Mary Mitchell

Newt Gingrich is appealing to the worst in us

2012-01-19T22:03:42Z

If Newt Gingrich, the bombastic former speaker of the house, wins in South Carolina, it will say a lot about how far we have digressed since 2008.

]]> First, the presidential contender arrogantly scapegoats poor people. Forget for a moment that he has attempted to stereotype President Barack Obama by calling him a "food stamp president."
Gingrich's remark that "poor people should want paychecks, not handouts," is a throwback to Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign speech in which he referred to a "welfare queen" on Chicago's South Side.
It doesn't take a demographer to know that the face of poverty has changed drastically in this country. Today, high unemployment, the loss of jobs, and the struggling economy has made tens of thousands of people of all races dependent upon so-called government "handouts."
The fact that Gingrich's audience in South Carolina gave him a standing ovation for such divisive remarks is disgusting.
Gingrich is also using the media as a scapegoat.
It is not our fault that his ex-wife has accused him of wanting an open marriage. It is bad enough that a candidate who campaigns on the platform of family values threw over his second wife to have an affair with his former congressional staffer (now his third wife). But now he has the gall to suggest that the wife he dumped is a liar for claiming he wanted an "open marriage," and the arrogance to blast the media for daring to give her a voice.

Herman Cain

2011-12-01T23:43:58Z

It was bad enough that the sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain made him look like one of those obnoxious black VIPs who can't keep their hands off white women.
The latest revelations about his personal life make him look like a sugar daddy as well.

]]> Until Ginger White stepped up, all of Cain's accusers were white blonds. The fact that these women were white made it easier for Cain to play the victim. So despite a chorus of accusers, Cain denied ever having an inappropriate relationship with a woman--period.

Now along comes Ginger White. A brunette.

White claims she carried on a 13-year extramarital affair with Cain that ended just before he began his presidential campaign.
When Cain was interviewed by CNN about White's claims that he gave her money, Cain admitted he didn't tell his wife about the relationship--or the money.

Say what?

When a man like Cain pays a woman's bills, you can rest assured sex is involved. But I'm not surprised that Cain expects voters to fall for his bull. Apparently his wife does-- which also isn't surprising. Cain fits another troublesome stereotype--that of the successful brother who believes he has earned the right to play around.

Racist rant on London tram

2011-11-29T19:54:37Z

I have to give black passengers who witnessed the racist rant on the Croydon tram credit for keeping their cool. This could have really gotten ugly. The woman has been charged with a "racially-aggravating" public offense.

]]> The YouTube video of the incident has gotten more than 3 million views. I have to believe the woman was either drunk or high on drugs. Maybe when she gets into rehab for substance abuse, she can get some intense sensitivity training.

What is a black man's opinion worth these days?

2010-10-05T18:57:22Z

The dismissal of talk-show host Garrard McClendon prompts me to question the media's commitment to diversity. After trying and failing for so long to put together news rooms that reflect our demographics, have we just given up?

]]> CLTV cancelled "Garrard McClendon LIVE" two weeks ago when McClendon and the Chicago Tribune could not reach an agreement on what McClendon would be paid. At that point, McClendon had already worked for nine months without a contract.

There are few black male commentators working in the Chicago market. Cliff Kelley on WVON is the only one that immediately comes to mind. Since Chicago has such a large African-American population, the absence of the black male perspective is insulting.

McClendon, who taught school for 17 years and holds a Ph.D. in education, told me that he basically thinks he was being paid under scale. When McClendon went on the air in 2008, he was not a union member, and was living his dream. I'm sure at that time he was just glad to be on TV.

McClendon was stunned that after working so long without a contract, CLTV, which is owned by the Chicago Tribune Company, pulled the plug rather than pay him what he felt he was worth.

Several groups have mounted a campaign to bring back "Garrad McClendon LIVE, hoping the pressure will force CLTV back to the bargaining table.

If it doesn't, it will be CLTV's lost and someone else's gain.

Can reformed gang members be part of solution to violence?

2010-09-02T18:47:17Z

Reading through some of the responses to the Chicago Sun-Times' front-page story: "Gang Members: Top Cop Tricked Us." , it is easy to see how former police commander Jon Burge got away with torturing suspects.

]]> Some people are so turned off by gangs, they don't think gang members have any rights. But you can't arrest a gang-member for being in a gang, just like you can't arrest someone who is a skin-head for being in a hate group.

George Willborn wanted to live in Bridgeport. Huh?

2010-08-11T21:24:59Z

He's joking, right?
That was my reaction to the news that comedian George Willborn was denied an opportunity to buy a $1.7 million house in Bridgeport.

