multicultural Chicago? (Bridgeport: gated, income, work)

[Moncriefjj]

I laughed out loud at the thought that Chicago is "not quite the melting pot" of Seattle, of all places! Seattle is one of the whitest big cities in America. Chicago is extraordinarily diverse, as other people here have mentioned. New York takes the prize of course, but an easy case could be made that Chicago is even more diverse than L.A., considering L.A.'s heavy slant toward Latino culture (70%+ of the school-age population) as opposed to Chicago's more even mix.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by AQUEMINI331

The only difference is that in the Bronx you have blacks and Latinos, as well as some whites. Brooklyn is extremely diverse with every ethnic group well represented. The South Side is predominantly black with sprinkles of whites and Asians. The West Side has some of everybody but is quickly becoming Hispanic, it seems. Plenty of blacks still over there though. The North Side is predominantly white with sprinkles of blacks and "others".


You have to admit, there's still a lot of segregation and a lot of racism in Chicago. But as I said before, this doesn't make Chicago unique in the United States by any means. But it still doesn't change the fact that Chicago has a lot of racial tension.

First of all, there are a lot of Hispanics on the north side too, particularly the northwest side. And not just "a sprinkling." Take a look at this ethnicity distribution map of Chicago. See those orange patches? They represent majority Hispanic neighborhoods. There are also a lot of Asians on the North side (see: Koreatown, Little Saigon, the Indian/Pakistani corridor on Devon) -- probably more so than on the south side. And while there are ethnic concentrations, Koreatown is not all Korean (lots of Hispanics and also a number of Middle Easterners and whites), Little Saigon is not all Chinese/Vietnamese (a number of whites and blacks), and there are whites and Hispanics sprinkled among the South Asians along the Devon corridor.

It sounds to me like you're making assumptions about the whole city based on what you observe in your own part of it. But my observations lead me to believe the only true segregation that goes on in this city is black segregation. Elsewhere, people of widely varying ethnicities live side-by-side in relative peace. While there are also some nearly all-Hispanic neighborhoods, particularly on the Southwest side, they are not segregated neighborhoods in the classic definition because Hispanics have neither self-segregated nor felt compelled by social forces to remain in Hispanic-only neighborhoods. Maybe they did once, but not anymore. They have fanned out across much of the metropolitan area, and where they have filtered in gradually rather than in huge waves, they have been met with little resistance. And it goes both ways: whites can generally move into majority Hispanic neighborhoods without a lot of ethnic strife. They grumble in Pilsen when whites move in, but nobody tries to chase the whites out. And nobody bats an eye when whites move into, say, McKinley Park or Marquette Park or Cicero.

But the 800-lb gorilla that remains is black segregation. Can blacks move into Hispanic neighborhoods as easily as whites can? I don't know. Also notice the one area Hispanics have not moved into are black neighborhoods. And it can't just be that they're trying to avoid crime -- that doesn't stop them from pouring into Little Village, for instance. Is it that Hispanics don't want to live among blacks, or is it that the black neighborhoods have not been hospitable to other ethnic groups? That's a question that can't be answered without ruffling a whole bunch of feathers, but maybe it's time we tried.

[Milliano]

IIRC I came across a recent study, based on survey data, that Hispanics particularly dislike living in black neighborhoods. More so than non-Hispanic whites, even. But isn't that how they migrate in American cities in the first place? There's a big difference between moving to the center of a black neighborhood, and moving to the edge of one (demographic maps for Chicago and other cities seem to show Hispanic neighborhoods making a "buffer" between white and black)

If anything, that map suggests that Chicago IS very segregated. Most of the land area has a 75% majority of whichever group, even though each group composes just 25-40% of the population. Almost all of the map has a majority group.

[Drover]

Well practically speaking, someone has to be a majority in most places. We are not a society of strictly pluralities. But you'll find that many places on the map have have a 50-75% majority, particularly the white and Hispanic areas, which means there is significant overlap between ethnicities in those areas. There's a lot more integration in Chicago than most of its critics seem willing to concede, because they tend to see it only in terms of black/white.

[Manigault]

There are Hispanic people moving into black neighborhoods on the southeast side, in New City, Hyde Park and in Rogers Park. Chicago is residentially de-segregated but not very integrated. For instance, very few people realize that there is a significant black presence in the northwest near the airport and in West Rogers Park. Newer areas like Dearborn Park and Maxwell Street are quite integrated. Many more black folks now live around 87th and Kedzie and around Evergreen Park and in Morgan Park.

As for racial tension, I have lived in Chicago through housing 'panic peddling', the Nazis marching in Marquette Park and 'Council Wars'. My best opinion now is that there is a truce among the warring camps; like in Korea.

[Drover]

I'm curious to know where this significant black presence is near the airport, which as far as I can tell is easily the whitest part of the city. I ask the same for West Rogers Park, which according to census data is less than 5% black.

[AQUEMINI331]

Perhaps he was talking about Midway airport? He's definitely not talking about O'Hare unless there's something up there I don't know about, I don't get out on the North Side too often.


BTW, most Hispanics won't move into black neighborhoods for good reason - there tends to be a lot of street violence between black and Hispanic gangs, ESPECIALLY in Chicago. Chicago has got to be one of the, if not the worst, city in the U.S. in terms of gang violence. It's right up there with Los Angeles and Miami. Many of the most notorious street gangs in the U.S. are based out of the South and West sides, and in these communites gangbanging is a way of life. Blacks and Hispanics overall, in virtually every U.S. city, except for New York and other East Coast cities, do not get along, it seems. So that answers that question.

[Drover]

Well I think it was pretty clear the he was talking about O'Hare...

Originally Posted by Manigault

For instance, very few people realize that there is a significant black presence in the northwest near the airport and in West Rogers Park.

[j33]

I've never heard of Midway being described as being 'northwest' before either. I think that you 'not getting to the north side often' is probably why you might have some misguided notions about this part of town.

I grew up in the south suburbs and am fairly familiar with the south-side (I have friends and long time family friends who live in Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Beverly, Bridgeport, and Hegwisch .... and no, they are not all white in case you are wondering), but I've also lived on the northside of the city for many years and know that there is a lot to this side of the city that most people who live on the southside don't see or know about because they 'don't get up here that much' (of course the same could be said of northsiders). It does no good to make assumptions about a part of town you've never been to.

[Manigault]

It has been very quiet but there are reports of an increasing black presence in Sauganash, which I believe is out by O'Hare. White folks don't always burn crosses and such. Sorry if this disappoints some folks.