The 1619 Project:
Sullivan Edition
WHAT'S INSIDE
Illustration by Vicente Montoya
Volume 2
Why we need more Black teachers in schools Redlining in Chicago Sullivan students' experience with the police The origins racial wealth gap in Chicago COVID-19's disproportionate impact on communities of color
- A'Lexus Williams
The 1619 Project: Sullivan Edition Vol. 2
I am from the blood, broken bones, and bashed skulls of my ancestors that were drug across vast seas to be enslaved, raped, tortured, and murdered by people who called us animals.
 I’m ashamed to be fighting the same fight my first set of ancestors had to fight when they were captured and brought here.
 I'm ashamed to be born into a country that has murdered enough of my ancestors to fill the World Trade Center 10x over.
 I’m ashamed to be a poor citizen of a great nation that my ancestors built.
 I am from the millions that can't track down where their family tree starts because a white man deemed their ancestors weren't being “good†little n****** and sold them to another white man with the best trade/offer.
 I am from a country that sees a black teenager with a candy bar more dangerous than a white man with a rifle. 
 I am from a nation where being black is a crime punishable by death. Just ask MLK Jr., George Floyd, Emmett Till, or Breonna Taylor.
 I’m ashamed to live in a country that pretends to be great, but rewrites its past mistakes and hides its future intentions.
 Maybe instead of taking trips to the zoo we should take a trip to IDOC; you’ll see the same thing, except the zoo actually cares about what happens to its animals.
 New year, new generation. Same pain, same shame.

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THE SAME SHAME OF A NEW GENERATION
U
sing The 1619 Project as a foundational text, tenth grade students from Sullivan High School learned about a racial caste system that has been formed as a way to pick up where slavery left off. The racial caste system is designed to always keep Black people below white people. These systems that uphold racial oppression can be found today in just about everything you do, see, touch, and sometimes smell, in everyday life. It is not unlikely for these unjust affairs to have been swept under the rug and not brought to the public's eye. We as a society have gotten so used to this racial caste system that sometimes we forget that it is even there until we are directly faced with issues caused by them. Reading The 1619 Project was an astounding way for us as the next generation to identify these problems (systemic racism, colorism, dicrimination, microaggressions, ect.) and prevent them from growing ineluctable and unpreventable in the real world. We as a class produced a magazine that examines the impacts of this racial caste and the legacy of slavery on our communities today. It’s important because not many people even notice it’s there, which can cause us to repeat the past. It is important to learn about the history of slavery and the mistreatment of Black people because if we can’t identify what was wrong in the past, we are likely to repeat it in the future. It is also important to learn how racial caste systems affect us so we can know when to stand up for ourselves. Oftentimes we don't know how to defend ourselves or the proper way to do it. This magazine identifies many mistreatments in the Black community as well as peaceful but effective ways to take action. I, A’Lexus Williams, learned a lot from this project: some good, and some bad, but it’s all important. One of the things that I learned that really stuck with me was how much two 18-year-old enslaved girls were sold for in South during slavery. This stood out to me because when I researched how much the amount would be in today's currency, I found it would be about $500,000 each. That just shows how valuable Black people were money-wise, but they were treated like they were worthless in every other aspect. I highly recommend reading our version of The 1619 Project as well as the original because some things will just straight up shock you. With this generation of thinkers and innovators, I think society will be in good hands with the class of 2023 in charge. I, Gabriel Perez, also took a lot from this project and learned how I can be an ally to the Black community and help to stop problems that we face everyday. I learned what biases society may have implicated into my brain without knowing, and how I can cease these ideas. The 1619 Project tells the story Black ancestors could not tell and brings justice to Black people around the world. - Gabriel Perez and A'Lexus Williams

IN THIS ISSUE
LAYOUT TEAM Halima Ahmed Keji Akinremi Zainab Asif Nimota Mohamed George Quist VISUALS TEAM Adam Eqbal Vicente Montoya CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Hussein Abdi Adu Afolabi Jasmin Aguirre Sanchez Halima Ahmed Gold Akinpelu Keji Akinremi Obed Amandianeze Zainab Asif Katherine Avila CONTRIBUTING WRITERS CONT. Ephraim Chase Aly Esquivel Yvette Ishimwe Timothy Ivory Ilse Leyva Sofia Martinez Abolfazl Mazraei Mohamad Idris Mohamad Hashid Nimota Mohamed Gabriel Perez Larissa Posadas George Quist Ramon Randolph Naomi Reyes Zicharee Sago Hugo Segundo Sukulya Somyoo Raymon Washington A'Lexus Williams Syed Zaki
STAFF LIST
Post about us! #Sullivan1619Project
Text
Education 06 Infrastructure 18 Mass Incarceration 32 Medical & Health Care Inequality 38 The Racial Wealth Gap 49
And a huge thank you to the rest of the Sullivan 10th grade students who embarked on this learning journey with us!
