Higher education. The University of Illinois’ annual Insect Fear Film Festival in Urbana recently featured the 1957 release The Deadly Mantis, in which, according to U. of I. publicity, “a giant praying mantis becomes a preying mantis, eating much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and climbing the Washington Monument before getting caught in the Lincoln Tunnel between New York and New Jersey.”
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On what TV news program were 89 percent of the guests men, 92 percent of the guests white, only 5 percent representatives of public-interest groups, and less than 2 percent labor, racial, or ethnic leaders? Why, it’s Ted Koppel’s Nightline between January 1, 1985, and April 30, 1988, according to a recent study by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), quoted in the Chicago-based weekly In These Times (February 15-21): “The views of one class, race, and gender dominate Nightline…. By its limited range of guests and topics, Nightline conveys a distorted vision of the domestic political scene, portraying it as free of major conflict and devoid of challenging views.”
Matched teams of black, Latino, and white executives posed as apartment seekers at 25 rental offices in Chicago and suburbs last year, according to the latest newsletter of the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities. Six offices appeared to discriminate against minority applicants. The council has filed federal lawsuits against two, Royalty Management at 7712 W. Belmont and the Doral Plaza, 151 N. Michigan. Two rental agencies, refreshingly, offered equal treatment to all: River City (800 S. Wells) and 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive, a high rise managed by Draper and Kramer.
26th Ward Alderman Luis Gutierrez’s defection to Daley “makes coalition building a lot more difficult because Louie had become a darling to the progressive community,” 22nd Ward Alderman Jesus Garcia tells the Chicago Reporter’s Jennifer Juarez Robles (February 1989). “In the black community and along the lakefront a lot of progressives thought [Gutierrez] was a marvelous guy. But now a lot of people are going to be doubting how reliable Hispanics are in coalition building.”