]]> I am not a bit surprised that the seller, Daniel Sabbia, is accused of telling Willborn's real estate lawyer that he would rather not sell to an African American. Bridgeport is Bridgeport. Chicagoans are fond of bragging about their ethnic neighborhoods, but these neighorhoods are really nothing more than ethnic strongholds.

With $1.7 million to spend, Willborn could have done a lot better than Bridgeport.

Also, Bridgeport is being touted as among the most diverse neighborhoods in the city. But apparently Asians and Hispanics are the predominant minorities, not African-Americans..

Who is to blame for the Shirley Sherrod debacle?

2010-07-22T22:18:06Z

Now that President Obama has personally apologized to Shirley Sherrod, the USDA director who was hounded out of her job after a doctored video of Sherrod's remarks hit the Internet, what now?

]]> Andrew Brietbart, the website publisher who initially posted the video clip that was intentionally edited to make Sherrod look like a racist, won't be out of a job anytime soon. The NAACP officials who took Briebart's bait, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and the White House officials who ordered Sherrod's resignation, will also likely emerge unscathed. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary called the sordid episode a "teachable moment," but did anyone besides Sherrod learn anything?

Will anything in the media change because of this story? I don't think so. Well maybe one thing. Public officials are likely to think twice about giving a speech at a NAACP dinner.

Glow Putt Paradise is no threat to Beverly

2010-07-20T17:37:34Z

Today I got a chance to visit Glow Putt Paradise, an indoor golf course located at 11101 W. Western. The children looked like they were having a great time. Heck, I felt like picking up a putter myself.

So now I really don't understand why Ald. Virginia Rugai gave owner Michael Barfield such a tough time.

]]> Rugai claimed Barfield was operating outside of his business license. Barfield claimed Rugai didn't want the business in her ward because she was afraid it would attract gang-bangers, a charge she has denied.

On Tuesday, all of the putters were pint-size, although I would imagine that teenagers and young adults patronage the business in the afternoon and early evenings. Glow Putt would also be ideal for private parties.

Although Rugai told me that she had concerns about the busy intersection where Glow Putt is located, I didn't see a problem. Several other business are located in the same building, and there is an adjacent parking lot.

Hopefully Rugai will chill. Barfield has put a lot of money into his business. He should be given a real chance to succeed.

LeBron James, Jesse Jackson and Mel Gibson

2010-07-14T22:08:41Z

Of course white people didn't understand why the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. used a reference to slavery to address the vitriolic criticism leveled at LeBron James for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers

Most whites and a few blacks are in denial about the impact the institution of slavery continues to have on the psyche of black people. No, we don't get up in the morning bemoaning what happened 400 years ago.

But when it comes to slavery, blacks have a frame of reference that whites just don't have. Many African-Americans will remark that someone is being treated like a slave when they see a black person being treated unfairly.

Honestly, the first time I saw lines of shackled black men in orange jump suits behind prison bars, they look like slaves to me.

I watched ESPN's "The Decision" and found it to be boring. Still, by the time LeBron actually said he was going to Miami, the "slave" analogy was embedded in my brain. No matter what you call it, LeBron was on the auction block. Only now, he was the one getting paid.

When the sportscasters said Cleveland fans were burning LeBron's jersey in the streets, and police were putting extra police around his mother's house, I thought: These people are treating LeBron like a slave.

So I wasn't surprised that Jackson blasted Cavs owner Daniel Gilbert for his unfair and ugly comments about LeBron's decision to leave the team, likening Gilbert to an "angry slave owner."

Most white people can't see this because they don't have this same frame of reference.

As for Mel Gibson, he got caught using the n-word in a rant that was secretly taped. Given that Gibson lived in Australia from age 12, I'm surprised anyone is shocked.

Obviously Gibson has been exposed to some extreme views about black people.

After all, Australia hasn't been a great place to be black. Blacks did not obtain the right to vote in federal elections until 1961. They did not gain the legal right to drink alcohol until 1964 and were not counted as legal citizens until a constitutional amendment in 1967.

But it won't be Gibson's use of the n-word that will bring him down. Other celebrities have survived worst. That Gibson seemingly admits to brutally punching his very Russian girlfriend, however, will prove to be his undoing.

Amen State Rep. John Fritchey, Amen

2010-05-11T18:49:45Z

Of all the challenges facing urban communities, the ongoing street violence has vexed us the most.
I no longer buy the lament that most residents in the communities impacted by the violence suffer from apathy.