EDUCATION
Illustration by Keji Akinremi
How Segregation Impacted American Schools As stated in “School Segregation in Chicago: What the Data Shows†by Joe Vince, white people found it strange to accept the Black communities after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown Vs. Board of Education unanimously that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The case was originally filed in Topeka, Kansas after seven-year-old Linda Brown was rejected from the all-white schools there. According to “Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History,: “On May 17, 1954, the Court stripped away constitutional sanctions for segregation by race and made equal opportunity in education the law of the land.†After this event, most white parents took their children to rich suburban white schools rather than schools with black students, according to “The Troubled History of American Education after the Brown Decision†by Sonya Ramsey. This event has stayed the same ever since and is the true reason why many urban schools are still segregated today. 
 What Does Segregation Look Like in Chicago Schools? According to research by Tomas Monarrez, a UC Berkeley economics Ph.D. candidate, Chicago Public Schools' policies re-create the underlying segregation by slightly improving integration in the classroom but not finding ways to fix segregation in schools. I can testify to this issue because I attend and know of schools that have a population with students of a specific race having a higher percentage and students of other races with a small percentage. However, some districts sort their students such that their schools are even more segregated. Percentage Of Schools That are Segregated In Chicago As researched by Alden Loury in “The Persistent Problem Of Segregation in Chicago’s Public Schools,†“While 82 percent of all CPS schools were not diverse in 2015-2016, more than 72 percent—489 of 676 schools, in all—had never been diverse since 2001-2002 (meaning they’ve always had a single racial group comprising more than 60 percent of the student population). We also identified 65 schools that had been diverse but no longer were, as well as 48 schools that had become diverse after a period when they weren’t. Just 74 schools have always been diverse.†This data comes from CPS demographic data that dates back to 2001-2002. This research shows and supports the claim that Chicago schools were still very much segregated even after desegregation and some school districts sort their students in a way that their schools are still segregated. What Does Life in School Look Like in Low-Income Communities? Educational experiences for students of color have continued to be substantially separate and unequal. According to “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education†by Linda Darling-Hammond, “two-thirds of minority students still attend schools that are predominantly minority, most of them located in central cities and funded well below those in neighboring suburban districts. Recent analyses of data prepared for school finance cases in Alabama, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, and Texas have found that on every tangible measure, from qualified teachers to curriculum offerings, schools serving greater numbers of students of color had significantly fewer resources than schools serving mostly white students.†This research shows and supports the claim that schools in low-income communities with predominantly colored students get limited supplies, resources, and services compared to schools with significantly white students.
Segregation in Chicago Schools
Continued on page 8
By Keji Akinremi
Segregation in Chicago Schools cont.
It is often said that ¨education is the key to success.¨ However, not everyone has access to that key. Students are not given the same equal quality of education. I experienced such inequality first-hand. I began 4th grade at a school on the North side of Chicago. My first year at the school, we had so many teachers we couldn’t keep track. But then when I began sixth grade, I stepped inside the school gates with my sister and saw everyone greeting each other. As we were being called by room numbers, I watched as I saw kids half my age coming into the class with me. Then I began to realize I was sharing my sixth grade class with fifth graders. We never got an explanation as to why they merged the two grades, but there was only one sixth grade class with only sixth graders in it. This class was being taught by the science teacher, Mr. T.* I thought it would end there, but the fifth graders did sixth grade work. It was like competing: you couldn’t fail or else you’d be seen as dumber than a fifth grader. When I began seventh grade things seemed to be better: we had great writing, reading, and math teachers. Suddenly, though, my math teacher Ms. West* left due to medical reasons and we weren’t provided with a sub, so our only option was to be taught by our assistant principal for the rest of the year. One day, my classmates and I had all just got to school. Usually, we would be the first to enter the school because our teacher always came out early. But this time we were the last to get into the school. We all thought our teacher was in a meeting but little did we know we were in for a surprise; because our teacher never came to get us from outside, the assistant principal had to walk us to our classroom. Walking to our classroom in two lines (boys and girls), we were shocked: our classroom looked like it had never been used. Everything was gone. Every poster our teacher put, bean bag, books - all gone. Then we find out our writing teacher Ms.Turner* had left to teach at another school. For awhile we had different substitute teachers every day until we got a new teacher, Ms.Kit.* She had a lot of experience, and it was said that she had been working In CPS for 22 years. We worked with her for the rest of the year, but I guess because we had too many teachers coming in and out, many of my classmates lost discipline. Every day was something new, and our teacher couldn’t handle us. Kids began leaving the class whenever they wanted, no one listened, our lessons made no sense, and our teacher had to leave the classroom at some points to take breaks. Our classroom was like a circus. Finally, eighth grade came. Our school was building a new playground. Some people may have walked past and thought they should enroll their child there. However, the inside was less pretty. With the new year, we had new teachers. We had both new math and writing teachers, as well as a few other new staff members. Our new writing teacher Ms. Henn* was young and was pretty experienced. By November or December, rumors began going around from the staff that she was leaving. They were right: later that day she announced that she was leaving to teach back at her old school. Again we were left with no teacher. Luckily she was replaced with Ms. Smith.