Black Professionals on the Northside of Chicago?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

Of course the tragic reality of race in America is that many whites would feel uncomfortable living in a city with these demographic proportions too, and would be absolutely petrified to live in a city with 30% minority population.

Perhaps these preferences explain why its so hard to have a stably integrated community. African-Americans avoid towns with a miniscule minority population, and whites flee towns once the minority population exceeds the "tipping point".

I kind of get the feeling that Oak Park has stabilized as an integrated community... However, I've heard that many white parents are getting nervous about the elementary schools becoming "too black", since African-American parents in Oak Park have more kids in public school per capita. I think the elementary schools are about 40% African American, even though the village itself is about 25% African American. The high school is mixed with the predominantly white River Forest, so it has a smaller percentage of African Americans.

Have you picked up on any nervousness about the diversity of the elementary schools? I personally think it's a good thing, and is one of the reasons Oak Park is appealing to me as a place to raise kids. Afterall, the test scores for kids from stable family environments with educated parents are actually off the charts in Oak Park.