Chicago Public Square’s taking a few days off. Back Wednesday. But now, the news.
Affirmative action’s end. Looking back to that phrase’s origin under President Kennedy back in 1961, The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb predicts that yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling “will be fewer students from traditionally underrepresented minorities on college campuses” …
■ … but not necessarily at the nation’s military academies.
■ Elie Mystal at The Nation: “Mediocre whites can rest easier.”
■ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce: “The Supreme Court has validated every bigot who ever called a talk show.”
■ HuffPost says Justice Clarence Thomas finally got what he wanted: The end of a policy he benefited from because he says it exacted too high of a psychic and social toll on him.
■ Conceding he was wrong back in 1975, blogger Irv Leavitt acknowledges, “We’ve made it harder for some people to make it in America, and if we don’t put a thumb on the scale, it’ll take forever for them to catch up.”
■ The Sun-Times’ Mary Mitchell: “Rights people have fought and died for … can be wiped out with the stroke of a pen.”
■ Commentary in The Onion: “I Decided To Become A Slave So One Day My Descendants Could Steal College Admissions Spots.”
What’s next. Time looks at how the ruling will change things for college applicants.
■ The New York Times: Application essays may become a lot more important.
■ President Biden’s directed the Education Department to get a bead on colleges’ legacy admissions, which tend to favor wealthy white kids …
■ … a notion cheered by a Sun-Times editorial.
■ An Emerson College professor of American studies: Time for reparations.
And today at the court …
■ Justices killed President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of Americans …
■ … and handed gay rights activists a defeat, clearing a Christian graphic artist to refuse work with same-sex couples.
Still not great. Chicago’s air quality is noticeably better—for now—but don’t expect “good” until next week.
■ Make no mistake: The air we’ve been breathing has been sending Chicagoans to emergency rooms.
■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Ex-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who blamed lousy air on liberals “pushing woke agendas.”
Dig deeper. Gasoline and groceries will cost more tomorrow, when state taxes rise.
■ Here’s what else is new in July under Illinois law.
‘Rahm Emanuel is not done with politics.’ That’s Politico’s conclusion after sitting down for 40 minutes or so with Chicago’s ex-mayor—now U.S. ambassador to Japan.
■ Reversing an enrollment slide that dates back to Emanuel’s time as mayor, Mayor Emanuel Brandon Johnson’s staff says the influx of migrants has finally added students to Chicago’s public school system.
■ Chicago’s Divvy bike-sharing program is 10 years old.
‘I wasn’t able to save everyone that day.’ The Tribune catches up with people who survived the massacre at last year’s Fourth of July parade in Highland Park …
■ … some of whom gathered at Chicago’s federal courthouse yesterday as judges heard a challenge to Illinois’ ban on assault weapons.
Wait wait … 25 years??? Host Peter Sagal’s celebrating a quarter-century at the helm of Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me! …
■ … which makes this a good time to revisit a 2017 Chicago Public Square podcast in which he revealed that he hated the show’s name—and the place where it was produced.
Chicago’s best movie car chases. Ahead of NASCAR weekend, critic Richard Roeper reviews the city’s history of cinematic vehicles going fast.
■ Guess which Illinois movie made The A.V. Club’s list of the best movies set in each state?
Have a blast. The Tribune lists all the fireworks displays around the Chicago area through the weekend.
■ The Peoria Journal-Star details what’s legal and what’s not under Illinois fireworks law.
‘Can there be TMI about BMI? What can never be shown on a postage stamp?’ Answers—true and false—await in the latest weekly news quiz, devised by The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
■ Your Square columnist nailed 7/8 answers correctly. Can you top that?
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