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Black-Latino Working Groups Initiative |
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The Black and Latino
experiences in Chicago have been harsh and oppressive. They have
been characterized by high levels of residential segregation, job
segmentation and social separation (Ano Nuevo Kerr 1976; Padilla
1987; Galster and Hill 1992). Chicago has been well documented as a
city with ethnic enclaves, a city of neighborhoods, a city that has
seen a dramatic drop in the white population and rise in the Latino.
This has also heightened the agitation between Black and Latinos. In
the past 20 years, Cook County’s Latino population has grown by 115
percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. As a result, Latino
leaders expect to make unprecedented gains in city and state
government—adding as many as six predominantly Latino city wards and
six districts in the state House and Senate.
But some leaders and experts wonder whether Latinos are ready to
make political capital out of their numbers or to push their agenda
on such issues as education, gentrification and immigration,
according to an analysis by The Chicago Reporter.
Statistics show that young African-Americans, particularly males,
are having trouble in the job market. Unemployment among young
blacks nationwide is 40 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor
Statistics. "For blacks, the growing presence of immigrant workers
adds to the formidable obstacles they face in finding a job," said a
Pew Research Center study released in April. Among blacks, 78
percent say jobs are difficult to find in their community compared
to only 55 percent of Hispanics.
Many economists disagree that immigration is the reason black
unemployment is high. Instead, shrinking budgets for job training
and creation, industry downsizing and manufacturing flight to
foreign countries are to blame. Globalization has caused an
increasing demand for immigrants in the Chicago metropolis. The
demand for immigrants in the northeast Illinois workforce is shaped
by: the rapid expansion of the supply of the low-wage jobs (Taylor
and Puente, 2004). Many Latino immigrants occupy jobs in low-skilled
industries, like manufacturing, that have been historically sources
of employment for African Americans. This has been interpreted by
many as evidence of the negative impact immigration has on native
workers. Deindustrialization (decline in the manufacturing sector
and rise of the services sector of the economy) has taken thousands
of entry level jobs from the Chicago’s minority communities.
Although Blacks and Latinos share interests around issues of
employment and training, land use and gentrification, education,
community safety and culture, research finds the two groups often
opposing each other in a struggle for limited resources in business,
community and institutional arenas. A review of the professional and
academic literature on Black/Latino collaboration reveals limited
success in building coalitions — centered more on political issues
than social and economic development.
Building on Success:
At the Egan Urban Center, our own experience has demonstrated
strong potential for Black and Latino collaboration and exchange.
Mostly through the Office of Neighborhood and Community Partnership,
we have been involved in a series of dialogues among Black and
Latino leaders around issues of community development that impact
their respective constituencies. And where Blacks and Latinos
co-exist in the same neighborhoods, we have experienced and observed
successful collaboration around tangible projects. These
collaborations and successes have matured into the development of
Working Groups in three Chicago Communities. These partnerships do
not arise spontaneously. They require trust, consensus and
collective belief in a common purpose. The EUC has worked intimately
with these communities and their stakeholders for up to a decade. We
understand the obstacles that hamper cross-cultural collaboration
between diverse groups and have learned how to grow social capital
and community capacity through sustained relationship-building. Just
as the partnerships we have focused on are in different stages of
development, so are our expectations and our working approaches. We
understand that progress may be incremental, but we believe that
perceptions and conflicts currently impeding cooperation and
collective action can be changed over time for cross-community
betterment.
The Communities:
The Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago,
Illinois is a study in contrasts. On the one hand it is a robust
community with a strong Latino cultural presence that provides
stability and a focus for community-building activities. The great
location, great building stock, mixed land uses and even the
Humboldt Park itself makes it a target for gentrification. Racial
discrimination, language and skill barriers, and real estate
disinvestments have resulted in a neighborhood-wide poverty rate of
35 percent and an unemployment rate of 15 percent. The community has
suffered from unemployment, gang crime, vacancies, poor health and
education – and the digital divide. At the same time, trendy stores,
galleries and restaurants are already becoming prominent in certain
sections of Humboldt Park, due to its close proximity to Chicago's
commercial and wealthy residential communities, and to the 200-acre
park that bears its name. Low homeownership combined with
skyrocketing rents and prices mean that many of the residents
feeling like they will be pushed out in the next few years.
The greater Humboldt Park community of over 120,000 is about 50%
Black and 50% Latino. Though the populations do concentrate
geographically, with Blacks predominant on the west part of the
community and Latinos predominant on the east side, organizations
and leaders have come together to work on development and projects
“across the park,” for the whole Humboldt Park community.
