Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune has refused to print an anti-teachers union ad, according to the Center for Union Facts, the group whose ad was rejected by the paper. The Tribune rejected the ad by saying it had "racial undertones."

"The ad pictures the famous photograph of George Wallace standing in the doorway at the University of Alabama, refusing to admit black students into the school on the first day the University was integrated," the Center for Union Facts says in an email. "The headline reads, 'Someone New is Standing in the School House Door.'"

The ad was set to run as a full-page ad at full-price in today's newspaper. The Center for Union Facts has placed a stop order on the check to the Tribune.

Here is the ad:

"To say that the ad has 'racial undertones' is to miss the point entirely," says Center for Union Facts executive director Richard Berman in a statement. "While the photo depicts a terrible racist incident in American history, the message of the ad has nothing to do with race--only with the efforts of teachers unions to block students from getting a good education. An effort which is currently very much on display in Chicago. For the Tribune to refuse to run our advertisements strikes me as cowardly, biased, and frankly, a violation of free speech."