There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America

By William Julius Wilson and Richard P. Taub

Okay, I saw this on the cart of new books and could not resist it. As a librarian who works in a “changing” neighborhood, I felt compelled to pick up the slim volume and try to understand what exactly is going on in the neighborhood and neighborhoods like it.

Wilson and Taub explore four different Chicago neighborhoods: Beltway, Dover, Archer Park, and Groveland (all pseudonyms, of course).

Beltway represents a neighborhood near Midway (presumably Clearing), that is predominantly white, but slowly becoming less white. Because of its strong community identity, Beltway is not suffering from the “white flight” occurring in other neighborhoods.

Dover (Brighton Park) represents the next level: a neighborhood that has become predominantly Hispanic and is now dealing with the tension between the white people who stayed in the neighborhood (many have already fled) and the Latinos who now compose the majority of the community’s residents.

One more step: Archer Park (South Lawndale) has been a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood since the seventies. It is not a permanent neighborhood for many residents (they either move up or move back to Mexico). Its weakness as a neighborhood lies in its residents’ lack of loyalty to the neighborhood.

Groveland (Avalon Park) represents the strongest neighborhood: it is predominantly black, and its residents take pride in their neighborhood and their heritage. The only tension in this neighborhood is based on class within the black community.

This is a really interesting look at Chicago’s neighborhoods and the tensions that accompany changes in their racial and/or ethnic makeup.

11/29/06