Chicago segregated (Bridgeport: buyers, relocation, land)

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Unfortunately, the issues in Boystown relate to a string of incidents 7-8 months ago over the course of about 4 weeks where a few dozen people were maced/attacked/beater/robbed/stabbed and there were some high profile videos of large groups of people fighting and screaming and blocking traffic (one was of one of the three stabbings on Halsted that took place within a few week of each other) that happened to almost all involve young black men. My BF had 6 people robbed on his street, Buckingham, within about 10 days. Many of those arrested or questioned by police were from the south and west sides of the city. For whatever reason the issues stopped in July and things went back to what would be "normal" for the neighborhood. It got to the point there were 3-4 cops posted at Halsted and Roscoe every night on ATV's who would just ride up and down the street nonstop.

It was quite heated though early this past summer. There were lots of meetings and people were extremely upset. That is where the sudden issues are coming from in regards to people being afraid of black people in the neighorhood. I'm gay and have been hanging out in Boystown for 10 years. I have multiple black friends, and they were more upset than the white people in regards to the issues. They'd been hanging out here for years and years with no problems at all, and suddenly they were surrounded by this mess.

Not saying it isn't racist, just explaining where a lot of the current mindsets are stemming.

I do remeber the heated situation in boystown this past summer. It brought out the worst in the racist. Most people would be upset with a jump in crime brought on by people that dont live in their neighborhood. Even Black people. IMO, the crime increased due to the thugs seeing white gay men leaving the clubs drunk and or high being a good target for robery and muggings.

What Im writing about is not only prevelent in Boystown but also many other gayborhoods like Chelsae, the Castro and many others in large cities. You will not find black or hispanic owned bars in any of the above neighborhoods because of the community not being inclusive. They have to locate in other parts of town outside of the mainstream gayborhood. The areas are designed to benefit white business owners only. Dont get me wrong, some of the bars have some nights of the week where the clientel is predominatly black and there are no problems.

The problem goes much deaper than race. Some of the clientel can be flat out hateful to not only blacks but white guys that date blacks, to lesbians to the elderly. The mainstream gay community should be more tollerant of difference than the straight but
its far from it. Its sad to say Ive had more luck befriending white straights than white gays due to the internal prejudice that flows through the gay community.

When I hear dialog with gay black men feeling not part of the "mainstream" gay community, I thought they where full of it. It was not until I moved to Chicago and experienced it myself. Even then I didnt want to believe it. (Im not the type of black guy that likes to pull the race card. I usually wait till its pulled and I identify it). Within the past year Ive done alot of research online about the issue and its far bigger than one city or one part of the country. If you dont believe it google "racism in the gay community".

I guess the bottom line is we are all on this journey called life. Especially if we are going to thrive again, we have to embrace and respect all who live in this country. We can nolonger respect the culture of racial supremacy of the past.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by jay sparty

For every bad situation, I had several good ones and would [never] replace my childhood.

That's right. Always be "proud" of your blackness.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

What Im writing about is not only prevelent in Boystown but also many other gayborhoods like Chelsae, the Castro and many others in large cities. You will not find black or hispanic owned bars in any of the above neighborhoods because of the community not being inclusive. They have to locate in other parts of town outside of the mainstream gayborhood. The areas are designed to benefit white business owners only. Dont get me wrong, some of the bars have some nights of the week where the clientel is predominatly black and there are no problems.

The problem goes much deaper than race. Some of the clientel can be flat out hateful to not only blacks but white guys that date blacks, to lesbians to the elderly. The mainstream gay community should be more tollerant of difference than the straight but
its far from it. Its sad to say Ive had more luck befriending white straights than white gays due to the internal prejudice that flows through the gay community.

When I hear dialog with gay black men feeling not part of the "mainstream" gay community, I thought they where full of it. It was not until I moved to Chicago and experienced it myself. Even then I didnt want to believe it. (Im not the type of black guy that likes to pull the race card. I usually wait till its pulled and I identify it). Within the past year Ive done alot of research online about the issue and its far bigger than one city or one part of the country. If you dont believe it google "racism in the gay community".

It's sad, but it should not be surprising that racial integration is a challenge for gay people, just as it is for straight people. My personal take would be that the gay community is far more integrated (partly just by virtue of its small size), but that there are increased tensions that come with that. Whereas in straight society, the races just kind of quietly go their own separate ways, though less so than in the past.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by jay sparty

That is a good suggestion, but I feel like he should have been the one to break the tension. ....

There's what "should be" and what "is". Yes, that's unfair. Life is unfair. The best revenge is to make it as good for yourself and the people around you as best you can, however you can.

I grew up in Chicago, and I've lived in France and northern California and southern California. I've always thought Chicago to be the most racially intolerant place I knew of. It seems to be easing up somewhat, which is a good thing. (Or maybe from way over here, I'm just less aware of it, which would be a sad thing.)

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by oddstray

I grew up in Chicago, and I've lived in France and northern California and southern California. I've always thought Chicago to be the most racially intolerant place I knew of. It seems to be easing up somewhat, which is a good thing. (Or maybe from way over here, I'm just less aware of it, which would be a sad thing.)

France? The French did the German's work for them and rounded up the French Jews and turned them over to the Germans for shipment to the death camps. France indeed.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

France? The French did the German's work for them and rounded up the French Jews and turned them over to the Germans for shipment to the death camps. France indeed.

Fair point, well spoken. And I suppose the North Africans living in France would also disagree with my assessment.

[linicx]

As a whole we are a collection of segregated cities in a segregated country. The only difference is the degree of racism/segregation we personally experience.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by oddstray

Example: When I was a kid, a hispanic family moved into my lily-white neighborhood. They got a cross burned on their lawn.

Example: We had a house cleaner come once every other week. Until she got beat up at the bus stop for not being lily-white.

Everywhere else I have lived in, people of various ethic and racial backgrounds are intermingled. In Chicago, they were always strictly segregated.

I certainly don't doubt this, but what most folks seem to forget is all ethnic communities did this to a degree. Irish, Italian, Jews, Poles, Slavs, Germans, etc. were all insular upon arrival as they tried to rebuild the homelands they had left here in Chicago (and the "New World" in general).

Skin color unfortunately persists long after language and other cultural assimilation practices occur. In the really, really big picture it's going to take many generations of bi-racial families spreading out to knock down these barriers.

The good news there is that's well under way. Nobody I know is even remotely surprised by black and white couples, much less more common (at least on the NW side) Irish-Mexican, Polish-Korean, Puerto Rican-Italian, etc. ones.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Just1Fan

That's right. Always be "proud" of your blackness.

And be proud to be from the south side.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Skin color unfortunately persists long after language and other cultural assimilation practices occur.

Dang did that come out wrong. I meant "persecution based on skin color..."