The "Worst" Neighborhood In Chicago Is 90% White
"It's been said a trillion times: Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. With some 246 of them, it would stand to reason that the task of choosing the city's worst would be nigh impossible. After all, what makes a particular neighborhood worse than any other? Is it the crime rate? Underperforming schools? Undesirable housing stock? Lack of cultural amenities? As I chewed the question over, I kept landing on the same answer: Chicago's worst neighborhood is the one that is least representative of the city—demographically, politically, culturally. The neighborhood whose annexation to the nearest suburb would be seen as a win for Chicago. On those terms there was one place that seemed to be actively campaigning for the dubious designation.
Located in the 19th Ward on the city's far southwest side, Mount Greenwood is Chicago's Upside Down. No demogorgon roams this parallel universe, but a majority of its electorate did back the man who's been called the swamp monster: President Donald Trump.
Trump won nearly 70 percent of the vote in three Mount Greenwood precincts, making the area the president's top stronghold in true blue Chicago.
In the days leading up to the election, Mount Greenwood had already become the focus of controversy. On November 5, 2016, according to news reports, a white off-duty police officer and a police sergeant fatally shot Joshua Beal, a 25-year-old black man from Indianapolis who was captured in eyewitness video pointing a gun during a traffic dispute before he was shot. (In July, Beal's fiancee filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department, alleging the off-duty officer didn't properly identify himself before shooting Beal.) Following the incident, Black Lives Matter staged protests in the neighborhood. The group was met by a pack of counterprotesters, most of them white locals, who held pro-police signs, spat racial slurs, and told the activists to leave the neighborhood.
The clash between the two groups spoke to the demographics of Mount Greenwood, which is nearly 90 percent white and has a high concentration of residents who work as police and firefighters. In a 1992 piece for the New York Times , Isabel Wilkerson, author of the Great Migration history The Warmth of Other Suns , juxtaposed Mount Greenwood with its opposite, mostly black Roseland: "They are separated by two miles, a highway and fear and suspicion so deep that many people in one community would not dare set foot in the other." She described Mount Greenwood as "an insular, Leave It to Beaver world where white people can live out entire lives without ever getting to know a black person, where people rarely venture beyond understood borders."
On Inauguration Day back in January, Reader staff writer Maya Dukmasova went barhopping in Mount Greenwood as Trump took the oath of the highest office in the land. Her report is filled with colorful characters offering colorful quotes. "In this area, Obama's like the fucking next coming of Satan, basically," said Mike, a paramedic who insisted he did not vote for Trump. "There's a percentage of people that hate him because he is African-American, unfortunately, yes."
But the guy who most embodied the Mount Greenwood id on steroids was Rich, "a Vietnam vet and a retired backhoe operator wearing brown ostrich-hide cowboy boots and a diamond stud in one ear. He described his political views as 'a little bit to the right of Attila the Hun.' " Unlike Mike, Rich did vote Trump, and he was damn proud to see his guy's hand on the Bible that day.
"The man, as far as I'm concerned, is a miracle worker," he told Dukmasova. "How can you go wrong with a guy that has a wife that looks like that?"
Which brings me back to my earlier point: If Mount Greenwood were suddenly made part of Oak Lawn, Rich would no longer be able call himself a Chicago resident. And we'd be better off for it."
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mount-greenwood-worst-neighborhood/Content?oid=37061161
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I know a lot about Mt. Greenwood and the people who live there. I don't live in the neighborhood myself, but I do live in a neighborhood that is directly adjacent to Mt Greenwood.
The "worst" article is written for The Reader, which is a northside "trendy" "yuppie" publication that mainly features stories about restaurants and bars and shops in hipster and downtown neighborhoods. I think it would be fair to say that The Reader has a sort of institutional bias against an all white neighborhood filled with city workers.
But what is the truth? Is Mt Greenwood the "worst" neighborhood in Chicago? That is laughable. The people there are not criminal, the area is safe, and family orientated.
Then there is , well, the racism. I was at my nephew's house for Christmas yesterday. He is a Chicago fireman and lives in Mt Greenwood. He is racist. He can't go more than minutes without saying something derogatory about black people if there is any way he can work it into the conversation. He is pretty typical of people I have met from Mt Greenwood. They are by no means evil, in fact they are basically good people other than their racism.
They voted 70% for Trump because they saw Trump as fighting for white people. End of story.
We cannot be rid of racism until we admit it.
It IS a little strange in Chicago, because Chicago does vote heavily Democratic. But there is an exception to the rule and that is MT Greenwood.
I think this is worth framing! When the President said that 'some were good people' the nation fell apart .. the outrage was off the charts, how dare he say that, what a racist bastard Trump is, he supports white nationals.. and the list of name calling goes on ..
but here it is again - "by no means evil .... basically good people other that their racism" Is there a difference between this statement and what the President said? Just curious
I don't know if people from MT Greenwood would march in or permit a white nationalist march in their neighborhood. I seriously doubt it. There are "everyday" racists there, but I don't think there are a lot of extremists.
Morning JohnRussell ..
I was unaware that there were varying degrees of hate when it came to racism - good to know that 'everyday' racists are good people.... as far as marching goes, think the nation learned from Charlottesville that the individual marching could easily be your neighbor. Is that not why there is a website dedicated to outing these individuals?