North Lawndale doubled its population between 1910 and 1920,
from 46,226 to 93,750, and added 18,000 more by 1930, when almost
half of the 112,000 residents were Russian Jews. Roosevelt Road
became the best-known Jewish commercial street in Chicago. Then,
between 1930 and 1950, the Russian Jews began to move into
communities to the north. By 1950 African-Americans had begun to
replace Jewish residents.
The 1950s were a decade of "white flight," as the white population
dropped from 87,000 in 1950 to less than 11,000 in 1960 and the
African American population grew from 13,000 to more than 113,000.
By 1960s North Lawndale was at its all-time population high, nearly
125,000, and was 91% African-American.
During the next two decades there were a series of economic and
social disasters for this increasingly isolated, segregated
community. Riots followed the assassination of Martin Luther King,
Jr., in 1968, destroying many of the stores along Roosevelt Road and
accelerating a decline that lead to a loss of 75% of the businesses
in the community by 1970. Industries closed: International Harvester
in 1969, Sears (partially in 1974 and completely by 1987), Zenith
and Sunbeam in the 1970s, Western Electric in the 1980s. By 1970
African-Americans who could were also leaving North Lawndale,
beginning a precipitous population decline that continues to this
day. Housing deteriorated or was abandoned, until North Lawndale
experienced a loss of almost half of its housing units.
In the 1990s there were a number of signs of revitalization,
including a new shopping plaza and some new housing. The population
stabilized somewhat, declining 11.6% between 1990 and 2000 (to
41,768), compared to 23% in the preceding decade. It remains 94.2%
African-American. There is a growing population of Mexican-Americans
on the south side of the community, so that 4.5% of residents now
identify themselves as Hispanic.
South Lawndale often called Little Village, or La Villita, is
considered the retail, residential and cultural capital of the
Mexican Community in the Midwest. Little Village has struggled to
remain affordable to the working families who attend half a dozen
Roman Catholic churches and sustain a thriving commercial life on
26th Street, or Calle Mexico. With over a thousand businesses along
famous 26th Street and elsewhere, the neighborhood attracts visitors
from all over Illinois and other states. The community takes pride
in being a cultural and economic vessel, preserving Mexican culture.
Over the past 30 years, Little Village has become a major port of
entry for Mexican immigrants, and the community has been
strengthened by the economic power, traditions, determination and
hope that they bring. Solid housing stock and thriving commercial
districts have been key to the Little Village’s prosperity, but
human resources—especially for youth and families have been scarce.
Fifty percent of the residents are under the age of 25, creating a
demand for better schools, recreation programs and health and social
services. The schools are overcrowded and under-performing. Little
Village also has high rates of diabetes, obesity, and depression.
This blue-collar community area has experienced major economic
dislocations since the late 1960s, with the closure of the huge
International Harvester plant in the southeast quadrant and the
Western Electric complex along its western boundary. The 1990 census
recorded a disastrous unemployment rate of 14 percent. Residents
have seen jobs disappear in the high-wage industrial sector, so they
have sought employment in the service and public sectors.
Chicago Lawn community, is experiencing rapid population
change. The 2000 census showed a total population of 61,412. This
marked a 19.8% increase from the 1990 census. The white population
of 6,190 underwent a significant decrease of 72.1% in the same
ten-year period. African Americans number 32,240, an increase of
140.5% and Latinos, numbering 21,534 increased by 48%. The foreign
born population of the area stands at 21%. The average household
size is 3.3. Census data also indicate that the community is
experiencing increasing rates of poverty. A 28.3% increase in
poverty was recorded by the 2000 census. It also counted 11,970
persons living in poverty in Chicago Lawn. Low income households
increased by 13 percent.
A great number of African Americans residing in Chicago Lawn have
come from West Englewood to the east while Mexicans have arrived
mainly from communities to the north and northeast, mainly Pilsen,
Little Village and Back of the Yards and directly from Mexico. This
indicates that Chicago Lawn has also become a port of entry for
Mexican immigrants. African Americans reside mainly in the eastern
portion of the community while Mexicans are found in its northern
and western portions. It is in its central portion, between
California and Kedzie Avenues where both groups are found living as
next door neighbors.
The increasing presence of both minority groups presents both
opportunities and challenges for members of each group who, on the
most part, are unaccustomed to dealing with each other outside of
the limiting work situations. They have to share the community’s
public spaces, such as parks, libraries and schools. Marquette Park,
for example, located south of Marquette Road (67th St) is a
fascinating and instructive setting in the summertime. While African
American males and some Mexican youths can be seen playing ball on
most of its basketball courts and utilizing its golf course, located
west of Kedzie, Mexican males dominate all of its five soccer fields
along California and 71st Street. Meanwhile, Mexican and African
American families can be found picnicking interspersed throughout
the park. While its tennis courts go unused, its playground is the
meeting ground for both groups. It is crowded with children from
both groups enjoying its swings and slides.