* The whole school was happy because we thought we had a teacher that would set the students straight and create structure back into the writing classroom. However, little did we know we were in for a surprise. Ms.Smith was barely present, and she would be gone sometimes for weeks. We never got an explanation as to why but we did no writing work at all. Sometimes we’d come into the class and sit from the beginning of class until the end just talking and playing around. Our math teacher, Ms. G.,* stayed for the entire year and so did our reading teacher. We had one science teacher for the whole school. At the end of the school year, our reading and math teachers hugged all the eighth graders because they, too, were leaving. I found it funny that we had the money for a new playground yet we went through our whole middle school year without having a teacher to teach us some of our core subjects such as writing, math, and social studies. Many days we had no homework. I know: it’s every kid’s dream to not have homework, but you’d understand if you were going into high school. Many of us were physically ready for high school because we were finally going to a new school, but mentally I knew I wasn’t prepared. When I began high school at a school on the North side, it was a new experience. For the first time, I felt mentally challenged: I had homework, took notes, and had tests. I procrastinated a lot and then I knew I had to get it together. I knew that no one could help me this time and that I had to grow up and teach myself the skills I should have learned in middle school. My experiences have taught me that our education system is more unequal than we realize. When schools don’t get the appropriate funding they need - especially schools that teach younger kids - students are not learning the skills they need to make it into college or succeed in high school. When students are given hand-me-down books and less funding, schools have a lower number of teachers, and teachers don’t have the resources they need to teach. These things can make some students become less motivated, especially those who might even be the first in their family to receive an education. Of course, private schools have fewer dropout rates; their funding is coming out of the pockets of students' guardians. According to ¨A Research Synthesis / Unequal School Funding in the United States¨ by Bruce J. Biddle and David C. Berliner, ¨ Schools within a given district or classrooms within a specific school may also experience massive differences in funding (Rothstein, 2000). Such inequities appear because the needs of disadvantaged students are less often heeded in debates about programs, facilities, and funding allocation in local venues.¨ This quote proves that even schools within the same districts or city receive a massive amount of differences in their funding. This inequality happens because the needs of disadvantaged students are not being brought up when it comes to debates about facilities, programs, and funding allocation in schools. Schools that teach more low-income students and are being funded very poorly are hardly paid attention to and are purposely deprived of the ability to teach their students the proper education they need. At the same time, public schools are funded by the government and tax dollars. According to “A Research Synthesis / Unequal School Funding in the United States†by Bruce J. Biddle and David C. Berliner, "The financial support for public schools comes from local property taxes, which means that the amount of funding that communities are able to provide for their schools varies according to community affluence.¨ The funding public schools get is by the wealth of their community: those with big houses pay more taxes, therefore leading to more funding for nearby schools. Meanwhile, those whose communities look uncared for have schools that are funded very poorly. What child is going to feel hope when their ceiling is destroyed and their school is not tended to and is less cared for? When I left middle school, I thought the only thing that could improve it would be shutting it down, but I now realize that that it could have been the only school some of my classmates could afford. According to “1 In 3 Chicago Public Schools Went Without A Teacher For a Year†by Sarah Karp, "A Chicago public school social worker Emily Penn had seen first-hand the lack of funding given to a school. For two long years, her students, most of whom have learning disabilities, had no special education teacher to teach them directly or work in the regular classroom to adjust lessons and make sure they understood. 'I feel helpless,' said Penn, who has been working in Chicago Public Schools since 2006. The North Lawndale school serves an all-black, high-poverty student population. Penn withheld the name of the school because she doesn't want to bring it negative attention.†This quote explains that often when schools are shut down, it was probably the one school some students could attend; kicking them out and shutting the school down does not help but rather puts students in the situation where they don't have the proper skills they need to survive in the real world. My elementary school was lacking teachers, proper care in classrooms, professional staff, and more. All of this could have been improved if my school had the proper funding. According to the report “TCF Study finds U.S Schools Underfunded by Nearly $150 Billion Annually†by The Century Foundation, â€The United States is underfunding its K-12 public schools by nearly $150 billion annually, robbing more than 30 million school children of the resources they need to succeed in the classroom, according to a new, first-of-its-kind study released today by The Century Foundation (TCF).¨ This proves public schools are purposely not being funded the correct way and are being robbed by not a thousand but billions of dollars, which could have changed the lives of many students who are in or trying to receive education in public schools. Quality education is not accessible to everyone if schools are funded by property taxes and not the idea of being able to have more educated generations. *Names have been changed for confidentiality.
