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Chicago Tribune
7 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Steve Chapman: Donald Trump's campaign of intimidation echoes the worst of our past
America is supposed to be the land of the brave, but under the second administration of Donald Trump, it's fallen under a climate of fear. Universities and law firms have been punished for their perceived disloyalty. Foreigners have been abducted by masked agents and shipped to foreign gulags without due process. News organizations have been bullied for performing honest journalism. Federal employees have been cashiered by the thousands. Corporations harmed by his trade policies have been vilified for telling the truth about tariffs. Judges find themselves threatened for faithfully following the law. Trump and his allies are doing their best to rule through systematic intimidation. It's a new approach to the presidency. But it has deep roots in American history. Recently, I visited Alabama to tour several sites that recount the horrifying realities of life under authoritarian subjugation and the struggles of African Americans who lived in constant fear of incurring the wrath of their rulers as well as ordinary white citizens. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, a massive outdoor structure, recalls the era of racial terrorism, documenting more than 4,400 lynchings of Black Americans between 1877 and 1950. The Legacy Museum provides a thorough account of the enslavement and oppression of an entire race of people. The Rosa Parks Museum and the National Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham recall the efforts that demolished segregation and won Black people legal and social equality. To visit these places is to be shocked anew by the savagery that was the defining trait of the Jim Crow South — and the astonishing courage of the people who took part in the struggle for freedom and justice. The procession of images sears the mind: mobs of police clubbing peaceful demonstrators. A white mob torching a bus carrying Freedom Riders. The mutilated body of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old murdered for allegedly failing to show proper deference to a white woman. The rubble of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham after the 1963 bombing that killed four Black girls. Rosa Parks, jailed for declining to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Today, we see the Civil Rights Movement as the stirring triumph of America's noblest ideals. And it's easy to assume the outcome was inevitable. But one central fact about those Americans who challenged their oppressors is this: They didn't know they would win. Parks, John Lewis, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others took enormous risks. Lewis had his skull fractured in a terrible beating by police. King had his house bombed and died from an assassin's bullet. Parks knew she might not leave jail alive. Those who marched or even showed sympathy for the movement put their lives and livelihoods in grave jeopardy. Black people who tried to register to vote lost their jobs or were evicted from homes and farms. Those who demonstrated often went to jail or prison. Some paid the ultimate price, tortured and killed by Klansmen and their allies. It could have all been for nothing. White supremacy had been the unbreakable norm in the South for centuries. Even the Civil War and Reconstruction failed to destroy it. Those who suffered under this regime had no plausible grounds to think they could escape it — and every reason to expect that stepping out of line would make their lives much worse. Yet they acted anyway. Americans are proud of living in a 250-year-old democracy. But, despite the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the rights enshrined in the Constitution, this country didn't come close to being fully free and democratic until the 1960s, when Black people finally gained the right to vote throughout the land. Trump's administration is hardly equivalent to what prevailed in the old South. But what it is doing raises ominous parallels: the contempt for the rule of law, the pardoning of violent insurrectionists, the attacks on civil rights protections, the celebration of cruelty and, of course, the relentless effort to scare people into submission. It's no coincidence that many of the states where Trump is most popular are the states that enforced white supremacy with the greatest ferocity. These Alabama sites are focused on history, not the outrage of the week from the White House. But they serve as an eloquent rebuke to what Trump represents. And it's probably only a matter of time before they become a target of his ire. They're a reminder that American freedom and democracy are not guaranteed. Whether we will be able to preserve our liberal democracy from the MAGA onslaught is not at all certain. But as those in the Civil Rights Movement could have told us, there is only one way to find out.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Vets find freedom, support in group who helps with wheelchair repairs
There are just over 5 million veterans with disabilities in the U.S. it's a staggering number that's only made worse by insurance denials and long waits for mobility devices. But the American Warriors Motorcycle Association is determined to get those vets rolling on their own set of wheels. With the support of the group, dozens of veterans now have the ability to go where they want. Chester Iglinski of Chester's Chairs works with the group and repairs donated chairs. More from Erin: Chicago's puppet-run ice cream shop has locals lining up for laughs and soft serve '(We) Try to show them we do care for what they do and what they did for us,' he said. More informationChester's Chairs Facebook PageAmerican Warriors Motorcycle Association Facebook Page It hits hard for Vietnam vet, Kenneth Kammers. 'Next time you see a veteran walking by, an old man with Vietnam on his head, shake his hand and then see what his face looks like after you do it,' he said. 'Give him a little thanks and you might get a piece of what we all feel when we do something like this.' Because of Iglinski and his group of Freedom Riders, more than 100 local veterans now have wheels of their own. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
20-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act
Today is Tuesday, May 20, the 140th day of 2025. There are 225 days left in the year. Today in history: On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for private ownership and farming. About 10% of the land area of the United States (270 million acres) would be privatized by 1934. Also on this date: In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France. In 1932, Amelia Earhart departed from Newfoundland in an attempt to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart landed the following day in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.) In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was elected as the first president of the Republic of China (Taiwan). In 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order. In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as 'Hamburger Hill' by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. In 1985, Radio Marti, operated by the U.S. government, began broadcasting. Cuba responded by attempting to jam its signal. In 2015, four of the world's biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup's banking unit Citicorp, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland — agreed to pay more than $5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to rigging the currency markets. Today's Birthdays: Japanese baseball star Sadaharu Oh is 85. Singer-actor Cher is 79. Actor-comedian Dave Thomas is 76. Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, is 74. Political commentator Ron Reagan is 67. Musician Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's) is 67. Actor Bronson Pinchot is 66. TV personality Ted Allen is 60. Actor Mindy Cohn is 59. Actor Timothy Olyphant is 57. Former racing driver Tony Stewart is 54. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 53. Actor Matt Czuchry is 48. Actor-singer Naturi Naughton is 41. Cyclist Chris Froome is 40. Country musician Jon Pardi is 40.