The Working Groups:
Humboldt Park: The participants in the Humboldt Park
Working Group are a mixture of established grassroots community
leaders and advocates, pastors, youth leaders, and concerned
community and block club members from east and west Humboldt Park.
East and west side members of the Working Group were familiar with
each other through community meetings but had seldom talked to each
other at length. Discussions with individual members revealed that
the Black and Latino participants had preconceived notions about
each other and the neighborhoods where they lived. Egan Center staff
met individually with each Working Group member to identify what
direction they would like the project to take. We presented the
concept of the project to various boards and committees associated
with the Working Group members and attended other organizational
events in the community. Our intent was to be seen as just another
Working Group member. A Working Group took shape over the course of
monthly and ancillary meetings and activities that were held in
different locations on both sides of the park — in the predominantly
Puerto Rican east side as well as in the primarily African American
enclaves to the west. In unexpectedly short order, a roster of
Working Group participants who regularly attended the monthly
meetings reached the consensus that they would concentrate their
efforts on youth as a community-building asset. Members recruited
several youth into the Working Group, who have grown comfortable
enough in the inter-generational setting to become active
participants. The result is a proposed project from the Working
Group to create and stage a multi-ethnic, multi-media production
they have entitled Viviendo Mi Cuento/Living My Story.
Chicago Lawn: The Working Group in Chicago Lawn has evolved
from a financial literacy project initially undertaken with the help
of the community’s Charter One bank branch to a school-based
parents’ initiative currently being planned. We began our role by
attending meetings of the block clubs and Chicago Alternative
Policing Strategy (CAPS) and interviewing key stakeholders,
homeowners, renters, business owners, youth, and representatives
from faith-based and community-based organizations. School-related
concerns were consistently raised. We heard complaints that the
children of Mexican immigrants and African Americans find themselves
in schools that lack the support systems that can bridge cultural
divides and promote communication across ethnic lines.
Understandably, tensions, suspicions and conflicts have surfaced in
these schools among students, administrators, teachers and,
especially, parent groups, such as the Parent Teacher Organization
(PTO), the Bilingual Advisory Council (BAC) and the Local School
Council (LSC), as they negotiate complex education issues. Insight
into this situation led to a change of direction in the formation of
this Working Group.
During the first year of this initiative, the EUC, Latino
Organization of the Southwest (LOS) and Southwest Youth
Collaborative (SWYC) have helped this Working Group create a group
of parents who would come together as Cultural Ambassadors in a
project designed to proactively address a wide range of racial and
cultural issues evident within their schools. The long-range goal of
the project is to develop a more welcoming and collaborative
environment within all the public schools in Chicago Lawn.
North and South Lawndale: In the North and South Lawndale
communities, the Egan Center teamed up with grassroots, community-
based organizations to cultivate a Working Group of parents,
students and activists centered on North Lawndale College Prep and
the Little Village Lawndale High School Campus involving three of
the four high school concentrations (Multicultural Arts, World
Language and Social Justice). In separate meetings in North and
South Lawndale, prospective Working Group members have expressed
interest in engaging youth in dialogue and civic activism. Black and
Latino residents have met to discuss issues of immigration, public
safety, empowerment, racial tensions between students and declining
enrollment in North Lawndale.
Evidence of trust and shared resources has emerged as these sessions
continue. High school students from Kelly and Curie Metropolitan
have become involved in a new organization, Solidarity Not Charity,
a joint group from North and South Lawndale committed to rebuilding
homes and establishing social networks in New Orleans. We have been
encouraged to see several participants invite Egan Center staff and
other community members into their homes for meetings and community
activities and have observed people beginning to share personal
information with us and each other.
In the course of preliminary meetings and discussions with teachers,
parents, youth, school-based agencies and administrators, artists
and business people, we have detected recurring concerns about
racial tensions in these communities also. Aquil Charton, the
Director of the Crib Collective in the North Lawndale community said
that “some of the barriers to collaboration between individuals and
organizations between North and South Lawndale are the lack of safe
spaces for Black and Latino youth to talk outside of school.”
Language and prejudices that are being practiced at home often
presents barriers in building relationships.
The EUC has been committed in continuing to explore opportunities
for constructive dialogue about a civic initiative with the
potential to produce a unifying voice made up of Black and Latino
participants from both communities. |
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T. MacArthur
Foundation, the project was created to bring together leaders
from public, private, nonprofit and governm |
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