By Halima Ahmed
Continued on page 10
My Experiences With Educational Inequality
"When schools don't get the appropriate funding they need...students are not learning the skills they need to make it into college or succeed in high school."
Continued from page 7
The school-to-prison pipeline is a social problem in communities and students of colors are at risk of this problem. The school-to-prison pipeline is when the school policies (most of them that have the zero tolerance policy) directly and indirectly kick students out of school and put them on a pathway to the juvenile justice system.
 Zero tolerance policies are when a school gives harsh punishment to students when certain rules are broken. This issue mostly affects students of color, which is why many students of color are at risk. According to the article “School-to-Prison Pipeline†by the ACLU, it states â€Zero tolerance discipline has resulted in black students facing disproportionately harsher punishment than white students in public schools. 31% of black students represent school related arrest, 3x black students are suspended and expelled more than white students in addition students suspended or expelled for a discretionary violation are nearly three times more likely to be in contact with the juvenile system the following year.†Students of color - particularly Black students - are more impacted than any other race by zero tolerance and the school-to-prison pipeline. Black students are the most impacted because of the racial inequality and discrimination against them in the educational system. This is a huge crisis for Black students since it’s a barrier that is keeping them from succeeding. 
 In order to understand these two issues, you have to know that zero tolerance plays a huge role in the school-to- prison pipeline. According to the article â€Zero tolerance Policies and the School-to-Prison Pipeline†by Shared Justice, “In 2010, 12-year-old Alexa Gonzalez wrote 'I love my friends Abby and Faith’ and ‘Lex was here 2/1/10’ on her desk in Spanish class with a erasable marker. The school deemed these markings as vandalism, and as a result, Alexa was handcuffed, arrested, and detained at a New York City Police Department precinct in Queens.†This young girl’s experience shows how zero tolerance has a huge impact on the school-to-prison pipeline system. The zero tolerance policy got her pushed out of her school and on the way to prison. Zero tolerance policies are so strict that if broken, it could lead you to jail.
 Zero tolerance was originally created to prevent school shootings, which is mainly caused by white shooters. According to “Crime and Law Enforcement†by Statista, between the year 1982 and 2021, the race that is involved most in shootings is white people. Even though white people, particularly males, are the ones that are involved in the most mass shootings across America, they rarely have zero tolerance policy or police at their school. Zero tolerance policies exists in schools that are mostly filled with students of color. According to “The origins of the school to prison pipeline†by Advancement Project, “The ideology of zero tolerance also comes from the ‘get tough on drugs and crime’ policies in the 1980s. The term zero tolerance originated during the Reagan era with the federal anti- drug abuse.†The government was trying to fight against drug abuse and school shootings, so they brought up the policy hoping it would ensure a safe and healthy school environment for all students. At Sullivan zero tolerance does not exist and this can be verified by interviews conducted with students and staff (see next page). During Mrs.Moore's, CTE Academy Leader, interview she stated that Sullivan has a restorative practice to approach discipline that focuses on repairing harm rather than punishment. This was zero tolerance’s first goal: zero tolerance was created to ensure the safety of students and provide a safe, healthy environment which is also the same goal that Sullivan has for its students but does it with restorative practices. In my opinion, other public schools should use the same method that Sullivan uses to support its students. It’s much safer and more effective. Rather than kicking students out of school, Sullivan built a system to ensure every student's success.


Continued from page 9
The School-to-Prison Pipeline
"All of this could have been improved if my school had the proper funding."
By Nimota Mohamed
To read more about Sullivan students' and staff's experience with the school-to-prison pipeline, turn to page 12!
pipeline affects sullivan
Ms. López Sullivan's Umoja partner (restorative practices)
Photo provided by Keji Akinremi
Mrs. Moore CTE Academy Leader
Q: Do you know any school that has zero tolerance and a school-to-prison pipeline system? Halima: No. Do you feel like you're at risk of the school-to-prison pipeline system? Why or why not? Halima: I am at risk because of my race and religion, and I’m also worried that I might go to jail because of a mistake that was made at school. Q: How do you feel about police in the school? Halima: Depends on the cops. They did not say anything bad and sometimes they come to the school to prevent fights. It’s the types of cops at school.