Boston Globe
20-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Today in History: May 20, Lincoln signs Homestead Act
Advertisement In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for private ownership and farming. About 10 percent of the land area of the United States (270 million acres, or 1.1 million square km) would be privatized by 1934. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France. In 1932, Amelia Earhart departed from Newfoundland in an attempt to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. (Because of weather and equipment problems, Earhart landed the following day in Northern Ireland instead of her intended destination, France.) Advertisement In 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was elected as the first president of the Republic of China (Taiwan). In 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in US marshals to restore order. In 1969, US and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as 'Hamburger Hill' by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. In 1985, Radio Marti, operated by the US government, began broadcasting. Cuba responded by attempting to jam its signal. In 1993, 'Cheers' aired its 275th and final episode. To celebrate one of the most popular shows in television history, the cast came to Boston. In 2015, four of the world's biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup's banking unit Citicorp, Barclays, and the Royal Bank of Scotland — agreed to pay more than $5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to rigging the currency markets.
Atlantic
18-05-2025
- General
- Atlantic
The Staying Power of the College Chaplain
On May 24, 1961, the Yale University chaplain William Sloane Coffin Jr. led a group of Freedom Riders on a 160-mile bus ride from Atlanta, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregation laws. The voyage and his subsequent arrest turned Coffin into a national figure in the fight for civil rights. Yet even as he made headlines, Coffin remained committed to another, quieter aspect of his role as a college chaplain. Over the course of his 18 years at Yale, he spent virtually every afternoon counseling students. They discussed relationships, academic worries, theological questions, and—for those eligible—the prospect of being drafted into the Vietnam War. A priest first and foremost, he considered it 'a great privilege' to enter what he called 'the secret garden of another person's soul.' Today, at a moment when young people are much less likely to say they're religious, you might think that the demand for college chaplains would be on the decline. But recent evidence suggests that the opposite is true. Although a 2022 report from the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly 40 percent of young adults do not identify with any established religion, college students are actually attending religious-life programs in larger numbers than they have in decades, and many colleges and universities have more chaplains, some volunteer and some paid, than they did in the early 2000s, James W. Fraser, a professor emeritus of history and education at New York University and the author of the forthcoming book Religion and the American University, told me. Many of these chaplains are taking inspiration from Coffin: They're reimagining what a spiritual leader can be in order to better meet the needs and beliefs of their students—many of whom, religious or not, still crave a sense of belonging, meaning, and purpose. For centuries, religion was central to American university life. Many colleges were established as divinity schools and led by presidents who doubled as ordained ministers, John Schmalzbauer, a religious-studies professor at Missouri State University who studies chaplaincy and campus ministry, told me. But in the early 20th century, a great number of those institutions began shifting their focus from ministry to research, and college presidents started to devote less of their time to spiritual life. In their place, universities hired chaplains to preside over daily chapel services and offer moral guidance to students. The shape of the college chaplaincy transformed multiple times over the next several decades—first during the Coffin era, when it became a platform from which to advocate for social justice; and again in the late 1970s and '80s, when the social movements of the '60s lost steam, academic communities became significantly less religious, and the college chaplaincy shed some of its previous status. Modern college chaplains, deans, and directors of religious life have taken on a new grab bag of duties. In addition to leading forms of worship and talking with students about their faith, as they always have, many chaplains also help students navigate housing insecurity, safety threats, and campus protests. Although the position was once thought of as a 'defined pot,' Kirstin Boswell, Elon University's chaplain and dean of multifaith engagement, told me, it is now more an interdisciplinary 'web.' The chaplains themselves are also much more diverse. Whereas the chaplaincy was once dominated by white Christian men, many today are women or people of color, and they come from a range of religious traditions. Of the 471 chaplains recently surveyed by the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education (ACSLHE)—the nation's largest membership organization for university chaplains, directors, and deans of religious and spiritual life—6 percent said they don't identify with a major religion, and 