Arrivals...There Goes the Neighborhood

Chicago is known as being one of the top ten most segregated cities in the United States according to the 2010 census—it actually ranks at number five. Living and being raised in such a diverse, yet separated city can have major effects on our residents’ point of views. We can get so comfortable only seeing the type of people we live with, that our judgment gets clouded and it makes us prejudice against others when we go into other parts of the city where it is accepted that people of different ethnicities and social classes intermingle. To say that racism and prejudice no longer exists because mixed races live together in one city, state, or country isn’t entirely true, although there has been improvement with crossing racial boundaries. We see racism in our own city when we look around and notice that most of our neighbors are of the same heritage. This is not to say that you can’t find a diverse neighborhood anywhere in Chicago at all, but for the most part, our neighborhoods are of one class or race.            

 I have lived in a mostly Polish neighborhood since I was adopted, but I have also noticed the neighborhood is changing. More Hispanic and a couple African American families have moved in. My family, being pretty diverse with Chinese, Filipino, Polish, and Mexican backgrounds, consider ourselves very open to our new residents, who happen to be some of the nicest people on the block. Our other nearby neighbors, however are not so accepting. When an Irish woman and her African American husband moved into the home next to mine, our entire block started to gossip. One little old lady who lives across the street refused to speak to the family, or acknowledge their presence at all, no matter how many times they waved or said “hello.” Another woman considered moving her family somewhere else because, as she ever so rudely stated, “This is neighborhood is going downhill. Have you heard black have moved in next to you?” My mom and I just stood there with our mouths open, not exactly sure how to respond. Flash-forward two years and the family still lives next to us, despite how rude their neighbors have been to them. The little old lady went to live with her son, and the rude women still lives across the street. More and more people on the block are becoming accepting and are truly being nice and associating with them. It took awhile, but the “scandal” that disrupted the block is now not so scandalous.            

I think my experience is somewhat parallel to the European explorers coming to the Americas and their view of the Native American people. The Europeans thought very little of the Native American tribes because their lifestyle was so different than the one they were accustomed to. Out of ignorance, the Europeans didn’t bother learning the customs of the people whose land they invaded. They saw it as more of a duty to help make the natives more like them. The Native Americans were polite and gave the white settlers gifts and assistance with how to live on the land. I think we, as a society, can learn from this failed experience of taking over the Native American people and turning them into something their not and apply it to our lives today. We should be more accepting, step out of our 'comfort zones', and not judge or try to change other cultures just because they’re not ours.