The issue of racial divide is one that has been around for many many years. I am not going to pretend that there is a right or wrong answer to this, because there isn't one. Hopefully, however, I can highlight a few points that contribute to the racial divide and keep it persistent throughout the decades.
One example I came across was in reading The New Chicago, where Koval states that "[Martin L. King] made residential segregation the target of his northern campaign. King looked at Chicago's vibrant central business district, the Loop, just a few miles east of the impoverished west side neighborhood where he was living, and remarked 'This is truly an island of plenty amidst an ocean of plenty'" (p83-84). This was a racial issue in the 1950's -60's, however, this is still an issue today in the modern City of Chicago as well. How long ago was it that Martin L. King made this statement? And have we listened to him?
The answer provides for a mixed response. Take Cabrini Green for example; all the high rises were taken down and new landscape/homes were built. Great, the City is doing something for those living in impoverished neighborhoods, making the "ocean of plenty" a little bit bigger, and the island a little bit smaller. In this way, more people can swim in the ocean. Great, right? ..... let's rewind for a second here. Chicago makes the ocean bigger, and the island smaller, but, where do the people on the island go, and what about those who cannot swim? Chicago's idea of fixing the impoverished neighborhoods is simply pushing them to the outskirts of the City - out of sight, out of mind. The impoverished neighborhoods are primarily (but not exclusively) Latino and African American, unfortunately making this one way in which racial divides are still present in today's Chicago.
Furthermore, Koval states that "African Americans, especially males, remain concentrated in jobs requiring little formal education beyond high school and that offer little promise of significant upward social mobility. African American women fare somewhat better...[but] both genders are grossly underrepresented in occupations that might be associated with the new economy" (p87). Because of this concentration of African Americans in the aforementioned types of jobs, they have a hard time with upward mobility, and are forced to cluster together in areas that they can afford. Lower paying jobs leads to buying homes that they can afford. The fact that African Americans are not viewed as being on the same plane as white Americans, undermines their skills and abilities completely; it is not just at all. This issue only further emphasizes the racial divides in today's Chicago - not only in housing situations, but economically as well.
Lastly, the first step towards improving/dismantling the residential segregation in the city and its suburbs is to stop pushing people to the outskirts of the city of Chicago. Our mentality is that if we don't have to see them or look at where they live, we do not have to worry about the racial divides and they will magically just go away. This attitude has been present since the 1950's and is the first thing that needs to change before any integration (neighborhood wise) can occur.
No comments:
Post a Comment