2 percent said they don't believe in God at all. Chaplains' primary work is still counseling students, but many approach these conversations with more openness than their predecessors did. Reporting this story, I spoke with about a dozen college chaplains and campus-ministry experts across the country, several of whom sit on ACSLHE's board. Citing their own experiences, which are backed up by a robust body of research, they explained that most modern-day chaplains both engage with established religious practices and embrace alternative forms of spirituality or self-care, which can be as varied as coloring sessions, friendship courses, and nature walks. Some students might see 'the religious center as a place where someone would try to convert them,' Vanessa Gomez Brake, the senior associate dean of religious life at the University of Southern California and the first atheist-humanist to occupy that position at a major American university, told me. But chaplains today tend to draw from a range of texts and traditions, rather than proselytizing their own beliefs. For less-religious students, some of their first conversations about spiritual matters may be with chaplains. At a stage of life when they are figuring out who they are and what they believe, many undergrads are likely to find themselves in a 'hardwired body, mind, and soul spiritual growth spurt,' Lisa Miller, a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Columbia University, told me. Although religion is by no means necessary for navigating this growth spurt, it has historically served as a helpful starting point for many students. Until relatively recently, most American families were religious to some degree, which fostered 'a de facto spiritual life in the air and water of our culture,' Miller explained. Regardless of their own religious beliefs, many teens used to arrive on campus with a 'backpack of spiritual and religious practices.' Today, many show up having never prayed. Perhaps because of students' lack of exposure, contemporary college chaplains say they 'have never felt more needed,' Schmalzbauer, of Missouri State, told me. Having devoted their lives to service and existential inquiry, chaplains can be well positioned to advise religious devotees, the spiritually curious, or just the average young person beset by angst. Their guidance might help undergrads as they sort through any number of uncertainties, whether about God, school, friendships, romance, family, or their undecided futures. 'Students need someone who will hear them, who will sit with them, who will be present with them, and who won't be on their phones in front of them,' Nathan Albert, ACSLHE's board president and the chaplain at the University of Lynchburg, told me. Of course, the help college students need is sometimes beyond what chaplains are trained to provide. Recent data show that Gen Z is, by some measures, the loneliest generation in the United States, and that rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation on university campuses are at a peak. 'These kids achieve to very high levels, they jump through the hoops, they get to college, and then they're left wondering what it's all for,' Jennifer Breheny Wallace, the author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—And What We Can Do About It, told me. Universities aren't blind to the pressures students are under, and many have made student wellness a priority. This may be one reason more schools are investing in religious and spiritual life, Schmalzbauer, NYU's Fraser, and others told me. But crucially, as Schmalzbauer explained, pastoral care is not the same thing as psychological counseling. Chaplains can occasionally end up in tough spots, particularly as demand for mental-health care has outpaced the supply of therapists and psychiatrists on college campuses. Varun Soni, the dean of religious life at USC, told me that most of his students are dealing with routine anxieties, which he feels comfortable talking through. Yet he also meets with some students experiencing depression and suicidal ideation. For these more serious cases, Soni and his colleagues work closely with the university's mental-health center and even walk students to a counselor's door themselves. This isn't to say that chaplains don't have a role to play in improving student health and well-being. Research from Columbia University's Miller and others has found that spiritual development is associated with protection against depression and substance abuse, and with setting young adults up for healthier relationships, more purposeful work, and greater emotional resilience. In recent years, some schools have paired chaplains with therapists and counselors to provide 'preventative mental health care,' Wendy Cadge, the president of Bryn Mawr College and founder of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, told me. Yet, unlike mental-health professionals, the chaplain's goal is not to treat students, but rather to help them find community, meaning, and a reprieve from the grind. 'People want to feel loved for who they are and not what they do,' Chaz Lattimore Howard, the university chaplain and vice president for social equity and community at the University of Pennsylvania, told me. Whether or not they believe in God, they 'want to be reassured that it's going to be okay.' In a world where so much may not seem okay, college chaplains say they can help students—not via certainty or quick fixes, but as Coffin once did: by tending to their inner lives.