Q: Do you think that students at Sullivan are at risk of experiencing zero tolerance and school-to-prison pipeline? Why or why not? Ms. López: They are in danger, especially students who come from a low socio-economic background and are pushed out because there is not enough support and resources to support them and are most likely to get kicked out of school and fall into the juvenile system. Q: Have you ever experienced zero tolerance when you were a student? If so, would you be willing to elaborate? Ms. López: Yes. I went to a small charter school and there were some policies that were zero tolerance like fights and drugs. If a student is coming in with substances and fights, there is a reason for it. Students need second chances because they make mistakes. If they made a mistake they were either suspended or expelled. Q: Do you think that students at Sullivan are at risk of experiencing zero tolerance and school-to-prison pipeline? Why or why not? Mrs. Moore: I do not think Sullivan has a zero tolerance toward discipline in most situations because Mr. Livingston, our Dean, has a restorative practices approach to discipline that focus on repairing harm instead of punishment Q: Have you ever worked at a school that uses zero tolerance policy? If so, can you share what it was like? Mrs. Moore: In my previous role as a principal, there were times where I had to use zero tolerance when students brought weapons to school or used a weapon on a student. However, once the student returned to school after being arrested or serving suspension, they were welcomed back and treated with respect. Q: Do you think the students there are at risk of entering the juvenile system? Mrs. Moore: Yes. The students did enter the juvenile system because they were arrested by the school police. Because when the school police are in the building, if they see a student with a weapon, they arrested the person because he committed a crime on school property. 

Photo provided by Stephanie Moore
Halima Ahmed, Sophomore at Sullivan High School
HOW THE sCHOOL-TO-PRISON
Q: Have you ever experienced zero tolerance and the school-to-prison pipeline? Keji: I in a way have experienced it. In eighth grade I was taking a math quiz, and my teacher accused me of cheating. He took my quiz sheet from me without investigating or listening to me. Fortunately I was able to retake the quiz and not get suspended, with the involvement of my parents and the principal. Q: Do you know any school that has zero tolerance and a school-to-prison pipeline system? Keji: Yes I know a school that claims it does not have the zero tolerance but it does. Do you feel like you're at risk of the school-to-prison pipeline system? Why or why not? Keji: Yes, in general I feel like I am at risk of the school-to-prison pipeline system because the majority of students that are victims of this issue are students of color and minorities. Q: Do you think that zero tolerance and the school-to-prison pipeline exist in our school? Why or why not? Keji: I believe that neither zero tolerance nor the school-to-prison pipeline exists in our school because Sullivan sees its students as family and wants the best for them. Sullivan helps its students to have good morals. Although , if a student does wrong he/she will be punished appropriately but not excessively. Q: How do you feel about police in the school? Keji: I have mixed feelings about this topic. Having the police in schools has pros and cons. They are there to safeguard us, but also they sometimes misuse their authority.

Photo provided by Maggie López
To learn about how these issues impact students and staff, I interviewed two Sullivan students and two Sullivan staff about their experience with zero tolerance and the school-to-prison pipeline.
Photo provided by Halima Ahmed
Keji Akinremi, Sophomore at Sullivan High School
By Ephraim Chase
"...for Black children to reach their full potential, and to feel most comfortable in school, more Black educators are needed."
Growing up as a Black student, I never had a Black teacher. Unfortunately this is the case for many other Black students. More than 80% of teachers in the state, and over 75% nationally, are white, while Black and other teachers of color make up less than 30% percent of teachers state and nationwide, according to ¨Beyond hiring: The struggle to diversify Chicago’s teaching ranks†by Adeshina Emmanuel. This is largely disproportionate to how many Black students there are. This is unfair because Black students not having enough, or any, Black teachers hinders their academic growth in many ways. 
 Why We Don't Have Many Black Teachers Today The reasons for the low diversity in teachers are numerous, but let's start with the class-action case Brown Vs. Board of Education. This was a very important case that allowed Black and white children to go to school and learn together. Even though this was a huge step forward for Black people, it was flawed. The reason I say this is because Black STUDENTS were now integrating into white schools, with white students, and white teachers. This was a flawed system because how were Black kids supposed to succeed when the people that are vital to their success and learning didn’t want them there? The approach they should have taken should have been to integrate some Black teachers first. That way, they could have a mix of both white and Black teachers, just like they had a mix of Black and white students. When Black schools integrated into white schools, almost all Black teachers that had previously taught at the all Black schools were fired, and the very few who were kept on were treated horribly, according to¨Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment¨ presented by Malcolm Gladwell. This prompted the case Brooks Vs.Moberly, where all Black teachers were fired from an all Black school during the integration due to supposed poor conduct. The teachers sued because they felt they were fired because of their race and not how they performed on the job. Unfortunately the case was lost and we still pay the price of not including Black teachers in the integration, because Black teachers have yet to recover from this. The thing they should have done was integrate some Black teachers first, so they could have a mix of both white and Black teachers, just like they had a mix of Black and white students.
