Dinner with friends and the ‘black condition’
I was at dinner recently with a group of about 10 African-American friends. My mother, who joined us, pointed out what we take for granted: My friends are pretty accomplished....
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Debate showed GOP wants to stay white, male and old
Politicians speak to us, to our interests. Sometimes it's pretty overt — as in the way Donald Trump has connected with the Republican Party's staunchly anti-immigration faction. Sometimes it's in...
NU professor’s book highlights W.E.B. Du Bois’ contributions to sociology
In 1963, Aldon Morris was 14 when the scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois died the day before the historic March on Washington. Du Bois' death was announced...
Why white Republicans love Dr. Ben Carson
There's a bootstraps story about Dr. Ben Carson that I've always admired and it goes like this: When he was a boy growing up in a poor Detroit neighborhood, his...
‘Urban fiction’ makes readers blush, cringe
Almost a decade ago, when I first wrote about urban fiction — which has titles such as "Girls from da Hood" and "Thugs and the Women Who Love Them" —...
Three readers’ comments on three recent columns
As you can imagine, I get a lot of email — a ton. Some of it is angry, rather blue, and can't be shared here. But some is quite insightful,...
Popular culture’s embrace of Emmett Till
In the book "Emmett Till: The Murder that Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement," author Devery Anderson writes about a half-hour-long documentary that Chicago television reporter Rich...
Cracking down on hospitals that bill rape victims
After a woman is raped, she's encouraged to go to a hospital emergency room so that evidence can be collected from her body in order to bring her attacker to...
Mom takes on college for her right to breast-feed during breaks
Leah Sauvage is the mother of two daughters, ages 5 and 5 months. Her story is about breast-feeding, but it's more than that. It's about a particular moment, one we...
Good guys versus bad guys in police shootings
I am heartbroken about the death of Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. I've been transfixed by the hunt in suburban Fox Lake for his killers. Anyone who can't imagine the devastation...