OK, I’ve got a question for Straight Dope Chicago. You may know that there’s a chain of restaurants in Asia called Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill. It has a lot of Chicago themed knick-knacks around, including a large portrait of Dan Ryan, who I understand was a Chicago politician.
Anyway, in the men’s room of this restaurant, it plays recordings of vintage TV show themes interspersed with speeches by people I assume were notable Chicago community leaders.
Two in particular stand out to me, and run through my mind at odd times. They both sound like black politicians or church leaders. One of them seems to be a church-style oratory and callback type thing where an older fellow is railing against (I’m guessing) the Vietnam War. Something about how “young men refuse to fight” and sort of a sly, drawling “'Matter of fact it’s safe to say . . . they’d rather switch . . . (whoops from the audience) . . . than fight!”
The other sounds like a civic leader addressing other civic people, talking about how is opponents were angry and complaining that he was “coming down to lecture us like we’re little boys” and then he shouts “well, if that offends your manhood, then so be it!”
Any idea who these people were?
Also, what do you think about an Asian restaurant being named “Dan Ryan’s?”