The New
Chicago Sun Times: Making the Great Divide more palatable for its readers - the angry and self-satisfied - but cetainly not the people working everyday.
Chicago Sun Times columnist and WTTW commentator Mary Mitchell 'can't help but' think, feel and opine that every white person within shouting distance gets up each morning with a new way to inflict harm, scorn, and violence on black people. It makes her angry when a black woman does not see it the same way as contrary Mary.
Mary Mitchell worked on CST's Don Hayner's 'Great Divide' series. Ever since Don Hayner's The Great Divide' Series in 1993, Mary Mitchell has been the ever angry voice of Sun Times' on Race.
The premise of Hayner's piece continued the social engineering practices developed by the crowd at University of Chicago in the 1930's and '40s that became the boilerplate modi of Chicago Activism - Fair Housing, Red-lining, & etc.: white ethnics are evil racists - end of story.
They ( white ethnics [I'm a they]- read Catholic in this case) are clannish, close-knit, fierce, tribal, corrupt, vicious, bigoted and YET they make great neighbors. Wild head scratcher that last!
Today, Mary Mitchell objects to the views of a black woman who chooses to live with the clannish ( nine years by her word), witnessed the recent horrible events at Durkin Park and objected to the ever angry, quite contrary Mary's column that returned its rapt readers ( the lads pictured above) to those thrilling days of yesteryear - 'imaginary boundaries' - The Great Divide. What we think - (white or black working people) , according to the NEW Chicago Sun Times, is not really important, nor much of a deal to the boutique thinkers ( Cliffs Notes Intellects) who choose to live in very transient, upper-middleclass, university educated, single, few kiddies but take the oversized pooch to the cafe Neighborhoods: demographically - these neighborhoods are almost Exclusively white). These loud citizens admire Hugo, Che, and enjoy black people at events. They are rewarded with media friendly mainstreets features.
Well, to the clannish and the close-knit out here on the south side where race relations happens around the clock, according to the old socialist boiler-plate - 'racial boundaries are marked by imaginary north/south streets:' That 's what Mary Mitchell insists upon No Doubt she she snaps to Mrs. Wiley. Halsted is the racial boundary 1950's ; Ashland is the Boundary 1960's ; Western is the Boundary 1970's ; Kedzie '80's; Pulaski 90's; Cicero Present - The Mississippi River Coming Soon!
Keep Hate Alive! It sells papers. There is not a boundary. Little black kids play with white kids unafraid ( right ouside my kitchen window - the endless 108th Street sewer baseball league) of us 'white devils' in Morgan Park. No chilling atmosphere. No Jim Crow. No Bulwhipping. No 'Strange Fruit up in the Trees. In fact, Doc and the other black gents pop in to Keegan's Pub for some pints of Smithwicks or Guinness ( black is beautiful!) usually sharing a bag of Harold's with Nualla from Derry and stay until the opera music by that blind Italian singer runs out everyone but the maudlin.
The only time that the 'close-knit, clannish' code stuff surfaces is in Chicago newsprint and later aped by the lazy TV Media.
The Durkin Park beat-down, like the horrific near murder of tiny Ryan Rusch in Beverly Park, is fodder for people who love seeing race-baiting and scab picking sell papers. Race relations is a parlor game for faux intellects in transient upper-class - read Yuppie - neighborhoods: Starbucks chat Caffinated Revolution! We Mobilize! - Right After some sick mojito's at Nacional 21. I am surprised that John Conroy has not found a link between the Ryan Rusch beat-down and Jon Burge. The Chicago Reader gets good play in the Working Man's Pal!
Back to the Durkin Park spin:
Here's today's angry Mary Mitchell's venting against an eye-witness - a black woman who seems to like her neighbors:
If the facts go against the agenda, print the agenda!
'Nevertheless, she worked tirelessly hard, and in 1991 after earning her degree, the Sun-Times hired her as its education reporter. Two years later, her editors paired her with Hayner to write a successful series on race, called "The Great Divide." '
The Working Man's Pal - the NEW Chicago Sun Times seems to want more angry people - white and black - ignoring Mrs. Wiley and listening to the ever Angrier Mary - Let's Rumble!
No thanks. Clannish people like CFD Lt.Denny Cahill ( page 3 CSTs BTW) are too busy busting into burning houses in Englewood to breathe life back into a baby. Black tradesmen like Lonny Newman ( Leo High School 2004) are too busy knocking down 45 hours a week as a Local 597 Pipefitter and taking care of their family members back over in Roseland.
Tell them about what concerns working class people. Naw, continue to pick at scabs - if hurts heal, then you have nothing to talk about - Mary Mitchell will continue to pick fights with CST columnist Neil Steinberg for no reason and also the thousands of people like Mrs. Wiley of the Scottsdale neighborhood, because the truth does not fit the goofy agenda of NEW Chicago Sun Times.
