Chicag Love, Chicago Hate in Black and White (Atlanta: apartment, renting)

[JacksonPanther]

I can't and won't try to refute the statements people are making about Atlanta or "the south," but my experience is much different than what I'm reading here. I'm guessing that the posters are younger than me, and have a different perspective as a result. Not a bad thing, just different...

Go back a couple of decades, when Maynard Jackson was running Atlanta. There were and are lots of cities with Black mayors, but Jackson was able to connect with the business community in Atlanta, and ensure that Black people participated in all aspects of business, as the city expanded. Unlike other cities, in Atlanta you saw Black people running major businesses and making opportunities for other Black people. Black people ran government services, and did it well, not in a raggedy manner. Black people had big, beautiful homes in nice neighborhoods, not a converted greystone on King Dr where their own kids can't play outside. In Atlanta when you went into an office building, it was impossible to not see Black people working (and I don't mean custodial or secretarial jobs). Go into any office downtown Chicago and you will be hard-pressed to find any Black people in the cubicles.

Atlanta was and is a city that Black people could be proud of, probably like Irish folks take pride in Boston.

As a Black person, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Chicago - hell I lived there for more than 10 years. But for Black people Atlanta gained that reputation as a "Mecca," a place where Blacks could go and advance unimpeded by the normal crap in other cities.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

Oh my gosh, that is soooo typical! "I'm da Wes' Sahd! I'll beat yo' @$%!" LOL!

Metro Atlanta only has two community colleges and three major universites (HBCUs not included) compared to dozens upon dozens in metro Chicago. It makes me wonder why more blacks there don't take advantage of that.

A lot of it is people don't grow. Like we've written, when one has a reverence for their hood, there is a mentality that will not allow that person to grow.

I think if i had stayed in my old neighborhood or even in my hometown, life wouldn't be the same. I would never challenged old thoughts and old patterns. By no means is this just a Black or a Chicago thing. People have to explore to be open to possibilities for life.

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

Are you saying it's somehow worse to black and without money than it is to be "not black" and without money? I doubt that.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

[msamhunter]

Interesting topic with a myriad of opinions. Now I will preface this by saying it's been years since I've lived there and seeing it as a visitor today is quite different than living there. My experience, odd man out was the black middle class. We had more melanin so at late 80's-90's, there definitely was a tinge of resentment from the well to do areas. My parents wanted us to have those experiences (Museums, etc) so we sucked it up. On that same token we were seen as trying to be like "them" from our counterparts in the poor black communities so it can and at times did leave a sour taste in ones mouth living there because you felt unwanted literally from both sides of the spectrum.

How much of that exists today in the city, who knows as I said, it's been a while and going back as a visitor isn't the same as living there but I would surmise with the black community now having an adequate amount of 1st generation people out of poverty and living solidly middle class that things have evolved. In some instances you now have families two generations out solid middle class which will automatically cause neighborhoods to become more racially diverse as we black folk want quiet neighborhoods, good schools and access to adequate amenities just like any other group.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

I can't and won't try to refute the statements people are making about Atlanta or "the south," but my experience is much different than what I'm reading here. I'm guessing that the posters are younger than me, and have a different perspective as a result. Not a bad thing, just different...

Go back a couple of decades, when Maynard Jackson was running Atlanta. There were and are lots of cities with Black mayors, but Jackson was able to connect with the business community in Atlanta, and ensure that Black people participated in all aspects of business, as the city expanded. Unlike other cities, in Atlanta you saw Black people running major businesses and making opportunities for other Black people. Black people ran government services, and did it well, not in a raggedy manner. Black people had big, beautiful homes in nice neighborhoods, not a converted greystone on King Dr where their own kids can't play outside. In Atlanta when you went into an office building, it was impossible to not see Black people working (and I don't mean custodial or secretarial jobs). Go into any office downtown Chicago and you will be hard-pressed to find any Black people in the cubicles.

Atlanta was and is a city that Black people could be proud of, probably like Irish folks take pride in Boston.

As a Black person, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Chicago - hell I lived there for more than 10 years. But for Black people Atlanta gained that reputation as a "Mecca," a place where Blacks could go and advance unimpeded by the normal crap in other cities.

