- Al Podgorski /Sun-Times Media
- Chicago’s segregated black neighborhoods are suffering, Bill “Dock” Walls said Friday during a debate at the Sun-Times. Mayor Emanuel was not asked to respond.
In the Reader this week, we focus on Chicago’s persistent racial segregation, and how that fundamental problem is once again being ignored in the mayor’s race.
We sought to interview the mayoral candidates about racial segregation this year, as we had before the last election, when the issue was also being ignored. Four of the five candidates—all but Emanuel—talked with us.
Such efforts are vital, but they’re not enough to combat segregation. Think of the mother in Englewood with two preteen children, anxious about their approaching adolescence. Must she wait until Whole Foods opens, and eventually boosts the neighborhood—if it does? Or, if she wishes, should she be able to move to a neighborhood where her kids are far more likely to be safe, and where the schools are better?
That leaves Alderman Bob Fioretti and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. They’ve been pretty quiet on the campaign trail about racial segregation. Their plans for helping the residents of poor black neighborhoods resemble Emanuel’s: they focus mostly on improvements to those neighborhoods, rather than policies that would help those who’d like to leave them do so.
