Downtown Chicago : A Large Percentage Of African American Community Members

Living in Chicago, Illinois the third biggest city in America one is blessed with the ability to see a lot of different aspects of life. Chicago is said to be the most segregated city in America (cbslocal.com). Almost every neighborhood of a different race in Chicago is divided by a viaduct, viaduct basically separate areas of different racial backgrounds. It does not matter if you are talking about the area in Chicago known as Chinatown and the bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s south side to the Austin neighborhood and the Humboldt park neighborhood on the west side they are divided by a viaduct. The separation of the racial makeup of Chicago also displays certain neighborhood mostly minority neighborhoods inability to get certain resources

Another link that I find interesting among the Afro-Latino communities of New York City is that racially discriminated races are pushed into poverty. Philippe Bourgois writes about New York City during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. He explains through cultural reproduction theory that although it may seem that inner-city residents appeared to live in a community astray from the mainstream ideals they actually held similar values such as the drive to achieve the “American dream.” He describes the inner-city as a culture of resistance that intends to accomplish its goal of success through the refusal of being stepped on by the “white man.” The form of upward mobility that this culture seeks is usually achieved by

In order to support his opinion, the author uses historical references to the enormous impact of racial inequality on African American lives. Additionally, Desmond names a set of historical data and rates of the poor African Americans in cities to enhance the reader’s understanding of this complex situation. African Americans were also more likely to get the apartment with broken furniture, windows, and other facilities that confirmed the existence of racial inequality (Desmond, 2016, p.249). To reassert his position, Desmond provides offensive statistics that millions of people are evicted from American homes, and most of them are African American (Desmond, 2016, p.293). As a matter of fact, the author proves that housing discrimination based on race is the primary cause of

Understanding that the poverty of black Americans did not just stay within the home is a big step in understanding urban poverty. Urban poverty reached outside the home, into the parks, schools and playgrounds. With poverties reach being that extensive, there was something other than adversity causing this. Louis Gates wrote an article about this called “Black America and The Class Divide.” (Jr.)

As has been described, research at on the Levi Jordan Plantation has focused on the African American resident community, and has revealed considerable information about the specialized crafts that were practiced by members of this community. Evidence indicates that the use of these crafts went beyond daily subsistence needs to include ritual use, and demonstrates multi-dimensional patterns of artifact use in their community: functional, social, and religious aspects are evident. It has been proposed that one of these crafts was the manufacture of munitions. As first argued by Brown and Cooper 1990 (4), one of the cabins excavated appeared to contain a high quantity of lead and other related artifacts that indicated the

A new study, based on censes figures from 1950 to 1980 shows that “the United States largest cities have growing concentration of black Americans living in property”. While the overall rate of property in the nation increased slightly in those years to about 13 percent in 1980, the number of people in property in the 50 cities jumped 12 percent at a time, when the cities were losing population. During this time the urban problems are getting worse at precisely the time the nation is doing less about them. Black living in property in major cities has become a big concern for many political scientists, who see the increasing isolation of the poor as perpetuating the

The protesters expressing the anger do not mean that they want to destroy the city or to hurt people, but they want to be heard and to have the right to live as others in the city. William DuBose, an anti-racism advocate, explains his interpretation of the protest in Baltimore. He thinks that the protest in Baltimore is a reflection of the long lasting problem. Author contends, “Despite living in the wealthiest state in the country, the residents of Baltimore’s inner city find themselves in abject poverty. No group is hit harder than young people”(DuBose, par 14). The gap between the wealthy and the poor exists as a long lasting problem in the city. While living in one of the wealthiest state, most wealthy people are Caucasians and most poor people are African-Americans. African-Americans are treated unequally. DuBose says that, “They’re young people who, if they were to achieve what my parents would call success, will be a story so rare that Hollywood might come calling for the movie rights.” (DuBose, par 15) The institutional racism, that contributes poverty and police brutality, directly leads to Baltimore protest. For example, some African-Americans do not have financial stability to maintain living styles, not even talking about to support their children for the higher education. Without the higher education, African-Americans tend to be more difficult to achieve financial sustainability; this is the vicious cycle. While people blame African-Americans for the protest, they do not think about how much African-Americans have to endure, the unequal treatment, even death. The discriminated treatments are all because African-Americans do not have equal opportunity to access resources as Caucasians do. Unfortunately, the mainstream media does not have discussions on institutional racism and

