Obama Presidential Center slammed for promoting ‘far-left' agenda on public land
The Illinois Republican Party has blasted as "divisive" the hiring language the Obama Foundation is using for the Obama Presidential Center, arguing it shows the privately run project is using public land to advance a political agenda.
The Obama Foundation, which is developing the hotly debated center on Chicago’s South Side, recently advertised roughly 150 jobs at the facility, stating that successful applicants are expected to align with the foundation’s "anti-racism" goals.
"It’s an Illinois Democrat tradition to insert divisive, far-left policies into the lives of everyday Americans and to balk at the rule of law," Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi told Fox News Digital.
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"The Obama Center is no different. It is a recipient of taxpayer funds built on public lands and flouts ‘anti-racism’ hiring goals," Salvi said. "But such employment practices sound discriminatory and unmoored from any assessment of merit."
The Obama Foundation secured control of a 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park — often described as Chicago’s equivalent of Central Park — under a 99-year agreement for just $10, after city officials approved the project under the premise that the center would function as a civic institution serving the public interest.
Opponents argued the land transfer violated the public trust doctrine, a legal principle requiring public land to serve a public purpose, and filed multiple lawsuits seeking to halt construction. The courts ultimately allowed the project to proceed without adjudicating the merits of those claims.
While commonly referred to as a presidential "library," the Obama Presidential Center is not operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and does not function as a traditional presidential library.
Instead, it is run entirely by the Obama Foundation, the former president’s private nonprofit organization, which also oversees leadership and civic programs reflecting the values and priorities of former President Barack Obama.
The foundation will operate from the center and oversee a 225-foot-tall museum, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. There will also be a digital library, although it will not house original presidential records in the same manner as NARA-run libraries.
Construction costs for the site have ballooned from an original estimate of $330 million to at least $850 million, and the project has also relied on publicly funded infrastructure work surrounding the site.
The foundation committed to creating a $470 million endowment — a reserve fund commonly used by nonprofits and universities to help cover long-term operating costs by generating investment income — but its latest tax filings show that only $1 million has ever been deposited.
Salvi said the hiring language reinforces concerns that the Obama Presidential Center is operating as an ideological institution despite being built on public land under a civic justification.
For instance, job postings state that the foundation is "deeply committed to creating an actively anti-racist organization, leveraging our global reach to combat systemic racism and inequity wherever it exists."
"Anti-racism" is the belief that people must not simply eschew racism, but must actively fight any perception of it. The term came into widespread use amid the rise of Black Lives Matter, and was touted by author Ibram X. Kendi in his 2019 book, "How to Be an Antiracist." Critics say anti-racism stresses outcomes over opportunity and assigns collective guilt to people who may be unfairly viewed as "oppressors" based on their own skin color.
The Obama Center's postings link to the foundation’s anti-racism and equity statement, which describes a commitment to embedding anti-racism into hiring, leadership programs and organizational practices. It also shows two people of color marching and holding hands with their fists raised in the air.
"In the United States, we are still grappling — in ways large and small — with the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and the scourge of racism," the statement reads.
"That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work," the statement continues. "We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent — removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs."
Critics like Salvi have also pointed to the project’s long-standing emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as evidence that ideological priorities were embedded into the center from its inception.
Those initiatives have already given rise to real-world legal and financial disputes.
As Fox News Digital previously reported, a Black-owned construction subcontractor filed a $40 million discrimination lawsuit tied to the project, alleging racially discriminatory treatment by an engineering firm involved in construction. The engineering firm has argued that diversity-driven contracting decisions resulted in less qualified subcontractors being selected, contributing to inferior workmanship, delays and cost overruns.
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"The Illinois Republican Party stands with President Trump and the Justice Department to end the tyranny of DEI and woke, performative politics plaguing the federal government, our military and the private sector," Salvi said.
"As the Trump Administration investigates such employment practices at-large, we will continue to demand accountability and fairness from civic and educational sites like the Obama Center claims to be."
The Obama Foundation responded to criticism of its hiring language by pointing to its stated values.
"Our values remain the same as the day we began; we will continue to actively work to combat racism as we strive to build a more perfect union," Emily Bittner, the foundation’s vice president of communications, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Supporters of the project have said the Obama Presidential Center will serve as a cultural and educational anchor on Chicago’s South Side and reflect the values and legacy of former President Obama.