I am a bit curious regarding 'everyday' and extremist racism ... does the everyday racist still wear a hood, while the extremist shows up unmasked?
Just trying to figure things out JohnRussell - as you are the last individual that I thought I would ever read giving any form of racism a pass.
Considering that a racist judge in Chicago gave a violent criminal who pled guilty to a hate crime of torturing a disabled man due to his race a slap on the wrist, I'd say this place would be better off not being anywhere near the cess pool that is Chicago.
The author doesn't seem to understand the English language, at least the concept of "worst."
The worst neighborhood is the last one you'd want your car to breakdown in at 10:30 PM on a Friday night in the summer. Mount Greenwood is far, far from that neighborhood in Chicago.
This is a good description of people, not only in Mt Greenwood Chicago, but in many places. Is this the way to have a good society Sean?
Is is it better than a society where letting your kids play outside at the park is risking their lives?
The author claims a safe, low crime neighborhood is the worst in Chicago. I'm not claiming Mount Greenwood is utopia, it's just far from the worst in Chicago.
So going by these residence interviews....if you were a black man, would you want your car breaking down in Greenwood at 10:30pm on a Friday night?
Would you be up to no-good ?
As I understand it....EVERYONE pretty much has a cell phone, and doesn't need to knock on doors when they have car trouble.
I also hear...most folks don't know what goes on outside, in the comfort of their own home at night, unless someone makes their presence known.
So.....would that be a yes or no?
Would seem to be less likely to be shot in this neighborhood, regardless of color.
Very true Gary.
In 5 years there have been 2 homicides in Mt Greenwood. Both police involved.
By contrast, Roseland in 5 years has had 119 homicides, 2 of those were police involved.
if I were a black man driving through the south side of Chicago and my car broke down, I’d HOPE to be in Mt Greenwood. If I was in one of the surrounding neighborhoods, I’d get out and push my car to Mt Greenwood.
There are many factors to be considered to declare any neighborhood "the worse". Crime, poverty, the level of education, property conditions, unemployment, drugs/drug sales, and available social services are some of those IMO.
I'd have to say, the neighborhood with the most murders should qualify for the 'worst' neighborhood in Chicago. Because these people's thoughts 'offended' this author, doesn't really make it the 'Worst'. Fear of hearing some red neck say something versus fearing for your and your children's lives? I'd take Mt. greenwood over the other.
I'd venture to guess there's lots of anti-white sentiment in man y of the neighborhoods in Chicago also, but the author got a chance to air his/her personal prejudices, so all's good.
Honestly John, sometimes you are spinning so hard and fast that i have serious doubts you would be able to stand up and walk a straight line.
Jeesh give it a rest every once in awhile can ya?
I am very familiar with MT Greenwood. I know a lot of people from that area, have relatives that live there, and have been in the restaurants , bars and stores in the neighborhood more times than I could count. I assume no one else on NT can say those things.
There are a lot of racists there, although I would not necessarily describe them as bad people overall. The neighborhood voted Trump because they perceived Trump as being pro white. That is what the seeded article contends, and it is correct about that.
Is it the "worst" neighborhood in Chicago? Hell no.
Then why did you put that in the title? A little misleading don't you think?
You would have to look at the link. It is self-explanatory.
I did and from what i saw you've basically included the entire content of that link in the post body. I'm still seeing no reason to call it the "worst" if you don't think it's the worst.
So i ask again, if it's not the worst, why call it the worst in your title?
Because in the source article, it was chosen as the "worst" neighborhood in the city.
I didn't say I agreed with it. You sure do like to argue pointless points.
can you read this link Skirting the CoC [ph]
mount-greenwood-worst-neighborhood /Content?oid=37061161
I like to shed light on points being made that are disingenuous. This one is misleading and disingenuous to a fault. Off course that was probably your whole modus operandi in seeding this article wasn't it?
Hatred of "white" being all the rage these days in left wing circles that is.
Umm.....didn't he say that....or do you think the term pro-white means something else?
So I guess it’s a simple comparison to see which is worse:
A group of Trump voters who obey the law, but can say mean things.
Or, a group of Clinton voters who shoot each other in staggering numbers.
Racism is not simply saying mean things.
You’re right, racism can manifest itself in a lot of ways......Like say elected officials ignoring the violence that plagues their city.
What exactly does the author think he or she's accomplishing with this? Any sane person will immediately discount the article as the rantings of lunatic and will simply reinforce the stereotype of the progressive as being out of touch with reality. The type of person who takes this seriously already despises the white working class and buys into all the negative stereotyping so at the end of the day no one mind is going to be changed. Just stereotypes of the other reinforced.
If the author wants to change Mount Greenwood, this is the exact wrong way to go about it.
Its pretty clear actually. In his/her mind, anything is preferable to a majority white population, no matter how violent or unsafe.
Jim Hoft step aside we’ve found this years champion for the dumbest man on the Internet award.
"Joshua Beal, a 25-year-old black man from Indianapolis who was captured n eyewitness video pointing a gun during a traffic dispute before he was shot. "
My "mommy" always told me, "don't point a loaded "Gun" unless you intend to use it." BAD things will happen if you do.
Duh.........