lands many of us call home.”
Another section of the sign states that “Indigenous peoples” have worked to “combat and rightfully reverse the forces of settler colonialism” and features a 2009 Obama quote reflecting on broken treaties, lost lands and the treatment of Native Americans.
“Treaties were violated. Promises were broken,” Obama said.
Land acknowledgments have become common at universities, museums and public events, but critics often mock them as performative exercises associated with the view that America was built on “stolen land.” Supporters argue they serve as an important recognition of the history of American Indians and their connection to the land.
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A permanent Indigenous land acknowledgment display inside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago includes a quote from former President Barack Obama about broken treaties and lost lands, as well as text recognizing Native American tribes historically connected to the area. The display is located near the museum tower and Obama statue. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
But the land acknowledgment also underlines a glaring irony, one that was largely absent from Thursday’s opening ceremony, according to some critics. The Obama Presidential Center, operated by the private Obama Foundation, sits on public land transferred to the foundation by the city of Chicago for just $10 under a controversial agreement.
“People here in future years are going to hear about how this land was stolen from the Native Americans,” Illinois GOP Chair Bob Grogan told Fox News Digital outside the Center last week. “But underneath, you should all be reading into this, that it was actually stolen from the citizens of Illinois, not from the Native Americans.”
The criticism stems from a yearslong legal and political battle over the transfer of 19.3 acres of Jackson Park public land to the Obama Foundation under a 99-year agreement requiring the one-time $10 payment.
Critics also argue that what was originally presented as a presidential library evolved into a campus that serves as the home of the Obama Foundation.
A map graphic shows the footprint of the Obama Presidential Center inside Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side along Lake Michigan. (Fox News Digital)
Grogan said visitors should view the display through the lens of the Center’s own history. He argued the land was created after the Great Chicago Fire through landfill and public works projects and therefore belongs to Chicago taxpayers.
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“This land actually was recaptured from the Great Chicago Fire. They took a bunch of rubble and actually created this land,” he said. “So it has nothing to do with the Native Americans, but it has everything to do with stealing it from the taxpayers of the city of Chicago.”
Grogan argued the land fight cannot be separated from the broader controversy surrounding the Center, which has seen construction costs approach $1 billion and required millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded infrastructure improvements around Jackson Park. He also pointed to the Obama Foundation’s unfulfilled pledge to build a $470 million endowment fund intended to protect taxpayers from future operating costs.
Barack Obama speaks during the dedication of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)
Critics point to another irony.
In addition, the Center was promoted as a catalyst for economic opportunity on Chicago’s South Side and a vehicle for supporting minority-owned businesses. Yet a recent Fox News Digital investigation found several subcontractors — including minority-owned firms — claiming they are owed millions of dollars for work performed on the project.
The Obama Foundation did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News’ Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.
