When filmmaker Usama Alshaibi moved to Fairfield, Iowa after 16 years in Chicago, he was still at work on American Arab, a film about racism and identity in America after 9/11. Proving his mother prescient in suggesting that maybe he should change his first name and becoming a living testament to the racial prejudices still aflame in his adopted homeland was surely not how he wanted to go about it. Iowa police are treating seriously filmmaker Alshaibi's allegation that the beating he received after wandering into a party early Sunday was a hate crime. According to his statement: more ›

A study released yesterday by a state commission revealed African Americans convicted of low level drug related charges are five times more likely to go to prison than whites in Illinois. The Sun Times reports the study started in 2008 by the Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission found that 19 percent of American American defendants were sentenced to prison, while only 4 percent of whites were sent to prison for Class 4 drug possession crimes. The disparity widens in Cook County, where African American defendants are eight times more likely to face jail time for the same crime. more ›

Interesting conversation over at Everyblock Chicago from a man with the screen name "Ron Tough." Seems Mr. "Tough" has watched the increase in crime in his home neighborhood of Old Irving Park, is mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore. In fact, "Ron Tough" is so angry about it he's thinking of taking a stand and moving to the northwest suburbs, like his parents and grandparents before him. more ›

Dress codes, especially at fine dining establishments, are a common cause of debates nowadays. It doesn't surprise us to see expensive restaurants banning ripped jeans or requiring a tie and jacket, even though it seems like those sorts of requirements are becoming rarer and rarer. But bowling alleys? What is our world coming to? more ›

In a column yesterday, former Gourmet and current Salon food columnist Francis Lam declared Wiener's Circle "the most depressing hot dog stand in America." Lam based his assessment wholly on the racially-tinged post-last call smackdowns between the all-black Wiener's Circle staff and the nearly all white, all male, all drunk clientele. Lam does use some of his column space to differentiate between the early evening shenanigans (captured by the Tribune's Kevin Pang in the above video) and the darker, more ominous goings on after the bars let out (chronicled by the now-classic, well traveled clip from "This American Life" after the jump; both clips NSFW for language). more ›

Union leaders and the Rev. Jesse Jackson claimed last week that the CTA cuts impact poor and minority communities on the South Side more harshly than communities on the North Side. The CTA, of course, responded that bus and rail lines travel through many different neighborhoods on their routes. Also, officials said they made decisions about the service cuts in accordance with federal anti-discrimination guidelines. These specifically make sure public transit serves poor and minority communities equally, at the risk of losing federal funding. more ›

Fliers containing racist language and accusing U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and Dorothy Brown are "splitting the black vote 4 the Irish 2 win" are being distributed by a group called Soldiers 4 Stroger, alleging to support incumbent president Todd Stroger. Chicago Current reports: more ›

Mayor Richard Daley was hesitant to make racism an issue as he spoke about the federal civil rights lawsuit accusing Illinois Department of Transportation, the RTA and Metra of discriminating against minorities, but he does feel the CTA is getting short changed on state subsidies. more ›

Last week, seniors from Washington University in St. Louis filed a civil rights complaint against the Original Mother's Night Club. But last night at a news conference, the senior class president and the other six students announced they reached an agreement with the bar and will not be pressing charges. Mother's will issue a public apology to the students and managers at the bar will undergo diversity sensitivity and awareness training. The students stressed that they are not seeking compensation from the bar. (Check out full video of the press conference here.) more ›

Our pals at Not Qualified To Comment have an interesting take on the recent comments by former Cub Kerry Wood alleging racists comments from Cubs fans. After seeing the reaction - including, admittedly, our own - to Milton Bradley's accusations this year, it's certainly something to give some thought to. more ›

Last week, six black students, all males, from Washington University in St. Louis alleged they and some friends were not allowed in to Mother's Night Club and claimed their race as the reason. At the time, the bar claimed the students were in violation of its dress code, including baggy pants. The students turned away alleged that white students with equally or more baggy pants were allowed inside and at one point, one of the denied students, Senior Regis Murayi, switched pants with a student who had been allowed inside and was still denied entry. In an interview with the Tribune, representatives of the bar said other black students had been admitted and pointed out a photo of two of the denied students wearing backwards baseball caps, insisting the caps were associated with gangs and that it was concern over gang violence which led to the denial of entry. Murayi countered, “In and of itself that’s racial in that they automatically assumed that we were a gang." more ›

Six African American seniors from Washington University in St. Louis filed a civil rights complaint with the Illinois attorney general's office against Mother's Night Club Original bar after allegedly being denied entry to the club. Students claim they were told it was due to their failure to comply with the bar's "baggy jeans" policy; however, white students who had already been admitted came out to demonstrate that their jeans were more "baggy". more ›

On the afternoon of May 9, 2008, John Conroy - former writer for the Chicago Reader - was the victim of an unprovoked attack on the West Side while riding his bike. He's now captured the incident, his experience, and an unflinching look at youth, violence, and race in a stunning piece of work for Chicago Magazine. Check it out here. [via WindyCitizen] more ›

