Chiraq

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Apparently, some folks in Chicago are upset by the working title of Spike Lee’s new film: “Chiraq.”

Local politicians have lined up against the title. Mr. Lee has been confronted by Chicago’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who told him in a meeting last month that he was “not happy” about the name.

An alderman from the South Side, William Burns, was so perturbed by the title that he angrily suggested that Mr. Lee, the renowned director of films like “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X,” should not get the $3 million tax credit that he is seeking for filming here.

And even on the city’s crime-plagued South and West Sides, where most of Chicago’s gang warfare occurs, some residents who are accustomed to seeing, hearing and reading about violence said they had mixed feelings about a movie starring their city called “Chiraq.”

What else would you call a film about a city that has averaged 441 murders and 2577 shooting victims for the past four years?