 Why We Need More Black Teachers One thing that should be understood is that for Black children to reach their full potential, and to feel most comfortable in school; more Black educators are needed. According to ¨Beyond hiring: The struggle to diversify Chicago’s teaching ranks†by Adeshina Emmanuel, ¨Studies show better academic and social-emotional outcomes when students have a teacher from a similar cultural background, especially Black and latinx students.¨ It has also been proven that Black students having a Black teacher increases test scores, positively changes how they behave, and drastically lowers the chance of suspension. The impact having a Black teacher has on a Black student is drastic; this is proven in a study that shows that if a Black student has at least one Black teacher in elementary school that their chances of dropping out of school decrease by 39%. That is the impact of one Black teacher - imagine the outcomes if they had more. Implicit bias is another big reason we need more Black teachers. Implicit bias is the thoughts or automatic things we assume about something or someone, due to the stereotypes our brains are conditioned to believe. In this case, white teachers' implicit biases unconsciously affect Black students in a negative way. One podcast,¨Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment¨ presented by Malcolm Gladwell, explains how ¨Teachers are the gatekeepers of where students will go.¨ This comes into play with kids getting into gifted programs. Studies have shown that Black kids have equal chances to get into gifted programs than a white kid if they have a Black teacher. But the chance of being in a gifted program drops by 50% when a Black student has a white teacher. This supports the claim that white teachers have implicit bias that affects Black students negatively. Even though most white teachers mean no harm, implicit bias is there and does affect Black students. To solve this, more Black teachers are needed.

Black people have a disadvantage when it comes to education because of the lingering effects slavery has on our society and education system in America. Students in CPS are more likely to encounter a police officer before a counselor or social worker throughout the day at school. But according to data obtained by The 74, that’s not the case in districts like Naperville and New Trier Township. This shows the lingering effects slavery has on our education systems because urban education is treated like a prison system which affects students negatively. Additionally, according to “Chicago’s School-to-Prison Pipeline Problem Is Real†by Julian Johnson, “African Americans comprise 36% of Chicago Public Schools but account for up to 61% of the 19,799 school suspensions. Even more startling, African American children account for 63% of the 2,244 school referrals to police. Criminality is disproportionately associated with Black children in Chicago and it is driving children into the criminal justice system at alarming rates. In 2017, CPD arrested over 8,000 minors.†This shows that are education system is still affected by slavery because urban schooling is creating a pipeline straight to prison for our young Black youth. Also in 2016 state tests showed that barely one in four CPS students could read at grade level. These numbers reflect the effort the city puts into our youth’s learning compared to the suburbs. This is an important problem because if our struggling inner cities had strong education systems more people would be thriving and successful. A stat showed that 115 black men enrolled at Bradley University (1.9 percent); 1,093 imprisoned at the Danville Correctional Center (60 percent). 321 black men enrolled at Northwestern University (1.7 percent); 1,207 imprisoned at Western Illinois Correctional Center (60 percent). This stat shows that our education system isn't pushing our young black youth to succeed, this is because if the lingering effects slavery still has on our society. 

Continued on page 16
By Adu Afolabi
The Need for More Black Teachers
The Lingering Effects
AA: Why did you get into teaching/education? JB:I got into it because when I was in high school I didn't have a lot of Black representation and I wanted to help change that.
 AA:I really like that response. So what do you think was one of the hardships, if there were any, in becoming a teacher? JB: Well first off it's hard because you have to get your masters degree to be a school counselor, and it's very expensive. I've been a counselor for 13 years and I'm still paying my loans back. The other thing that was hard was I went to a PWI, or a primarily white institution, so there weren't many Black kids there. It wasn't always easy being one of the only Black kids in all my classes. I was stereotyped by some the students and some of the teachers.
 AA: What is your experience being a Black educator? Do you think you were ever treated a certain way because you are Black? JB: Yes, definitely. In my experience in education I've been surrounded by a lot of white women, and that can be an interesting dynamic, where there aren’t a lot of men, let alone Black men, so sometimes my voice and opinion is not taken as seriously maybe because I am a male or Black male. I also feel like I have something to prove being a Black male, so I always feel like I have to prove myself which can really stress me out. 
 AA: What do you think Black students gain by having more teachers that are Black? JB: I mean there is data that shows kids that have Black teachers in elementary school graduate at like a 30% higher rate than kids who don't. I think it's so important for kids to see people who look like them do well. So like the Black Panther movie, I watched that movie and I cried because I’m ** years old and I hadn't seen a real Black superhero before, and as far as education my hero in education was my aunt: she was a Black woman who gave me pride in my last name; she let me know I wasn’t dumb and that I could be educated, and that I could do anything wanted to do. AA: Yeah definitely. JB: And I think Black educators can relate to struggles of Black and brown students: maybe they grew up with money because not all Black and brown students are poor, but they probably have had similar experiences, whether it's racism, or other things. And it's just important for kids to see people who look like them doing well because there are so many images of Black people doing poorly in the media and I think Black kids need to see more Black people doing well.
