Ladeer&Co.

It is an unspoken knowledge that there are two Chicago. There is the Mayor Dailey Chicago where tourists visit, where residents jog alongside Lake Michigan, where business transacts, and where vibrant shopping and sightseeing take place. Then there is the Black Chicago.

When you enter the South side of Chicago no longer do you see street clean and roads nicely paved. Instead you will see the poverty-stricken repercussion of urbanization. The most notorious neighborhood of the South Side is the 40,000 inhabitants Englewood community where absurdly high 43% of people living under poverty. More than half of the 98% black resident receives food stamps. The medium annual household income is just shy of $19,000.

Poverty comes with a sense of hopelessness, as people struggle to find dignity in the employment condition, crimes ensue. Englewood constantly has the highest murder rate in Chicago, many times higher than the city average. Here are some chilling statistics: Almost 30% of Englewood residents had been a victim of a violent crime. Half of 203 high school students surveyed had eye-witnessed either family member or friend stabbed, shot or killed; 20% of the students had family members been raped.

In a community like Englewood it is common to have a crumpled family structure. Like many other such communities, single parenthood (mother) is the norm. A constant father figure is absent in over 90% of the family due to abandonment or jail time. Male youth has practically zero chance breaking the vicious curse of the environment in which gangs provide them with protection, ascension and belongingness. This problem is exemplified in the disproportionally high percentage of youth—36.3% of the population being under age 18—compared to 17% elsewhere. Adult residents consist mostly of women since large part of adult male has either left the community or been incarcerated.

Last semester two of my classmates (Katie Roy and Walterene) and I carried out a survey project in the Englewood community. During three separate days we interviewed a total of 60 locals by foot. This is an account of what we witnessed.
(To be continued.)

# posted by Gary Chou @ 5:39 AM