Great post! Atlanta has earned its reputation as the Black Mecca!

I don't want a big house in Lithonia or the Cascades. As funny as it sounds, I would rather have the lakefront condo or the greystone on king drive.

We have more single people who are living alone over the age of 40 who are Dentist, attorneys and many other professionals who don't have the need for suburbs. Atlanta was not built for us.

80's thought the mid 90's Atlanta was the place to be. It still isn't a bad place but if your looking for a certain lifestyle that may or may not be the place.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

Agreed, absolutely - the unemployment rate in black neighborhoods is tremendously higher than the rest of the City, so it means you are likely to have a lot of competition for almost any job opening you can find. I think I read that the unemployment rate for black late teen/early twenties males was something like 70% in some communities.

And that is exacerbated by the drug war, which disproportionately affects people of color who often don't see any other economic opportunities. People gotta eat, and it's not like there is tons of economic capital being invested in the poorer parts of town.

Did folks see Bogira's new piece?

Two students, two high schools, two divergent paths to college | Feature | Chicago Reader

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

That's bs.

[SpikeDurden]

People choose where they live. You can live wherever you want in America. If you have no choice but to live in a terrible, crime filled neighborhood because you don't make enough money to live anywhere else, then that is your own fault. If it's because you got pregnant at 18 and have a child, that is your own fault. If you have to make child support payments, that is your own fault. If nobody will hire you because you dress like a thug and look like you're on drugs, that is your own fault. If you're unwilling to make a good impression at your job interview by dressing nicely, that is your own fault. If you dropped out of high school and have no degree, your fault. If you have a criminal record, your fault. I'm so sick of people today doing their very best to avoid personal responsibility for their own lives and then saying "Oh, Chicago is magically segregated."

I don't blame race. It's not race. It's never race. It's culture.

Any black can choose to move up to a nice quiet neighborhood like Ravenswood, get away from the street gang culture, get away from the hustlers on the corners, get away from gang territory fights, find two roommates like me and make the move. My share of rent is $450 per month on a beautiful street in Ravenswood. That's nothing. That's how much I paid for rent in rural eastern Washington. If you work full time at minimum wage at even the crappiest Mcdonalds job, $450/month should be around 30% to 35% of your income and more than enough to get by and lead a comfortable life.

It really isn't that difficult to not live in a terrible place, even in a city that isn't that cheap like Chicago. If you refuse to live in a neighborhood that's mostly white because of fear of racism, then you're contributing absolutely nothing to the steps necessary to create more diverse neighborhoods. Just like all the strong black figures throughout American history, you have to be strong and might have to go through some BS, but it's all in the name of working towards a better America. The best way to erase the ignorance of human minds is to befriend them and show them that blacks are no different than whites. Plus, would you seriously rather live in Austin and deal with all the **** that goes down there, then Lakeview where at worst some drunken douchebag calls you a n-----?

I've experienced much worse racism in places that are 98-99% Asian like Korea and Japan. It pisses you off to no end. But it made me realize that you have to ignore the ignorant and press on. Focus on the good people in life and ignore the ignorant racists. If you shove back against them with equal hate, you add to the problem. If you think you experience racism as a black American in Chicago, you wouldn't imagine the racism you experience as a black American in South Korea. The kids will call you monkey. They'll draw pictures of gorillas and draw an arrow pointing to it that says "you." People will stare in stunned, wide-eyed amazement at you on the subway. They'll look startled if they look up and see you walking down the sidewalk. Sometimes they don't even let you into certain bars and clubs. It's like the 1930s all over again. Chicago/American ain't perfect. But it keeps getting better and better. I'd take a second to be grateful you're a black person in one of the most diverse nations in the world and not a black person in one of the countless places where you'd be much worse off. Only thing we can do is continue to work to make things better.

People are always complaining and fail to see that though far from perfect, things are better now than they've ever been.

[jwaiter]

Excellent points Spike...

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to SpikeDurden again

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by SpikeDurden

If it's because you got pregnant at 18 and have a child, that is your own fault. If you have to make child support payments, that is your own fault.

But what if you grow up as the child of that 18 year-old and dad didn't make those child support payments?