 AA: Did you have any Black teachers when you were in school? If so, what impact did they have on you? JB: I don't think I had any Black teachers till college. Dr. LeFlore who was my favorite professor of all time, and he really influenced how I look at the world. But I think he was the only one. 
 AA:Do you think Sullivan needs more Black teachers? JB: 1000%. I'm a part of the Black Excellence Committee which is a committee that strives to have more Black voices in the school, and there's a Black Excellence student committee now too. And in these meetings there aren't too many of us, ‘cause there aren’t a lot of Black staff in the school. And it's not only important for the students, but also for the staff to have a more diverse set of colleagues that they are working with. But yeah it's super important and it needs to happen. 
 AA: Okay last question: do you think the low diversity in teachers in CPS is done purposefully? Why or why not? Jb: No, I do not. What I do think is that Chicago has had a history of systemic racism that is still happening, which has led to Black teachers in Chicago to become teachers. So I don't think the city of Chicago does it on purpose. I mean we have a Black mayor and Black CEO, but I think the city of Chicago has had a long history of systemic racism and now Chicago is reaping what they've sown. Like I was in a school counselors meeting before the pandemic and there were about 80 people in the room and I think there were two other Black males besides me, but almost everybody was a white female. It was crazy. AA: It really is crazy because Chicago's population is one of the most diverse in all the cities in America, yet they still have a low diversity rates in teachers.

Photo by Adu Afolabi
A Conversations with Mr. Slaughter, Technology Coordinator
Continued from page 15
AA: Do you think that Black students gain more by having Black teachers? AS: Yes, yes I do.
 AA: Are there any specific reasons? AS: There is unfortunately this association that was around when I was in high school, and when I started working here I was like “oh my god we´re still doing this, caring about education or being smart or wanting to work or try hard is a white thing.†I couldn't believe when I started working here it was still going on AA: Yeah definitely, AS: So that is kind of a pervasive attitude, and where sitting round and all the teachers are white or majority white women, and that's the strange thing it's like the information you're presenting is not really for us. It’s like we’re supposed to be here and kind of fake it and do it till we get the grade and graduate; but really it's not really our thing, it's just what we have to do AA: Yeah I totally agree. AS: But I think seeing Black teachers and staff, and people who are engaged and care about learning and care about education, and went to school and have gotten advanced degrees and such, it helps Black students own their education and see thats its okay and it's not just a white thing. AA: I agree with that. It’s like you’re a role model to them and showing that you can be successful this way too. AS: And not even doing anything - just being there and being as good a teacher as anybody else.
 AA: Growing up did you have any Black teachers when you were in school? If so, what impact did they have on you? AS:I had a few. My Kindergarten teacher Ms.Chambers was Black, I had a teacher in fifth grade, Ms.Ray, who was also Black. Unfortunately I interpreted Ms.Ray's teaching as lazy quite frankly, and I associated that with her being Black. And I remember I wrote something for a school assignment when I was in like sixth grade: “well I guess Black teachers are lazy.†But she was like one of two Black teachers I had to that point and there's enough stereotypes out there that that stuff was planted in my head. AA: Yeah. AS: But then as I got older in high school I had more Black teachers. They were all really good teachers, specifically my biology teacher. She would always try to make some connections with Black students, which I think I really benefited from that AA: Do you think Sullivan needs more Black teachers? AS: I do, but I think it's hard to recruit them and hard to keep them, and it would probably be easier to get more Black staff if we had more Black staff; but Sullivan is really working to get more people of color.
A Conversations with Mr. Brookes, School Counselor
Photo by Sukulya Somyoo
Continued on page 20
The Influence of Injustice in Infrastructure
By Gabriel Perez
"It wasn’t that segregation ended; it was just that white people found “politically correct†ways to disguise it into everyday life."