Trouble's a-brewing way up north as the Associated Press has obtained several emails by state government officials in Alaska that make racists jokes about President-Elect Barack Obama. One of the emails "asks about the outcome of the Democrat's victory after all the time and money invested and concludes: 'Another black family living in government housing!'" Another of the alleged emails which was forwarded often was titled "Night Befo Crizzmus" Damn. Just...damn. Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer confirmed three of the emails were found via a search of the government's email system, adding, "It's embarrassing to the state." Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, said, "My understanding is that the Department of Administration is following up on this with the individuals who took action to forward the offensive e-mails. This is, of course, a confidential personnel and disciplinary matter that has nothing to do with the governor's office." more ›

The Chaffey Community Republican Women Federated of San Bernardino County, in Upland, California is in trouble after they ran an altered image (see above) of Barack Obama that utilized stereotypes of blacks and was labeled as a "food stamp." The group used the picture in a newsletter it recently sent out to 200 members, along with the caption, "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on ????? Food Stamps, what else!" You stay classy, San Bernardino. more ›

Two freelance writers/budding entrepreneurs were doing brisk business this weekend selling "Obama Waffles" waffle mix at the ironically titled Value Voters Summit in Washington until organizers cut off sales of the $10-per-pop waffle mix, saying they hadn't "realized the boxes displayed 'offensive material.'" more ›

Trib says four, Sun-Times says three people were taken to area hospitals when when a car driven by an elderly woman plowed into a West Rogers Park Starbucks. There is no evidence the driver of the car was intoxicated, or hyped up on cafinated beverages. [S-T, Trib] more ›

The Chicago-based American Medical Association has issued an official apology for "its past history of racial inequality toward African-American physicians." It's the latest apology by the AMA in a move to make amends for their troubling discriminatory past. Former policies prevented many black doctors from working in hospitals unless they were member of local chapters, many of which had their own discriminatory policies. Less than 3 percent of the nation's doctors and med students are black, and as of 2006, less than 2 percent of AMA members are black. In the release on its website, AMA Immediate-Past President Ronald M. Davis, M.D says:

The AMA is proud to support research about the history of the racial divide in organized medicine because by confronting the past we can embrace the future. The AMA is committed to improving its relationship with minority physicians and to increasing the ranks of minority physicians so that the workforce accurately represents the diversity of America’s patients.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford says the paramedics had an open mic on the radio they use to talk to the O'Hare Communications Center, and that the paramedics used the N-word in conversation between themselves on January 9. more ›

Racism and baseball have a long and entwined history, and this season there's a new chapter thanks to some Kosuke Fukudome t-shirts. more ›

Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, the Carpentersville woman who was accused of racism for comparing two African-American children climbing a tree to monkeys, was told today she would be allowed to keep her position as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention. After it initially appeared as though Ramirez-Sliwinski, also a village trustee, would "voluntarily" step aside, it seems that the campaign actually, you know, examined the facts and cooler heads prevailed. Obama spokesman Ben Labolt said, “It is clear that the incident was a misunderstanding." No kidding. Still no word yet on the $75 disorderly conduct ticket, which Ramirez-Sliwinski said she will challenge. [Trib] more ›

A Carpentersville woman who serves as a village trustee was asked to step down as an Obama delegate over an incident in which she called the children of her African-American neighbors "monkeys." Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski was fined $75 and ticketed for disorderly conduct for the incident, which happened last Saturday.

Ramirez-Sliwinski "came outside and told the children to quit playing in the tree like monkeys. The tree was not on Ramirez-Sliwinski's property," Carpentersville Police Commander Michael Kilbourne said. more ›

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. more ›

South Oak Dodge in Matteson, Ill., normally wouldn't get our attention, but the ad they're running on Fox Chicago, which features "Import Man," a guy in a sumo wrestler outfit who speaks with a crude accent, is pretty offensive. more ›

A report released today from the Justice Policy Institute compares drug imprisonment statistics for big counties and concludes that everything is messed up. Granted, the Institutes's slogan is "dedicated to ending society's reliance on incarceration," but the report is still fascinating and surprisingly easy to read. Cook County has the ninth highest rate of admission to prison for drug offenses, with 166 out of every 100,000 people going to prison for a drug offense. But... more ›

Oh, look, it's time for another sensationalist story about the internet. Let's see... sexual predators on the web? Nah, that's too played out. We know: Hate speech! Let's get to it. Trib says: "It might come as a surprise to the soldiers who defeated fascism in World War II, but the United States has become a refuge for Nazism and other brands of extremism over the last decade. On the Internet, that is." We say:... more ›

Clear your afternoon: Gapers Block's own Naz Hamid is facing off against Chris Glass in another round of Layer Tennis from our pals over at Coudal. Whew! That was a lot of internet in one sentence. The match starts at 2pm. Go Naz! Qué es Layer Tennis? It's immediate, competitive--but classy--design! Like the inside of Wes Anderson's brain, only less affected and without possible subtle racism. The artists swap a file back and forth; each... more ›

It was about time Mayor Daley entered the fray surrounding the Chicago Children’s Museum’s proposed move to Grant Park. To exactly no one’s surprise, he favors the plan. Loves it so much he’s enlisted his good buddies false choice and specious reasoning. Make no mistake: if you oppose the Museum’s move to Grant Park, you hate children. You want them to grow up miserable, lacking any sense of civic pride or patriotism, addicted to meth,... more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a... more ›