Mary Mitchell

You can make a lot of noise, but the battle for civil rights doesn't become real until you take it to the courtroom.

On Wednesday, a new wave of black leaders followed that model when they stepped up with Cheryle R. Jackson, CEO of the Chicago Urban League, as she announced the group has filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois and the Illinois Board of Education.

Jerome R. Corsi's book about Barack Obama is a good example of the right wing's racial fear-mongering.

Corsi is the Harvard Ph.D. who is credited with launching the attack that weakened Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign and led to the infamous "swift-boating."

I can't be the only person who sees the snake in the room. The one that slithers away whenever the political pundits start explaining what the latest presidential poll means.

From the moment Barack Obama went from a wannabe presidential contender to a front-runner, the race factor curled up and waited to strike anyone who got too close.

Former President Bill Clinton got bit. So did the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

John McCain accused Barack Obama of playing the "race card" from the "bottom of the deck" no less. I'm not sure anymore. What is the race card?

Many said it will never happen.
But the U.S. is inching closer to a national apology for the country's slavery and Jim Crow eras. Tuesday's House resolution, passed by a voice vote, could pave the way for a serious debate over reparations.

It depends.

For instance, I wrote a personal account of something that happened to me on Monday in which I referred to the person's race.

A reader from Berwyn had a problem with that.

It was bad enough that the Rev. Jesse Jackson disgraced himself by dragging Sen. Barack Obama's name into the gutter with the offensive "I want to cut off his nuts" comment, but his use of the dreaded n-word played right into the hands of his critics and makes him look like a hypocrite.

(AP Photo)
Jackson tries to explain himself in Chicago July 9.