What innocuous things irritate you about Chicago? (Sparta, Atlanta: crime, private school)

[Boddicker]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

So is it better for blacks and Mexicans avoid white men because they could be mass shooters or serial killers as long as they don't wish all whites any harm or actively hate whites? Do liberal whites think all blacks and Mexicans are criminals? Just asking for a friend. White folks love Mexican food though.

I never understood how certain white liberals wish to avoid people of color, yet are huge consumers of the cultures and foods of the very people they wish to avoid, yet think they think they are more worldly and cultured because they travel to said people's countries, consume and emulate their culture and eat their food. They don't want to be around black people but love back music, try to do our dances and use our slang. They don't want to be around Mexicans but will eat the hell out of a taco and "celebrate" Cinco de Mayo. I don't get it.

Aren't we breeding criminals because our cultures are so horrible?

Speaking as a black liberal from the south side who grew up in a black neighborhood that for the most part was and still is safe, I don't get this type of thinking.

Great post, Atlanta. It's disconcerting, to say the least. I'm something of an overly optimistic liberal who still believes in his gut that greater racial harmony can be achieved in this country, but admittedly I'm dubious about seeing it in my lifetime.

A couple things have been brought to my attention over the years. The first is self-segregation, of which all races are guilty. It's been shown that most humans flock in packs, and prefer the society of those who look like themselves. You may think different, and I certainly think different, but those are the sociological trends. Often cited is the "church" test: apparently 95% of churches in this country are over 85% one race. That's revealing because church is one of the few areas where people are free to choose where they want to go.

Secondly, in the media, violence and gang-banging and drive-by shootings tend to be the only stories that seem to come out of poorer black and Mexican communities, so naturally this fear-mongering has groomed white folks to be intimidated by people of color. Depressing, but true. When those self-preservation instincts kick in, you get more of the status-quo, i.e. segregation.

I don't have any solutions except for people across all backgrounds to start having more honest conversations with each other.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Mosquitos can get pretty aggressive

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Boddicker

Great post, Atlanta. It's disconcerting, to say the least. I'm something of an overly optimistic liberal who still believes in his gut that greater racial harmony can be achieved in this country, but admittedly I'm dubious about seeing it in my lifetime.

A couple things have been brought to my attention over the years. The first is self-segregation, of which all races are guilty. It's been shown that most humans flock in packs, and prefer the society of those who look like themselves. You may think different, and I certainly think different, but those are the sociological trends. Often cited is the "church" test: apparently 95% of churches in this country are over 85% one race. That's revealing because church is one of the few areas where people are free to choose where they want to go.

Secondly, in the media, violence and gang-banging and drive-by shootings tend to be the only stories that seem to come out of poorer black and Mexican communities, so naturally this fear-mongering has groomed white folks to be intimidated by people of color. Depressing, but true. When those self-preservation instincts kick in, you get more of the status-quo, i.e. segregation.

I don't have any solutions except for people across all backgrounds to start having more honest conversations with each other.

Well, the best start to racial harmony is to stop making assumptions about people because they look different from you. Get rid of the scientifically false belief that skin color is indicative of someone's intelligence, talent, abilities and behaviors. Stop assuming that people of the same ethnic groups are a monolith.

Unplug the tv and actually get out and interact with people if you truly want to understand them. When you do that, you find that we are more alike than we are different outside of cultural practice or customs. The fear of people of color didn't start with the media, it started with European colonization. But in truth, it's really not fear. They had to make people of color out to be scary, unintelligent, heathenistic barbarians to justify stealing their lands and resources. Why is it ok to make assumptions about people based on tv? It's social and cultural laziness to try to not learn about other people for one's self.

Racism at it's historic core is a competition for resources. Historically those of European descent have felt that they deserve more while people who don't look like them deserve nothing and if those who don't look like them have what they want, they take it, then say they worked hard for it. That is just real.

[Boddicker]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

Well, the best start to racial harmony is to stop making assumptions about people because they look different from you. Get rid of the scientifically false belief that skin color is indicative of someone's intelligence, talent, abilities and behaviors. Stop assuming that people of the same ethnic groups are a monolith.

Unplug the tv and actually get out and interact with people if you truly want to understand them. When you do that, you find that we are more alike than we are different outside of cultural practice or customs. The fear of people of color didn't start with the media, it started with European colonization. But in truth, it's really not fear. They had to make people of color out to be scary, unintelligent, heathenistic barbarians to justify stealing their lands and resources. Why is it ok to make assumptions about people based on tv? It's social and cultural laziness to try to not learn about other people for one's self.

