Touring the South Side
My field guide delves into the racial and economic segregation rampant in the city of Chicago. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines segregation as “the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means.” Through my field guide, we will explore how segregation is rooted in the history of Chicago and how countless residents of Chicago continue to experience inequalities.
Author Andrew Diamond describes Chicago as “a combination of Manhattan smashed against Detroit.” This metaphorical visualization is used to describe the harsh divide between abundant wealth found in the city and lack thereof, as it seems that Chicago has the likes of the wealthy buildings of Manhattan and the poor neighborhoods of Detroit all under its name. According to economist Enrico Moretti, every new white collar job in a city should result in five more blue collar jobs. This, however, has not been the case in Chicago at all. In 1916, Chicago received an influx of nearly six million African Americans who mostly settled outside of what is now considered the central Loop area due to job opportunities laying along rail routes. The city began thriving and there were many job opportunities for black citizens. However, the industries moved elsewhere and African Americans were left with no jobs. While the city today retrains jobs for white workers who lose their jobs due to the same reasons, the black workers did not receive any sort of assistance. As a result, predominantly black neighborhoods fell into a downward spiral.
With predominant racial segregation found throughout the city, high schools in lower-income neighborhoods that are predominantly black receive less resources than high schools in higher-income, predominantly-white neighborhoods. “Beyond being poor, being from a ‘certain’ neighborhood would set her apart and reinforce her sense of being an outsider on campus.” (Rhodes, Dawn. “When West Sider Told College Classmates Where She Was From, Everything Changed: ‘I Was Categorized … As Hood’.” Block Club Chicago, Block Club Chicago, 2021). This quote signifies the societal differences that are placed on people based on where they are from that can make achieving their goals more difficult.
The history of gentrification and redlining have led to African Americans in Chicago today to be predominantly living in areas that have low qualities of education and fewer job opportunities compared to most other Chicagoans due to the city’s racist history that actively prevented black people from having the same opportunities as other citizens. “Due to the south side having a long history of redlining and housing discrimination, the city has become one of the most segregated places in the US.” (Stafford, Zach. Privilege, Policing and Living While Black in Chicago’s White North Side.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2016). According to Diamond, the government has been using funding to create more resources for the metropolitan area and ignores poorer, predominantly-black neighborhoods. Another reason why it is difficult for residents of poorer neighborhoods to get ahead is because of the loss of industrial jobs, such as factories and steel plants. Furthermore, middle class African American residents who moved out of the city resulted in a wider gap between the rich and the poor.
With there being such a strong and deep-rooted history in systemic racism, I decided to construct my field guide around segregation in the city. Having grown up in the suburbs most of my life and only ever seeing the wealthy parts of Chicago, I never really comprehended what life was like in the other areas but have always wanted to see it and understand the difference for myself. For this project, I walked directly through Chicago’s wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods on the same day in order to see the transformations unfold around me and use visualization to learn more about my city.
I decided to walk through the South Side first and took the red line down to Fuller Park, which has an average income of around 22,000 dollars. Listed as one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, the crime rates in Fuller Park are considered to be 48 percent higher than the Chicago average and 134 percent higher than the national average, with violent crimes in particular considered to be 269 percent higher than national average. The population of Fuller Park is 89.12 percent black, 6.63 percent Hispanic, and 3.54 percent white. As I got off the red line at West 47th Street, I immediately noticed how the surroundings were seemingly not taken care of in comparison to most other CTA stations I have been to, such as those in the Loop. I headed down the street and noticed little things, such as grass in public spaces being unkept, weeds poking out of cement, and public signs fallen onto the ground. It was already apparent that the city is not taking care of this part of Chicago, certainly not as much as it does for other neighborhoods.
