The Chicago news media should ask elected officials, and any other Chicago stakeholder;
why would someone want to live on the far south side of Chicago?
Also, why would someone want to raise their children on the far south side of Chicago Illinois?
Marc Sims
Chicago
Marc Sims is a lifelong resident of the city of Chicago.
Perhaps lesser of two evils? Inability to break away from current situation? Heard you w Ben Jarovsky several times and always enjoy you. I’m white and have lived through a couple rounds of white flight. Initially whitey leaving far south side to promised land of SW suburbs CCH and Hazel Crest. Wife from Roseland w parents leaving 1970 when she was old enough to start school. My parents from Riverdale. We then saw whitey leave CCH and HC in droves as black folks moved in 80’s. I always saw the black folks moving into burbs as ppl who wanted a better life and not so much a threat to my way of life. Sadly, many others never saw it that way. Racism and Chicago are so tightly entangled it’s hard to see the bigger picture often time. Hopefully the extended red line might reinvigorate the far south side someday.
ReplyDeleteI would guess the black folks moving into Roseland in 1970 were not much different than the black folks moving out to CCH and Hazel Crest in the 80’s. Same scenario being looked down upon by whitey as they try to make a better life. Your original question “why would someone want to live or raise kids on far south side” is obviously meant relative to conditions today. That I don’t know but assume it’s NOT based on an in depth analysis of pros and cons of living on far south side and more likely because that’s where thy were born. For years I’ve heard whitey wax poetic about how the far south side was such a great place to live back in the “good old days” when black folks weren’t allowed to live there. Was it really such a great place or is the racism clouding the comparison. Maybe it really was better because there was sufficient financial investment in the local community and the lack of investment today is just the sowing of what the racism reaps. Seems like current occupant of WH has made it OK to be just as openly racist as we used to be even though the disinvestment in urban areas like far south side are part of a much bigger problem that has more to do with pure financial greed as just garden variety racism.
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