Bernie Sanders has said, “When you’re white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor. You don’t know what it’s like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car.” This misused, out of context quote is used to represent the view of a Black Lives Matter Activist who is trying to express the truth about what it truly feels like to live in a fairly poor black community. However this story comes from a different perspective because not all Africans are poor because you can see many stories of successful African-Americans who have a high education with an amazing career for themselves as well as to take care of their families. The one thing that divides America the most right now in my opinion is racism. Over the past year we have heard many news stories about white police who have unnecessarily injured or killed African Americans especially in cases where the victim was unarmed. Racism has been an issue that has been around for awhile and hopefully it will improve as time goes by, but it's certainly not going to completely end anytime

When you think of Chicago, what's the first word that comes to mind? For most, "pizza" is the first thought and if that's what you're looking for, Lincolnshire will not disappoint. Embracing Chicago's famous style of wood-fired oven pizzas, Lincolnshire offers both classic renditions and new spins on this savory feast. True to Chicago's style, however, this neighborhood stays diverse both in its attractions and culinary stylings. While this thriving Chicago neighborhood has plenty for its resident and visiting carnivores, vegans need not fear; there are plentiful options throughout the city so you will never have to simply settle for another salad. Whether you want to cozy up to an old classic or break away from the norm, Lincolnshire has the

For my Chicago community project I decided to work with Jumpstart, I originally wanted to work with Conversation Partners at the Priory campus. However there as I was looking through the descriptions of the work Jumpstart began to catch my attention more than Conversation Partners. Jumpstart seemed to be a teaching community based learning and as someone that wants to be a teacher it definitely caught my attention. I emailed the person in charge, Briana Martindale, she did the interview and she took me in, now since I was working with children there was a lot of paperwork that had to be done. Our start date kept getting pushed back but just from the description of what we would be doing I knew I would love it and that is why I stayed with

According to research 45.8 percent of young black children live in poverty, and black men are more likely to go to jail. However, when the presence of these facts enter everyday conversation they are often considered racist. One of the greatest challenges we have is to heal the divide of our nation and recognize the discrimination that still exists and grows today. Instead of ignoring the problems and facts, we have to ask tough questions. What is happening in our constitutionally equal society, that the color of your skin, or gender, can determine your life? People are scared of recognizing the evidence that America is still living with an overabundance of inequality because such a realization would be terrifyingly contradictory to the idea

African Americans don’t always live in good neighborhoods or have good jobs because some people just won’t hire them. We need to help them, they need to support their families too, they need to feed themselves too, they need to enjoy life too. They are normal people, and we need to treat them as

When asked to validate a statement such as the one mentioned that references the disadvantages of minorities versus those of White -Americans the three most significant obstacles, in my opinion, are employment, education, and crime. If you have a group of people who are subordinate in those three categories, you have individuals who are positively underprivileged. Let us begin with employment or joblessness. Unfortunately, socioeconomic status, income, employment, and unemployment are determined by some level of race and ethnicity. In the early 1980’s when low-skilled jobs and high-wage workers wandered out of the central portion of the city, therefore increasing space and inaccessibility to jobs, that was the beginning of employment trouble and social detachment. Even after managing for local conditions, there was still a sizable extensive employment disadvantage for blacks (D'Amico & Maxwell, 1995) As urban centralization increased and industry continued to move the high, and low wages/skills and minority migration to the inner cities intensified(D'Amico & Maxwell, 1995). It was this continued shift that left minorities reduced to an area that suffered from high rates of joblessness, welfare dependency, crime and single-parent households. There was now an exclusion from job networks and confinement to poor quality schooling, which materialized into lousy working habits(D'Amico & Maxwell, 1995).

Time and time again we witness minorities fall victim to the cycle of poverty and violence. As each generation passes by, they are unable to release themselves of the conditions they grew up with and are familiar with. Based on a 2016 survey, it revealed that there were nearly three times as many blacks and Latinos living in poverty in the U.S compared to whites (Poverty Rate by Race/Ethnicity). With statistics like these, it leads me to wonder why minorities are more likely to live a life of poverty and violence. Although some may say that it is purely due to a lack of motivation to improve their lives, they ignore the reality of institutional racism and the psychological affects which play a role in enforcing the longevity of the poverty

Our quality of life, and our identity, is tied to our communities. The African American people are constantly forced to fight injustices for a place in the “democracy.” African American’s are born with negative preconceptions, but civic engagement can control the narrative. Civic engagement offers concrete examples of positive behavior. It is obvious with the recent media headlines of police brutality; blacks and whites are still not able to effectively communicate. “What affects one directly, affects us all indirectly;” therefore, in our world it is