]]>
Many of the people who live outside of these communities are struggling to understand how Chicagoans can continue their day-to-day routines while almost daily another young life is snuffed out by gunfire.
State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chgo.), who represents residents of the North Side blames the media for being part of the problem.
In an op-ed piece that appeared in the Sun-Times on Friday, May 5, Fritchey pointed out that how much coverage a crime victim receives depends on where the crime occurred.
"[Residents in those large swaths of the city that are for the mot part devoid of gang problems and the shootings that are their byproduct go about their daily life with a blissful ignorance toward the plight of their less fortunate neighbors to the south and west," Fritchey said.
"The media, in turn, magnify these urban mind-sets by devoting significant coverage to almost any instance of violent crime that tarnishes the otherwise placid (and mostly) white parts of Chicago while giving the equivalent of a journalistic yawn to the murders of youths in crime-ravaged (and mostly black) parts of the city."
Fritchey reiterated what black activists, politicians, clergy and journalists have been saying for decades.
Maybe now that Fritchey has spoken out, the people who make the decisions about how violence is covered in this city will take those complaints seriously.

Chicago State University unleashes hired gun

2010-04-08T19:54:54Z

I can't understand why N'Digo publisher Hermene Hartman is trying to link me to Haki Madhubuti.

In her column supporting Chicago State University President Wayne Watson's handling of Haki Madhubuti, Hartman accused me of deploying what she dubbed as "friendship journalism."

That's pure bull.

]]> Madhubuti is not a personal friend.

But for whatever reason, Hartman is intentionally trying to mislead people about why I believe it was wrong for Watson to force Madhubuti out at Chicago State University.

If anyone is showing bias, it is Hartman. In fact, she is Watson's hired gun.

She admits to being Watson's friend. And as recently as July, Hartman had a $19,000 no-bid short-term public relations and marketing consulting contract with Chicago State University. Yet nowhere in her April 7th column did she disclose she had been on the University's payroll.

Hartman is a very successful businesswoman and she's not running around picking fights in the media for nothing. She wants to be noticed. So it doesn't surprise me that she dropped the name of James Tyree, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times in her column.

I was offended, however, that she claimed I might be in for a "bit of a business lesson" since Tyree was the Chairman of the Board at City Colleges when Watson was Chancellor. She seems to be suggesting that to criticize Watson is to criticize Tyree. That is absurd. Her remarks also have the scent of a veiled threat.

What happened to Madhubuti was wrong. Pure and simple. No amount of bullying will change that.

'My cancer is gone'

2009-04-22T22:25:12Z

BY MARY MITCHELL

To my dear readers:

Words cannot adequately express my appreciation for your prayers, messages of encouragement, flowers and cards.

As expected, I faced my fight against breast cancer with the unswerving love and devotion of my family and friends.

But I also had the support of strangers, many of whom shared comforting expressions of faith and hope.

]]> Some of these supporters were fans. Some were critics. All who reached out shared their belief that I could conquer the crippling fear of a cancer diagnosis.

On Wednesday, I got good news from Dr. Andrea Madrigrano, the surgeon who performed the first phase of my treatment: my cancer is gone.

Her words affirmed two beliefs that I clung to during the period between my diagnosis and my treatment: that God is still a healer, and that early detection of breast cancer is still the key to saving a woman's life.

There are many steps that I took on this journey that I will no doubt share in the future.

But today I want to thank God for hearing my prayers and the prayers of the people who lifted me up during church services and in private devotions.

I am grateful for my doctors, including Dr. Sami Bittar, the noted plastic surgeon, for being the healing hands God is using to restore me to good health.

While I thank the entire staff at Rush University Medical Center for the care they gave me after my surgery, I would be remiss if I didn't publicly thank Lori Blakey, R.N., a part-time nurse at the hospital.

Despite having a husband who is preparing to be a paramedic with the Chicago Fire Department, and the mother of four, Blakey brought a boundless energy and consistent compassion to my bedside, putting me on the path to a speedy recovery.

She went out of her way to be of comfort and to make me smile.

I am especially grateful that she was extremely patient when it came to showing my sisters how to care for me after I was released.

You didn't have to wonder whether or not Blakey liked her job. Her positive energy was the light that led us out of the dark tunnel from diagnosis to recovery.

Blakey's approach to her profession reminded me that when we pull together and give our best to an endeavor, there is nothing that can defeat us -- even a cancer diagnosis.

Today, I thank God for the mercy and his grace he has shown me and my family.

After a period of healing, I expect to be back at the paper doing the work that I love.

Breast cancer battle is just beginning

2009-04-14T00:00:31Z

BY MARY MITCHELL

More than 500 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer every day.

On March 13, I was one of them.

It was as if someone had strapped me into the cab of a roller coaster.

Each new test jerked me up a monstrous incline; each new piece of information flung me into an abyss.

And still I consider myself blessed.

]]> I have the support of family and friends who believe in the power of prayer.

I have medical insurance and understanding employers.

And I have a team of compassionate, well-trained doctors.

On February 10, during a routine physical, my longtime family doctor, Dr. James P. Baraglia, felt a lump.

It just so happened I was scheduled to take a mammogram that same day.

