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So I need to make a thread about Chicago because I'm sick and tired of hearing white people talk about this city when it's obvious they've neither been or read a single thing about it. This is gonna be LONG so strap in.Permalink On twitter.com
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When you think of the most violent cities in America, of course Chicago comes to mind. And then maybe NYC. But does Hartford, CT? No? How about Houston, TX?Permalink On twitter.com
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Because it turns out Hartford, Houston, and Chicago all have VERY comparable rates of violent crime (1,093/100,000 vs 1,095 vs 1,099). None of these cities even break the top 10 most dangerous cities in the country. usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/experience/america/2018/10/17/25-most-dangerous-cities-america/1669467002/Permalink On twitter.com
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NYC, by the way, isn't even top 25.Permalink On twitter.com
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If I tell you I have family in Houston, no one bats an eye. But if I say I'm moving to Chicago, I get 500 jokes about how I'll get shot in "South Side", before people decide to try out their "impressions" of what I can only assume they think black men are like "in the hood"Permalink On twitter.com
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Yes this has happened to me. Yes I'm still scarred. *shudders* So much terrible AAVEPermalink On twitter.com
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Anyway speaking of "South Side". How about I show you where that actually is, huh? Chicago has 3 macro sides: North, West, and South. "East Side" is Lake Michigan. Unless you're Aquaman, don't say East Side. Practically speaking those sides are broken up further (see this map)Permalink On twitter.com
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The economic hardship index is an index that rolls a bunch of socioeconomic factors like unemployment and median income into one. It was designed to track economic inequality in Chicago. Here's that same map but with the hardship indexPermalink On twitter.com
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You'll note that the poorest neighborhoods in the city are actually more in West Side and Southwest Side than South Side proper. South Side has Hyde Park ie The University of Chicago ie gentrification and rich kids who graduate and work for NGOs.Permalink On twitter.com
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A side-note on the University of Chicago. It actually has one of the largest private police forces in the world. So UCPD, in conjunction with CPD, arguably make (part of) South Side one of the most heavily policed parts of the city, if not the country.On twitter.com
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So immediately become skeptical of anyone who uses "South Side" as a catch-all for all of Chicago's bad neighborhoods. Because it's like, not? If you ask a Chicago native how bad "South Side" is all you're telling them is that you're not from ChicagoPermalink On twitter.com
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We come to the conclusion that Chicago is not nearly as violent as pop-culture would have you believe. It's a big city where crime happens but not much more than any other big city with crime. "South Side" does not even refer to the city's worst neighborhoodsPermalink On twitter.com
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BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CRIMES? I HEARD ON THE NEWS THERE WAS A CRIME, MO! IN CHICAGO! EXPLAIN THAT!! So, a large portion of Chicago's violent crime is gang-related. I feel like people "know" this, but they don't understand what that actually implies.Permalink On twitter.com
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Gang-related crime produces a high number of shootings and death, but it also takes place in a segment of the population that interacts with itself. This means that if you are not connected to at-risk populations you're at a low risk to be on the receiving end of violence.Permalink On twitter.com
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When reactionaries say "How can you say BLM when 60 people were shot in Chicago last weekend???", what they want you to THINK is that roving bands of black thugs are killing poor black people at random. Those are the real victims who need the cops to lift themselves up...Permalink On twitter.com
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But the reality is that gangs kill each other and also CPD kills a fuckton of people.Permalink On twitter.com
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This is an important distinction, because gangs are created by the same forces that allow CPD to kill black people with impunity. Vast inequalities in housing, income, and education create a lack of opportunity. A war on drugs creates gangs who defend their profits with gunsPermalink On twitter.com
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Chicago is not some liberal/anarchist/copless/PC utopia. CPD is one of the most militarized and well-funded police institutions in the country. If they acknowledged this, they'd also acknowledge that more cops don't fix gangs. Policy fixes gangs.Permalink On twitter.com
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And yes, black people and community activists DO care about black lives taken from gang violence and other shootings. Here are some examples: blockclubchicago.org/2020/06/24/chicagoans-do-protest-gun-violence-and-organize-for-safer-neighborhoods-all-the-time-heres-how/Permalink On twitter.com
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So where do all these ideas about Chicago come from, if not reality?Permalink On twitter.com
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Well Chicago, already an important city in black history, was an epicenter for the Civil Rights Movement and representative of the problems black communities face. Between the 60s and 80s, it also become a conservative punching bag and dogwhistle.Permalink On twitter.com
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A lot of prominent rappers and black icons come out of Chicago, so it was pretty easy to graft racist white fears about "urban culture" onto the city. When people hyperfixate on Chicago, they're really just complaining about black people in a way we've deemed to be PC.Permalink On twitter.com
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For example, the stereotype of a "welfare queen" actually comes from a real story of a woman in Chicago -- Linda Taylor. Read up on how Ronald Reagan basically invented a racist stereotype still used to this day to win an election. chicagomag.com/arts-culture/May-2019/The-True-Story-of-Chicagos-Welfare-Queen/Permalink On twitter.com
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It shouldn't be a surprise then that a shooting in Chicago has triggered a federal military occupation of the city. Objectively, there are cities with worse crime than Chicago, but Chicago gets the spotlight because of what it represents to white reactionaries and the US rightPermalink On twitter.com
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I'd like to remind people that if it's been a while since you donated to a bail fund, do that. I donated to the Chicago Bond Fund not too long ago. Find one for your community/city, or a city near you. chicagobond.org/Permalink On twitter.com