Clarence Page – Page 21

Mahalia Jackson, left, sings "We Shall Overcome" with civil rights leaders the Rev. Martin Luther King, third left, Jesse Jackson, second from right, and Albert Raby, right, on Aug. 4, 1966. The event happened at 844 W. 71st St. in Chicago.

Clarence Page: The Rev. Jesse Jackson is not retiring, only ‘pivoting,’ and still keeping hope alive

July 18, 2023 at 5:25 p.m.

With the news that the Rev. Jesse Jackson is retiring or, as he prefers to call it, "pivoting" from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition that he has led for more than a...

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters before the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act at the U.S. Capitol on July 14, 2023, in Washington.

Clarence Page: The defense bill is no longer a no-brainer as Speaker McCarthy gives in to far-right faction

July 17, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Despite the rowdy episodes of fussing, feuding and fighting that we see erupt out of the Congress, matters as routine as the annual defense policy bill have tended to slide...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas listens as President Donald Trump speaks before administering the constitutional oath to new Justice Amy Coney Barrett at the White House in Washington on Oct. 26, 2020.

Clarence Page: Clarence Thomas’ American Dream — with a little help from his friends

July 12, 2023 at 8:46 a.m.

If you live long enough to see your heroes deposed from their former glory by the exposure of long-hidden truths, it can make you feel as though, maybe, you have...

People work and relax on the Main Quadrangle at the University of Chicago on April 12, 2023. Under the university's widely praised commitment to academic freedom, speech is restricted only when it "constitutes a genuine threat or harassment."

Clarence Page: A college-level challenge: When free speech sounds like cyberbullying

July 9, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

A University of Chicago student who happens to be white objected to an undergraduate anthropology class titled "The Problem of Whiteness." Daniel Schmidt, a sophomore who didn't know the lecturer,...

People react outside of the Supreme Court on June 30, 2023, in Washington, after the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples. The court ruled 6-3 for designer Lorie Smith despite a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender and other characteristics. Smith had argued that the law violates her free speech rights.

Clarence Page: A troubling Supreme Court defense of free speech at the expense of LGBTQ rights

July 5, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

As a strong believer in the First Amendment, I respect the Colorado graphics artist who didn't want to make wedding websites for gay couples, even though I strongly oppose her...

Protesters for and against affirmative action argue outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on June 29, 2023.

Clarence Page: At least the Supreme Court offered alternatives to affirmative action

July 2, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Reading about the Supreme Court's unsurprising affirmative action ruling, I was reminded of Sen. Hubert Humphrey's defense of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. If anyone can find language in...

Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., and Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, talk to reporters outside U.S. Border Patrol Eagle Pass South Station as Leader McCarthy leads some fellow Republicans on a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border on April 25, 2022 in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Clarence Page: History is flexible for Trump’s MAGA troops

March 12, 2024 at 12:01 p.m.

I used to believe, as George Santayana is said to have said, "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." Nowadays, amid culture wars...

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin during a hearing to examine Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and related surveillance authorities, June 13, 2023, in Washington.

Clarence Page: Supreme Court ethics? More than ‘balls and strikes’

June 25, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Is the Supreme Court ready for reform yet? That's my updated version of the immortal declaration that legendary alderman and saloonkeeper Mathias "Paddy" Bauler reportedly delivered on the night of...

baiduhai newspapers are transported on a conveyor system at the Freedom Center on May 11, 2022, in Chicago.

Clarence Page: After a half-century in journalism, I advise caution in your search for truth

June 18, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

When I came to work at the baiduhai as a newly graduated journalism major, I had something that sounded like a plan. I'll spend two or three years here...

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after being arraigned on 37 counts related to his handling of classified documents on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.

Clarence Page: Trump’s in trouble, and the lame excuses are flying

June 14, 2023 at 9:49 a.m.

Some of the fiercest attacks against Donald Trump's handling of classified documents came from Trump himself, especially in barbs aimed at Hillary Clinton. That's why in the indictment, Justice Department...

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