I've always grown up on the westside. I was born on the westside, I currently live on the westside, but I'm not gonna die on the westside. Though I've been living on the westside for all my life, I'm still not completely used to living there.
I've been attending school in Little Italy for practically all my life - Andrew Jackson for 9 years and now I'm going to Whitney Young. I'm used to being around a variety of races, used to people speaking proper around me, used to people dressing appropriate around me, the sidewalks being completely empty because everyone was at school or work. I have many friends whose parents has a good income; when I go over their house, it feels like I'm still in Little Italy - their neighborhood is almost perfect. However, it's the complete opposite when I get home. Thinking that there still isn't gonna be anyone out because they're either on their way home or still at work, I find everyone outside. Males with their pants sagging and sometimes no shirt on, regardless of how their body looks. Females sitting on porches talking on their phone and eating. People looking in my car trying to see if I want to buy something or if they know me; it doesn't even matter if you know them or not - that happens to everyone who drives by. Loud music blasting from homes and cars. I see all African-Americans, no Caucasians, Asians, Hispanics. The only GOOD thing I'd say about the part I live in is that there isn't a lot of violence. No rapes, shootings, or robberies like there is on the south side. It's just a lot of lazy people standing around all day, obviously selling drugs.
The westside is starting to change though. I'm not sure if it's because it's a lot easier to get downtown, cheaper to live on the westside than downtown, near their jobs, near a college they attend. The westside is starting to become more diverse. On my way home, I'm starting to see Caucasians walk around and Hispanics standing at bus stops. I see more stores opening up and less corner stores closing. I see the sidewalks being fixed and buildings being repainted. More police patrols. Obviously the government sees more people moving to the westside, so now they decide to pay attention to what needs fixing and cares about how our neighborhood looks, plus cares about if we're safe or not. The new arrivals...are Caucasians.
This is an interesting way of writing to this topic, I didn't even think of writing from that POV. I understand a lot of what you are saying and I can really relate to it (the only difference is that I live on the South side which does have violence). In our case however when other races come in, especially Caucasians, the neighborhood usually gets better and there is a change in the town (sad to say but true). So I guess in this case it would read; New Arrivals... We will have a Better/Classier Neighborhood. Why do you think this is? Nice piece Nia I liked it! There there were a couple grammatical errors just fix those and you will be good,
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yup, I typed this up real late, so there was some grammatical errors. :) Honestly, I do think the reason we'll have a classier/better (physical appearance and social appearance, which will eventually lead to an economical appearance, which is actually possible) neighborhood because of the diversity. I believe the government only care about diverse or 100% Caucasians neighborhoods; yes, I do believe it's a racial thing. Like we previously discussed, this is an example of how MLKJ's dream somewhat came true! Racism is still present, which is why it hasn't completely became true. The government will only pop up when Caucasian people decide to come in the picture. Why? I have really no idea. Maybe it's because they represent Chicago better? Lots of Caucasians have great paying jobs, whilst African-Americans (some of us at least) are either unemployed or has low paying jobs. You don't see many Caucasians committing murders or robberies in Chicago. Should the government side with them then? Would that be the reason? We don't know - there might be endless reasons that we don't even know about...sadly though, we have to deal with until someone stands up and talk. Maybe it could be one of us. :)
DeleteThis was a great way of putting it Nia! I have noticed that the government has been remodeling schools and neighborhoods since the west side has become a little more diverse. But do you think that we can actually live in peace on this side of town or will the African Americans eventually have to leave? Since the Caucasians have higher paying jobs the prices and cost of living will eventually increase. And as you stated before, African Americans either have a low-paying job, or no job at all !
ReplyDeleteThanks! There's a possibility of living in peace on the west side, if only African-Americans can be influenced by what other races are doing. Or if they just decide to rebel against Caucasians; some African-Americans (AAs) are really stuck in the past of what Caucasians have done to them and their ancestors for some odd reason. If we don't live in peace, however, I'd think the African-Americans would stay and the newcomers would leave. Nevertheless, when it comes to the finances and the rents increasing (probably), I most definitely think African-Americans would be leaving first. It would all depend on what the situation is: living in peace or being able to afford the rent and other things.
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