Twenty-eight days later, after a follow-up ultrasound and a biopsy, I got the diagnosis over the phone.

"You have a cancer," the radiologist told me.

His words were paralyzing. I spent days weeping and praying before I had the strength to even begin researching my disease.

The work of Susan Love of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation was a good place to start. She is considered a breast cancer guru, and sees breast cancer as a "very common disease."

While it is news when a 30- or 40-something celebrity battles breast cancer, 77 percent of the cases occur in women older than 50, Love points out.

In fact, the average age for a breast cancer diagnosis is 61 years old. I will be 60 next month.

So on top of all the other age-related afflictions women can look forward to, there's a good chance we will get some form of breast cancer in our lifetime.

Yet for the most part, breast cancer gets the silent treatment among black women.

I cannot justify being quiet.

Because of the silence -- coupled with the limited access most low-income women have to quality healthcare -- cancer is often discovered in African-American women at late stages.

Because I usually get annual mammograms, my disease was discovered at a relatively early stage.

Still, the doctors described what I have -- ductal carcinoma in situ as well as infiltrating breast cancer -- as a "sneaky" and "wild" form of breast cancer.

Unfortunately, that is not unusual.

Black women, regardless of age or body weight, have a threefold greater risk of developing a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer compared with non-black women, Boston-based researchers reported recently, according to Reuters Health.

Without an aggressive plan to increase the availability of mammograms and other early detection screening to low-income women, the poor prognosis for black women with breast cancer drives the perception that it is a death sentence.
It is not.

Over the past 30 days, I have been embraced by black women who have survived the disease because of early detection.

Now I've been drafted into a war where tens of thousands perish every year, partly because of a lack of knowledge.

I can't hide.

After reading this, if just one woman gets a long overdue mammogram, I will be encouraged.

If just one woman stops ignoring the lump in her breast, I will be strengthened.

If just one more woman joins the fight for better breast cancer screening, I will be empowered.

As one radiologist pointed out, the medical community has done a great job raising breast cancer awareness.

Now it must get the word out that treatment does save lives.

Medical professionals must also address the struggle some women have with self-image -- a struggle so fierce that some would rather sacrifice their lives than go through radical surgery.

More women need to know that there are options available, including reconstructive surgery -- which is why expanding health care coverage is critical.

But please, don't tell me that my breasts have served their purpose.

It has nothing to do with vanity.

When breast cancer victims have to give up their breasts to save their lives, they are entitled to their grief.

We are mourning the loss of a part of ourselves.

On Friday, I begin my personal battle with breast cancer.

I am thankful to all of you who have helped me cope over the past two months.

And I'm thankful to God for giving me hope.

Monkeys, watermelons and black people

2009-02-26T19:00:46Z

U.S. Attorney Eric Holder stepped on some toes when he said we need to talk more. But he was absolutely right.

Within short span, we have two examples of racial ignorance----one from the nation's largest city and another from a city that is only 2-1/4 square miles.

]]> Let's start with the mayor of Los Alamitos, CA., a tiny town in Orange County.

Mayor Dean Grose was forced to apologize after it was reported he sent an e-mail out to colleagues and business people--including a black woman who serves on a committee with the mayor--that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons.

I'm not sure how Grose expected people to respond, but African Americans don't find watermelon jokes funny. All you have to do is research racial stereotypes to understand why. The smiling "darkey" eating watermelon was a popular image during America's racist past, and was the one of the stereotypes used by Obama-haters during the presidential campaign .

Grose claims he was "unaware of the stereotype that black people like watermelon," and didn't mean to "offend" African Americans.

But you don't have to be from a small town to be ignorant about offensive stereotypes.

New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch was forced to give a rare apology after a racially offensive political cartoon sparked daily protests outside the newspaper's offices. The cartoon depicted two New York cops shooting a chimpanzee. The cartoonist linked the rampage of a chimp that tore off a woman's face to the creation of the stimulus package.

Murdoch and the cartoonist both claimed not to know the monkey has long been used as to disparage the intellect and humanity of African-Americans.

Just about any black person on the street could have told these white males they were about to set off a firestorm.

Attorney General Eric Holder's race speech stirs debate

2009-02-19T21:00:58Z

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has surely given Loudmouth Limbaugh a hot topic.

In a speech Holder gave for the African-American History Month program at the Justice Department, he called Americans "cowards" with respect to race relations.

]]> "Though the nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder said.

"Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about race."

Most black people likely agree with that statement, while a lot of white people likely disagree.

Holder called on us to "respect one another" and to use Black History Month to "learn more about each other."

Before people get hung up on "coward," think about the times you've been misunderstood when it comes to race issues. It is easier to avoid the topic altogether.

Holder isn't putting us down.

He's asking us to have courage.