As I walked more, I took in the streets and houses I was passing by and compared them to the Chicago I have always seen and known. I observed how a lot of the buildings seemed, dilapidated, lifeless, and empty, and how the houses did not have anyone in front of them. There was a seeming sadness in the air. An interesting thing I quickly noticed that I repeatedly saw later in the day as well was the amount of religious places of worship, particularly churches, that were found on nearly every street corner. I personally have never seen that many places of worship in more affluent neighborhoods and it led me to wonder whether or not the societal differences placed on religion were caused by economic differences. According to a survey conducted by Gallup in 2009, the more poverty in an area, the higher its “religiosity,” with the United States having the highest rates of religiosity in relation to wealth in the world. This could possibly explain why more expressions of religion can be found in poorer areas compared to the wealthier neighborhoods of Chicago.
I observed how the residents of this part of the city were nearly all black and the artwork reflected this.
I noticed signs of black culture, such as paintings depicting black people and shops for black beauty customs. Sadly, there were many abandoned and dilapidated buildings. “Nobody is making an effort to direct your attention to the ghosts or ruins in any given landscape. But if you want to understand a place more deeply, these are exactly the things you should look for” (Walker, Rob. “The Art of Noticing: Five Ways to Experience a City Differently.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2019). To me this quote meant how, as a walker, I was supposed to observe minute details with scrutiny in order to gain a better understanding of what I was walking past.
I then took the green line to East 63rd Street in Woodlawn, with an average income of 26,000 dollars, nd crime rates 162 percent and violent crime rates 410 percent above the national average. I made the same observations there as I previously did in Fuller Park.
My last stop in the South Side was Roseland, which has an average income of around 37,000 dollars. I got back on the red line and went all the way to the 95th/Dan Ryan Station, which is the southernmost CTA station and where the red line ends. The crime rate and violent crime rate in Roseland are 169 and 395 percent higher than the national average, respectively.
Something I noticed at this station in particular was that there were a lot of transport buses and there were large groups of people boarding many of them. This may be because the red line did not go any further so people would have to take the bus, or because many may not be able to afford cars. The lack of cars and higher usage of buses in poorer neighborhoods and higher usage of cars and less usage of buses in wealthier neighborhoods again illustrates the differences in socio-economic statuses and how the residents of different areas interact with their surroundings in different ways.
I boarded the red line as it got dark and made my way to Gold Coast, one of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods with an estimated average income of 140,000 dollars. I immediately noticed more people and cars outside, as people were feeling safe and there seemed to be more places to go to and things to do.
Expensive products are advertised to consumers who can afford them, and seeing the drastic difference between the South and North Sides helps illustrate the immense gap between the two.
I then went to Lincoln Park, as it is included in the list of wealthy neighborhoods in Chicago, with an average income of over 180,000 dollars.
As we can see, there are many more cars and people walking around, quite the opposite of what was seen in the South Side.
The sidewalks and curbs are well-kept, there are no weeds poking out of cracks in the cement, and more people are around. I walked to Lakeview, which is another wealthy Chicago neighborhood that comprises 77.6 percent white residents, 8.6 percent Hispanic residents, and only four percent black residents–– nearly the exact opposite of racial demographics in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.
An interesting thing I noticed here is how the people in the image are depicted as white. In Fuller Park, a very similar image depicted black people instead, showing how the two very different neighborhoods have very different social demographics as well.
I then went to Michigan Avenue, with an estimated average household income of over 155,000 dollars. The plethora of restaurants and department stores as well as the clean and well-built streets and infrastructure show how well-taken care of this part of the city is by the government. It once again brings about the question of economic inequality throughout the city.
What I learned about Chicago while walking its many streets and neighborhoods is that when there are extremes involved in regards to economic inequality and many people are trying to better their situations but are unable to, then it becomes clear that something is very wrong with the system. The segregation seen in Chicago is a racial issue and the economic adversities are a result of it — it is not the other way around. Creating the field guide enabled me to realize that the drastically different neighborhoods are not even that far apart, yet they are quite literally two separate worlds. Seeing garbage thrown on the streets and high-rises downtown made me realize how many people do not realize how bad segregation in Chicago is. It is heartbreaking to see so many Chicagoans live in such conditions and so many people refusing to even acknowledge them but instead, holding biases due to their own prejudice and ignorance.
