Free Republic

<p>CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson came to the defense Tuesday of the owners of a Chicago nightclub where a deadly stampede killed 21 early Monday morning, just as the city filed charges against the club's owners.</p> <p>On Tuesday, Jackson called for an independent investigation of the tragedy, which occurred after a security guard for a club promoter who rented out the Epitome Nightclub allegedly started spraying Mace or pepper spray at two patrons who had begun brawling on the second-story dance floor.</p>

I Somebody, please tell the Rev. Jesse Jackson to chill. Jackson has been complaining about Ice Cube's hit movie ''Barbershop'' and how some of its jokes about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and him have crossed the line of propriety. I've seen the movie. It's funny, touching, thought-provoking and, at times, embarrassingly true-to-life. And, yes, Cedric the Entertainer's character - a crusty old barber - skewers Jackson, King and even the regal Parks. The jokes made me laugh, but also made me uncomfortable because I knew the crusty old barber was attacking some sacred cows. But after my...

If Jessie Jackson thinks that the Founding Fathers of this great nation were so terrible because they didn't call for the immediate end to slavery, then MLK must have been a terrible leader because he didn't call for immediate reparations.

<p>Plaintiff Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, "claiming to represent all of the United States' 35 million African-Americans," filed the country's first lawsuit seeking reparations for slavery, against Aetna Inc., CSX Corp. and FleetBoston Financial Corp., among others.</p> <p>Putting aside the obvious point that neither Farmer-Paellmann nor anyone else now alive has ever been enslaved in the U.S., it's hard to see how there could be any legal case against slavery as practiced in the pre-Civil War era. After all, slavery, evil though it was, was not only legal but specifically authorized by the Constitution until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.</p>

<p>DOVER, Del. — White professors in several states are suing traditionally black state colleges and universities, saying they’re being denied advancement because of their color.</p> <p>The legal battles have been waged in states such as North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, with varied results. At least one lawsuit resulted in a multimillion-dollar verdict. Another was dismissed in Delaware last month for lack of evidence.</p>