Mary Mitchell writes about the decline of Black Chicago

Sun-Times columnist Mitchell takes on the issue of Blacks leaving Chicago

After a lifetime of living in Chicago, my husband is seriously talking about moving away.

It’s not just one thing that is spurring him to pack up and leave, he explained; it’s a combination of things.

He cited high taxes, crime and bad politics, but he’s obviously not alone. Black people are fleeing the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods on the South and West Sides.

Meanwhile, according to recent U.S. Census data, white people are flocking to neighborhoods near Downtown.

Chicago, once a haven for the black middle class, is no longer seen as a place of economic opportunity for African Americans.

6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer was quoted:

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) argues that white people are moving in as black people abandon these neighborhoods.

“I’m in Woodlawn right now, and there are white people walking down the street, walking dogs and jogging. People don’t mess with white people. If I walked up and down the street over here, I would probably get hit in the head, and that’s an awful thing to say,” Sawyer conceded.

“But we can make it better by staying and putting in the time and work and getting involved in your neighborhood. You can’t complain about it while you are locked up in your house,” he said.
...
“We may lose another black alderman as some of our wards are teetering around 60 percent black. In fact, Walter Burnett’s ward is not black. We lost the second ward in the last redistricting,” Sawyer said.

Still, the alderman is wary of the Census data.

“I don’t think as many people are leaving, as they are not being counted,” he said.

Conclusion:

This latest Census data shows black residents want the same things other people want: employment, fair government, safe neighborhoods and good schools.

Unfortunately, too few African-Americans in Chicago can say they have any of those things.

Employment, fair gov't, safe neighborhoods, & good schools. How do we get any of those?

The city council Black caucus wants McCarthy to go

Photo by Rich Hein/Sun-Times

A press release was e-mailed to us yesterday regarding this. It surprised me although, I realize many aren't happy with our police superintendent. I never thought this would turn into a full rebellion as columnist Mark Brown states:

The demand for the firing of Police Supt. Garry McCarthy by the City Council’s Black Caucus shapes up as the biggest aldermanic rebellion faced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in his four and a half years on the job.

“It’s bold,” agreed Caucus Chairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) of the surprise call to oust McCarthy, although Sawyer disputed my characterization of it constituting a “rebellion.”

I don’t know what else to call such an in-your-face move announced less than 24 hours before the police superintendent, long viewed as an Emanuel favorite, is scheduled to appear before the City Council for his annual budget hearing.

And now the playing field, what are the possibilities? Do we even know?

 From a political standpoint, the move to dump McCarthy puts the onus for combating Chicago’s violence even more directly on the mayor than it already was, while also complicating his fight for a budget proposal that relies on a $588 million property tax hike.

Emanuel has continued to voice full confidence in McCarthy’s leadership, even as the city’s homicide totals have sharply increased this year.

Fourteen of the city’s 18 African-American aldermen, including some of the mayor’s usual supporters, stood shoulder to shoulder to make it clear McCarthy no longer has their confidence. A few white and Hispanic aldermen joined them.

Although dissatisfaction with McCarthy has been building for years, Sawyer said the decision to call for his ouster actually came together rapidly in a matter of hours Monday after one black alderman — apparently a fairly influential one — stated over lunch in an off-handed manner that it was time for McCarthy to go.

That led to a series of hastily called meetings in which Sawyer first tested the idea and then sought to make sure everyone was on board.

When did this "rebellion" become a problem?

When Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), the budget committee chairman and one of Emanuel’s strongest loyalists, stepped to the microphone with the rest, it became plain the mayor had a serious problem on his hands.

I’m not quite sure how Emanuel finesses this one. If he gives in and shows McCarthy the door, he looks weak. And if he ignores the aldermen, he runs the risk of appearing deaf to the concerns of an African-American community that bears the brunt of the violence.

I suppose the Mayor and McCarthy needs to come up with a new strategy to at least make it appear that police are doing something about the violence. Then and only then would McCarthy step aside for someone else, whoever that may be. Time will only tell.

Russ Stewart on the race for 9th Ward Alderman

Russ Stewart analyzes the races for Alderman in the south side wards and says the Mayor is going to send resources to his favored candidates. So this is what he says for the races in the 9th ward.

9th Ward (Far South Side): After losing a 2013 bid for Jesse Jackson’s congressional seat, incumbent Anthony Beale’s stature nosedived. He faces seven opponents, the most credible being Michael LaFargue. It will be Rahm to the rescue in a Beale-LaFargue runoff.

I will refer you to The Sixth Ward blog for a list of candidates for the 9th Ward.

ALSO, I have read Stewart over the years for his perspective on local politics. Only real political junkies would know of him since he doesn't write for a major paper. He's primarily a columnist for a community paper on the northwest side of Chicago.

What our schools need? A few good men...

I couldn't agree more! As I saw in another 60 Minutes story years ago, "where are the men?". Some statistics:

Despite some inroads by men, teaching remains a female-dominated profession. This is especially true for younger children. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2% of pre-K and kindergarten teachers and 18% of elementary and middle-school teachers are men.

The situation is more balanced, but not evenly balanced, in secondary school, where 42% of teachers are men.

There are three points to be made here, but I think the third one is key:

Third, we especially need black male teachers in the classroom. As Education Secretary Arne Duncan has argued, "All of our students benefit from having a black male in the classroom. But particularly our young black males." Yet black males represent a mere 2% of the K-12 teaching workforce. If this were to change, we might begin to see better educational outcomes and life outcomes for young black males.

That point is very important. Young Black males are struggling and they get into the most trouble. If only they saw someone who looked like them in the classroom and helping to build them up!

Read the rest!

Via Instapundit.

ALSO, go back and read this post. One place among many to start recruiting Black male teachers.