Opinion | Biden’s running mate must champion police reform
By Nick Johnson, columnist
July 9, 2020
As the month of November creeps increasingly nearer, so does what many would call the most important presidential election in recent history. Never before has a more audaciously polarizing figure occupied the presidency than the man who currently resides in the White House. President Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhet...
Opinion | Politicization of everything bears a cost
By Matthew Krauter, Columnist
July 3, 2020
This year I was enamored by artist James Gurney’s landscape paintings on the internet and decided to pick up a brush myself. Limited in settings by the pandemic, I settled on painting the roundabout in front of my home from my porch. Once finished, I shared my work with my neighbor, a sweet elderly ...
Opinion | Juneteenth represents continued struggle for Black freedom
By Dennis Austin, Columnist
June 19, 2020
Being Black in America almost renders one to near insanity. We see their faces, we hear their pain. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling and so many more. One hundred fifty-five years to the day that slaves in Texas were freed, Black peop...
Opinion | Protest momentum must become political participation
By Nick Johnson, Columnist
June 16, 2020
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” Despite protests being the expected response to racially motivated police killings, this Martin Luther King Jr. quote is resona...
Opinion | Protest opposition forgets American tradition of violence | Part II
By Dennis Austin, Columnist
June 15, 2020
In any context, riots are merely a symptom of an illness inflicted onto a nation by those in authority. During the early 1990s, as many Eastern European countries transitioned from communism, Romania violently overthrew its government. Nicholas Ceausescu and his wife were put on trial for one hour accused...
Opinion | MasterClass brings joy to online learning
By Noah Nelson, Senior Columnist
June 11, 2020
Over the past several months, students across the country have switched from in-class to online learning due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. With classes on either Zoom or Skype, many college students, especially those here at the University, have struggled to acclimate to these new learning condition...
Editorial | BLM protests catalyze critical change
By The Daily Illini Editorial Board
June 9, 2020
In 2016, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick shocked the nation by kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Sharp criticisms trailed. The usual suspects argued the spectacle was the wrong manner to protest, showed disrespect and was opportunistic. America refused to listen then....
Opinion | Pritzker’s defense of religion is superior to SCOTUS
By Matthew Krauter, Columnist
June 8, 2020
As states curb the spread of COVID-19, some have begun phased reopenings with consideration of risks to public health. Governor J.B. Pritzker felt pressure through the Supreme Court to loosen COVID-19 restrictions on places of worship as Illinois enters Phase 3 of the reopening plan. As California similarly tran...
Opinion | Protest opposition forgets American tradition of violence | Part 1
By Dennis Austin, Columnist
June 4, 2020
Minneapolis has captured the world’s attention, putting the coronavirus on a temporary backburner. Over the past few days, the country has seen outbreaks of violent rioting from citizens angry over the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Across the country, busines...
Opinion | Inaction is complicity in police brutality
By Abril Salinas, Columnist
June 2, 2020
The unwarranted, excessive and oftentimes illegal use of force against civilians by American police officers is unfortunately commonplace. Currently, we’re indoctrinated with racism by a system that serves to protect the white people of this country. The weaponization of whiteness and the sorti...
Letter to the Editor | Don’t forget to advocate for things that matter
By Megan Porter
May 18, 2020
So much is changing all at once, and it does not appear that “business as usual ” will be returning any time soon. What has not changed is our ability to appeal to those in positions of authority, those who represent us and our goals on federal and state levels, in order to advocate for the changes...
Letter to the Editor | President Trump threatens American stability
By Rudolph W. Fillinger
May 17, 2020
We currently face a multitude of crises: a worldwide pandemic not seen in a century, an economic collapse that may rival the Great Depression and a world in which American leadership is absent while our allies question our commitment to the defense of freedom throughout the free world. We currently...
