When you think of Chicago, you think of its beautiful skyline and historic buildings. Chicago is known to have some of the best restaurants with globally inspired foods, 71 of them being Michelin Star. Despite its bustling environment, the city is also full of green space with beautiful parks in every neighborhood and clean alleyways with minimal trash on the street. The lake, spanning the entirety of the city, offers tens of beaches, each with its own flavor of what neighborhood it's adjacent to. All of these neighborhoods showcase the cultural diversity of Chicago, making every neighborhood an exploration of a different kind of people and culture. Growing up in Chicago, I got to experience many of these amenities and cultures firsthand.
I'll always remember my first summer being able to ride the train independently around Chicago. The freedom I'd feel getting to leave home, even though primarily for track practice, was a one-hour commute on the bus and the train. I'd speedily walk out the door; a block east, the hot summer air would hit me, wired earbuds in my ear, movie soundtrack music playing. Everything looked like a dream; the sun shined through the leaves glowy, and people were walking their dogs; the neighborhood I loved was semi-diverse at the time, called University Village, mostly white but also some upper-middle-class Asian and Black families. All the families had either young kids or kids my age: older high school kids who had all been in the neighborhood since we were little. At the bust stop, I could see directly through a viaduct that marked the boundary between my predominantly white, upper-middle-class enclave of University Village and the vibrant historically Mexican heart of Pilsen, known for its rich tapestry of culture and community. Boarding the bus in University Village, I embarked on a meandering route that took me north towards the city's pulsing heart, where the blue line - the subway train awaited. I descended into the depths of Chicago's sprawling transit system, where trains whisked commuters beneath the bustling streets. From the blue line, I connected to the red line going north. This northward travel was to take a bus roughly eight miles south to Hyde Park, my final destination. The six route started downtown and always took the absolute longest; others took 5 minutes, maybe even 10, but this one could take up to 20, was sometimes delayed and sometimes didn't show up. Also, there were so many people experiencing homelessness on the street right by this stop. I always had my headphones in my pocket and my backpack in front of me as I avoided the 2-minute intervals of his and asked personal questions by the men on the sidewalk. Finally, the bus was always the most crowded when it came, but this was my favorite bus. Even though most people walking around outside were diverse, this bus was unmistakably primarily Black. The people on board looked like grandma's grandpa, aunts, uncles, and the occasional diverse array of nerdy-looking students - U Chicago kids - we were headed to the southside.
Though routine, each leg of my commute painted a vivid portrait of the stark divides that segregate not just the physical landscape but the very lives of its inhabitants. The shadow of racial segregation runs large. Chicago has a deep-rooted legacy of historic discriminatory practices like redlining and racially restrictive covenants. These actions confined Black communities to isolated areas, notably the Chicago Black Belt, limiting economic opportunities and perpetuating disparities in education, healthcare, and employment. The construction of expressways and public housing policies further entrenched these divides. Today, the city remains starkly divided, with significant outmigration of its Black population due to ongoing inequalities and gentrification pressures on Latino and other minority communities. This segregation is not just a relic of the past but a present-day reality. Always having activities in different parts of the city - a middle school in Lincoln Square on the north side, which was predominantly white, living in a semi-diverse neighborhood downtown, and having sports activities in Hyde Park, where all the kids were Black. I got to experience this firsthand.
The juxtaposition of my experiences across these neighborhoods underscores the urgent need for dialogue, policies that bridge these divides, and a collective effort to foster inclusivity and equity.