Mary Mitchell

AMA's apology to black doctors

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:27:55 -0600

AMA's formal apology to black doctors for discriminatory polices that kept them from participating in the group was powerful and timely.

Time Out

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:19:57 -0600

If you have a personal request, or question, please send it to marym@suntimes.com, or call me at my office. I'm available during regular business hours at 312-321-2585.

Also, you can also join me for a Live Chat every Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. at www.suntimes.com.

Jesse Jackson's ugly comments

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:09:03 -0600

It's not clear to me why the Rev. Jesse Jackson seems not to have learned from his mistakes.

Although this isn't the first time Jackson has been critical of Obama, it is the first time he has suggested Obama should be taken to task for allegedly "talking down" to black voters.

Call it trash talking. Call it disrespect. Call it wrong. But it was definitely deja vu.

Unequal justice?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:25:33 -0600

There's a perception among many in the African-American community that black and brown citizens are subjected to harsher treatment than whites by the criminal justice system. You may or may not agree. But how do you explain an incident, described for us by a professional African-American woman who witnessed the chain of events while waiting for the No. 6 CTA bus:

What she saw:

A dingy gold Ford Explorer stopped short in on Lake Park Boulevard in left lane just after going through a green light. The driver of the Explorer jumps out and stomps over to another SUV (a Honda) that had screeched to a halt just behind him. It’s about 3:25 in the afternoon. Explorer yells, “You cut me off.” Honda driver rolls down his window and argues back. A war of words ensues.

Column: Media's bias is showing

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:01:52 -0600

What happened to Yasmin Acree, a 15-year-old girl who vanished from her West Side home on Jan. 15?

Yasmin, who is the niece of the Rev. Ira Acree, a local activist and outspoken critic of the Chicago Police Department, hasn't been seen since.

"At 15 years old, the only way she could take care of herself is if an adult is harboring her," Acree said. "If that's the case, it is illegal, and it is criminal."

In a five-part series last year, Sun-Times reporter Maudlyne Ihejirika wrote that 54 people, on average, are reported missing each day in Chicago. Just 2 percent of missing juveniles have been abducted.

But Yasmin doesn't appear to fit the profile of a teen who would run away.

Michelle Obama is being stereotyped

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:05:16 -0600

I'm not surprised that whites have an unfavorable view of Michelle Obama, but it's their problem, not hers.

Column: One of the good guys

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:37:30 -0600

At a time when families were preparing to enjoy the long holiday weekend, the unthinkable happened.

Richard Francis, 60, a veteran Chicago Police officer, was shot to death when he responded to a disturbance outside of a CTA bus.

Francis was alone in a squad car when he was flagged down by a CTA bus driver.

Cabrini-Green gate tragedy not related to race, or is it?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:03:15 -0600

On Tuesday morning, a caller left a message on my voice mail with an urgent request: "Please dig a little deeper into the Curtis Cooper death," the unidentified woman asked. "White residents don't want black residents in CHA property to come over to their property. The fence was really illegal. Nobody is talking about why a fence was put up in the first place. It was to separate the blacks from the whites."

What is likely to become of Ralph Nader's attacks

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:18:37 -0600

Nothing.

Remember, Bob Johnson--the avid Clinton supporter who made his fortune by putting black booty shakers on TV?

He was the first prominent black man to say publicly that Obama, whose mother was a white woman from Kansas and father was an African from Kenya, hadn't done as much as Hillary Clinton has done to help blacks. He also claimed that Obama wouldn't have been the front-runner in the primary race if he had not been black.

Ralph Nader jumps over the line

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:52:45 -0600

Before I kick Ralph Nader in his butt, I have to give him credit for one thing: He's said publicly what some black leaders, especially those who were part of the civil rights movement, have been saying privately since Sen. Barack Obama announced his intention to run for the White House.

Obama has dismissed Nader's comments as a desperate attempt to get attention.

But don't think Nader is being courageous. Old-school black leaders know most black voters don't want to hear it. They are too close to turn back now.

Study shows blacks more likely to be shot than whites even when holding harmless objects

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:03:47 -0600

A study that used virtual reality stimulation found that "given a fraction of a second to respond to images of men popping out from behind garbage dumpsters, people were more likely to shoot blacks than whites."

Interview with relative of man shot by police on South Side

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:33:15 -0600

Deneice Franklin, the cousin of Shapell Terrell, called me on Tuesday. Terrell was the 39-year-old man who was shot and killed by police in the 8500 block of South Oglesby at about 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 22.

Franklin wanted to set the record straight about Terrell's criminal background, which she says the police deliberately distorted in an effort to protect the police officers' action. She also shared her family's version of what happened the night Terrell was killed by police.

Please note that a spokesman with the Chicago Police Department declined to comment.

Still, I think it is important to discuss Franklin's accusations. Hopefully, witnesses of the shooting will contact the Independent Police Review Authority so that this matter can be resolved as quickly as possible.

Race blog is back

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:06:02 -0600

It's been quite a while since I've been able to blog.

Thanks to my friends in New Media, I've come up with a blog schedule that works for me. Initially, I'll post at least twice a week--on Tuesdays and Thursdays--and have agreed to post your comments throughout the day.

As for topics, I'm still interested in keeping a civil dialogue going about our racial attitudes, which means I won't be posting comments that include the N-word, or the W-word, or the B-word.

This is primarily a platform for you to talk to each other, not to me. If you want to do that, you can e-mail me at marym@suntimes.com or check out my live chat on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m., at www.suntimes.com.

Don Imus - The Remix?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:59:36 -0600

After being booted off of MSNBC and CBS Radio for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," you would think Don Imus would steer clear of racial remarks.

But Noooooo.

Leave Jeremiah Wright alone!

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:38:58 -0600

I'm on the third day of a six-day bus tour through Pennsylvania as part of the media contingent covering the Obama campaign, and I have heard only one voter mention the name of Jeremiah Wright. Even then, the young white male dismissed the controversy as irrelevant.

So why is the media still on to this story?