Racism at it's historic core is a competition for resources. Historically those of European descent have felt that they deserve more while people who don't look like them deserve nothing and if those who don't look like them have what they want, they take it, then say they worked hard for it. That is just real.

I agree 100%. Not only are these false assumptions about others setting us back socially, they can morph into something aggressively evil before our very eyes. Did we not learn anything from the horrors of the 20th century?

Hell, I've been guilty of it in this thread, so I'll come clean: When I hear contemporary and aggressive rap music blaring out of a car, I make (false) assumptions that the people listening to it aren't professors or subscribers to The New Yorker magazine . If we're going to have honest conversations with each other, then I'll start right there.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Boddicker

I agree 100%. Not only are these false assumptions about others setting us back socially, they can morph into something aggressively evil before our very eyes. Did we not learn anything from the horrors of the 20th century?

Hell, I've been guilty of it in this thread, so I'll come clean: When I hear contemporary and aggressive rap music blaring out of a car, I make (false) assumptions that the people listening to it aren't professors or subscribers to The New Yorker magazine . If we're going to have honest conversations with each other, then I'll start right there.

I have been in many a social situation where I am the only black or one of a few when rap music starts playing and white people start rapping along and I don't know the words at all. I don't really listen to rap or hip hop and my white friends know all these artists and can break down the history of these artists and their albums lol.

I am that black person at the annual company party that when rap comes on, I leave the floor, but when Latin music starts playing, I start dancing Salsa, Cumbia and singing all the songs and doing Latino line dances.

[BRU67]

Alright, we got some heart and harmony going here! Sounds like some "affirmative moves," to use the words of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, are in order. Plenty of buildings in EGP are being bought and rehabbed by young white Millennials. Time to lock and load some leases! No pun intended.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

So is it better for blacks and Mexicans avoid white men because they could be mass shooters or serial killers as long as they don't wish all whites any harm or actively hate whites? Do liberal whites think all blacks and Mexicans are criminals? Just asking for a friend. White folks love Mexican food though.

I never understood how certain white liberals wish to avoid people of color, yet are huge consumers of the cultures and foods of the very people they wish to avoid, yet think they think they are more worldly and cultured because they travel to said people's countries, consume and emulate their culture and eat their food. They don't want to be around black people but love back music, try to do our dances and use our slang. They don't want to be around Mexicans but will eat the hell out of a taco and "celebrate" Cinco de Mayo. I don't get it.

Aren't we breeding criminals because our cultures are so horrible?

Speaking as a black liberal from the south side who grew up in a black neighborhood that for the most part was and still is safe, I don't get this type of thinking.

Tacos dont have guns and violence to shoot you.. thats why people can happily eat a taco, or other ethnic food and not worry. People can shoot you. And dont get mad at me for enjoying Motown music in the 1970's. It is just good music. That is all.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

Tacos dont have guns and violence to shoot you.. thats why people can happily eat a taco, or other ethnic food and not worry. People can shoot you. And dont get mad at me for enjoying Motown music in the 1970's. It is just good music. That is all.

No it's not all. White men have the propensity to shoot up people by the hundreds, for no other reason than they are mad about something or just want the thrill. White men are the biggest supporters of having guns, shouting their right to own assault rifles, yet you want to go there about brown people shooting somebody? White men are the biggest terror threat in the United States since 9/11.

How is that white men can constantly shoot up the country but they shouldn't be feared while entire swaths of brown people should be avoided? Do you have any idea how ignorant you sound? You really think brown people are going to shoot you up? You are more likely to be attacked by your own than someone who doesn't look like you.

People have color have dealt with race-based terrorism and institutionalized racism from whites for centuries. Since Trump has become president, white racists have been acting a fool, threatening and verbally and physically assaulting people of color in the streets like it's nothing, and you all are afraid of us?! Get the hell out of here with that nonsense!

[BRU67]

If anybody does choose to move to East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, or somewhere similar, please post your experiences here. Thanks!

[TBideon]

A friend of mine lives in East Garfield Park a few blocks south of the California green line. He has a number of tenants in his building as well and hasn't had any problems, at least none he's mentioned. He's a fairly successful attorney, gay as well, and could live anywhere he wants but has chosen to make that area his home. I would say from our conversations he's very happy there, though my hunch is he doesn't walk outside at night.