Original News, Features & Opinion on local and regional news you won't find anywhere else
Was Cleopatra Black or White and why it matters By Ray Hanania It was bad enough when White racists would lie about the physical attributes of African Americans to justify maintaining the dual system of segregation. Just as bad is the reverse racism that grew from the suffering many African Americans faced as a consequence…
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Remembering Pat Michalski who dedicated her life to diversity and fairness Very few people have done more to strengthen diversity in Illinois than Patricia Michalski, who passed away on December 17, 2022. Pat was an activist dedicated to bringing people of all races, ethnicities and nationalities in the Chicagoland area together. And she did it…
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No Whites allowed in Lightfoot’s Chicago Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is a real lightweight when it comes to Chicago mayors. She is not just afraid to take on tough issues and doesn’t know how to deal with Chicago’s out-of-control street gang gun violence, but she is a racist and only wants to do interviews with…
Street Gangs not racism is Chicago’s top plague When it comes to the record-setting murder rate in Chicago’s neighborhoods, the real priority should be fighting street gangs over sometimes exaggerated claims of racism. But the news media sees that exaggerating racism claims especially with regards to police sells newspapers while Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is…
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Politics of race distorts Adam Toledo killing The death of an innocent victim is what separates a street gangbanger from being vilified and jailed or being turned into a hero. The Street gang problem in Chicago is so great and unresolved that the public’s reaction swings from sanity to insanity, turning racism into politics. By…
CBS’ Gayle King should be fired and vicious murderers should be put to death By Ray Hanania It’s very upsetting to watch CBS TV’s Gayle King plead for the life of Brandon Bernard who is to be executed today for the 1999 murder of Todd and Stacie Bagley, a married couple in their mid-20s. King…
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Michelle Obama uses stereotypes to rip “White people” Michelle Obama criticized “White folks” (White people) accusing them of racism. But isn’t the use of broad stroke descriptions a form of stereotyping, too. And when you make them negative, isn’t that racism? Obama didn’t talk about the African Americans who participated and profited from White Flight…
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Is there a politics to mass shootings? The mainstream news media covered the killings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas far differently than the news media covered the killings the same weekend in Chicago. Though the circumstances were different, with individual suspects involved in Dayton and El Paso and multiple suspects involved in multiple…
Is there a double standard when it comes to “corruption” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot seemed to treat Alderman Carrie Austin, who is African American, differently from how she treated Alderman Edward M. Burke, who is White. Both aldermen were targets of FBI office raids when Lightfoot slammed Burke but was caution on Austin By Ray…
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Groups plan to protest Confederate presence at Chicago cemetery Rally and Speak-out Against Confederate Monument This Saturday, February 7, from 3-4 PM, there will be a community speak-out outside of Oak Woods Cemetery, at 71st and Cottage Grove. Within Oak Woods Cemetery there is a 46 foot tall statue commemorating the confederate soldiers who died…
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Remembering Chicago’s racial tensions from the late 1960s Looking back at Chicago in the 1960s and the racial tensions that divided Blacks and Whites, I decided to write a book about that experience. White Flight, which I titled “Midnight Flight: One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online…
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Midnight Flight, the online book on race in Chicago An online book that explores the memories of a challenging time in Chicago when race was the dominating factor driving and influencing people’s lives. 1968 and 1969 were difficult times in Chicago and my book “Midnight Flight” offers one perspective on what that experience was like,…
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Midnight Flight: Chapter 13 — Notes from Readers One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania (C) 1990-2022 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved Send us your comments, letters and memories and I will post them here. Email me by clicking here. You must let…
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Midnight Flight: Chapter 10 — The Sub-Urban Life One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2018 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved “Wash your whiskey in your water, sugar in your tea …” “Wuz all this crazy questions you askin’ me …”…
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Midnight Flight: Chapter 9 — Midnight Flight One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2018 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved “I’m gonna leave the city, got to get away. “I’m gonna leave the city, got to get away. “All this fussing…
Midnight Flight: Chapter 8 — In the Eye of the Storm One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2018 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved “I can fly like a bird in the sky. “I can buy anything that money can buy….
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Midnight Flight: Chapter 7 — Bowen High School One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2018 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved “Give me a head with Hair, long beautiful Hair, “Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen, “Give me down to there, Hair!…
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Midnight Flight: Chapter 6 — Alone in the Playground One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel) By Ray Hanania Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2018 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved “There she was just a walking down the street, “singing do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do “Snapping her…
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