Civil Rights

The future of hundreds of investigations into possible civil rights violations at schools across the Midwest, and thousands more nationwide, are in question after the Trump Administration shuttered seven of 12 Department of Education offices charged with running the investigations.

The Midgets mascot originated roughly 90 years ago. If passed by Illinois lawmakers, the bill would require the Metro East high school to change by September 2028.

Advocates have said Freeburg's mascot, the "Midgets” to be derogatory, objectifying and dehumanizing. A bill proposed in the Illinois General Assembly would ban public schools from using derogatory names for people with disabilities as mascots.

Freeburg has been the “Midgets” for 90 years. Many people with dwarfism now consider the term a slur.

Little Rock Nine member Thelma Mothershed-Wair died this month in Arkansas. She taught in East St. Louis for nearly 20 years before retiring and working at the St. Clair County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center. She was 83.

Environmental justice activists in Illinois claimed a major victory last week when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency needs to revamp its process for permitting polluting industries in residential neighborhoods.

Dr. Travis Threats’ family was featured in “Silver Rights: The Story of the Carter Family’s Brave Decision to Send Their Children to an All-White Schools and Claim Their Civil Rights” in 1996.

“The whole purpose of racism from the beginning was to divide poor black and poor whites (so they could not) unite and create inclusive prosperity,” said former NAACP President Benjamin Jealous.

St. Louis police Sgt. Jatonya Clayborn Muldrow alleges her transfer to another department was discriminatory, even though her title, pay and hours remained the same. Lower federal courts sided with the city, but the case made its way to the Supreme Court.

Why has student loan debt policy stagnated while the needs of American college students and graduates become more complex? The answer is frustratingly predictable.