Chicago Mayor Lightfoot says will grant one-on-one interviews only to black or brown reporters

Chicago Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she'll give one-on-one interviews to mark the halfway point of the first, four-year term but only to black and brown journalists.

Lightfoot in a tweet Wednesday say her decision is in response to the city hall press corp being "overwhelmingly white," in a city in which over half of  its population identifies as "Black, Latino, AAPI, or Native American."

The decision has resulted is backlash and raised questions about discrimination on the basis or race or color. 

The Chicago Tribune newspaper has declined to participate in an interview with Lightfoot to object to the restrictions.

In addition, WBEZ, a Chicago National Public Radio affiliate, disputes the mayor’s observation, pointing out two of its three City Hall reporters are women, one Hispanic and the other South Asian.

Lightfoot in statements this week said many in the press corps are "smart and hard-working, savvy and skilled. But mostly white, nonetheless."