INFRASTRUCTURE
Look at the community around you: notice the highways, the buildings, the houses. Does anything stand out to you? Chances are, your city has racism literally built into it. Yes, you heard me right. Reasoning for things like highway construction is, to simply put it, a way to segregate the people of color from white people. This modern-day racism that goes unseen has affected things like climate, pollution, water, and many more environmental inequities. To understand where this all started, we have to go back - back to when African Americans were treated like animals and kept as enslaved people. It’s no secret what the white colonizers did to people of color. As the history.com editors would like to put it: “In the 17th and 18th centuries, enslaved Africans worked mainly on the tobacco, rice and indigo plantations of the southern coast, from the Chesapeake Bay colonies of Maryland and Virginia south to Georgia.†While many believe that the atrocity of slavery in America was abolished by president Abraham Lincoln in 1863 when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it was actually far from over. As Joe Bubar in “6 Myths About Slavery†would like to put it, “The Proclamation didn’t apply to the half-million enslaved people living in states not part of the Confederacy—or to the enslaved people living in areas of the South already occupied by Union troops. And in the Confederate-controlled places where most of the enslaved lived, it was rarely enforceable because the Union wasn’t in charge.†The everlasting impacts slavery had on America were sought out and carried on for centuries to come. While slavery and the impact it had on America seemed to finally be over, a new form of racism took over in the form of segregation. White people yet again found a way to keep people of color apart from those that are white. Because of this, The Civil Rights Movement was born. The movement was organized by Black Americans and it was a way that people of color could be now seen as complete equals. This new battle of segregation wasn’t fully “over†until The Civil Rights Act of 1964 superseded all state and local laws requiring segregation. To many, 1964 seemed to be the year when people of color could finally stop being looked down upon and treated as less than. For others, this fight was nowhere near finished. It wasn’t that segregation ended; it was just that white people found “politically correct†ways to disguise it into everyday life. What the white people who constructed major cities, like Chicago for instance, didn’t say was that amidst construction, segregation was perpetuated, with highway construction, powerplant builds, and a process called redlining. Redlining is a term that stems from the red marks and outlines investors and loan corporations use to distinguish the African American neighborhoods from those that are presumably white, denying African Americans loans because their neighborhoods are considered “too risky for investment.†In the article “Roads to nowhere: how infrastructure built on American inequality†by Johnny Miller, he says that “West Oakland in California is a typical example of a redlined neighbourhood. Historically a working-class community of immigrants and African Americans, it stagnated after being redlined.†Before the racist implementation of redlining, West Oakland, California was thriving in the work department for people of color: “By the 1950s and 60s, during the interstate building boom, West Oakland was in a prime position to be carved up and paved over: full of low-income housing, it offered little to no political opposition. A literal ring of concrete was poured around the neighbourhood, the precursors to today’s I-580, I-880 and I-980, and the result was decay, pollution and crime that characterised West Oakland for decades.†Another way segregation was nudged through was highway construction. Kevin M. Kruse, a history professor at Princeton University, said in his article titled “How segregation caused your traffic jam,†“As in most American cities in the decades after World War II, the new highways in Atlanta — local expressways at first, then Interstates — were steered along routes that bulldozed ‘blighted’ neighborhoods that housed its poorest residents, almost always racial minorities.†This quote alone exhibits a form of blatant racism that is unseen to the naked eye. Today, these many forms of disguised segregation have perpetuated inequities in health for many Black Americans. Because of redlining, citizens cannot find ways to pay for things like mortgages and are pushed to traditionally unpleasant neighborhoods. In these so-called “unpleasant†neighborhoods, city officials often find a way to cut down trees, build up highways, and put up chemical power plants which both contribute to poorer air quality and unreliable climate. Because historically Black communities have less representation and the neighborhoods they live in are often poorer, city officials can continue to regulate infrastructure such as chemical plants towards Black communities and away from white communities. Many scientists have said if we are not careful, the damage climate change will cause will be irreversible. But for these predominantly black neighborhoods, the damage is already done. Clearly, the racist practices and injustices are not a thing of the past, which is when you may ask yourself how you as a civilian can help contribute to fixing these profound injustices. Organizations like Tazo Tree Corps and the Race, Equity, and Leadership (REAL) program believe in building better communities for the people who cannot afford to invest monetarily in building up their communities. Tree Corps recognizes the importance of trees and how they can help prevent pollution. They will hire fellows who are trained in climate justice, maintenance, and tree planting. REAL believes in strengthening the capacity to build equitable communities for those of color: “From action guides to trainings and case studies, the NLC REAL team offers a number of resources to strengthen local leaders knowledge and capacity to eliminate racial disparities, heal racial divisions and build more equitable communities.†For many, the idea of racism in practice in the 21st century is far-fetched and preposterous, but clearly historical segregation has led to environmental racism with irreversible damage. Only by actively supporting groups such as REAL and Tree Corps, can we combat the very real injustices of today.
How the Active Transportation Alliance Help Prevent Segregation Through Public Transportation in Chicago
By Gold Akinpelu
Continued from page 19
The Influence of Injustice in Infrastructure cont.
For years now in the city of Chicago there has been a lot of segregation through public transportation all around the windy city like at infrastructures. As time has passed, people have thought of new and different ways to help prevent and stop segregation through public transportation. Some examples of organizations doing this work are Better Streets Chicago, Metropolitan Planning Council, Transportation Equity Network, and the Active Transportation Alliance, which we are focusing on today. What Is The Active Transportation Alliance? Let's start with the basics: you're probably asking yourself “what is this?†Well according to the Active Transportation Alliance, they are “a coalition of people who are working to make walking, biking, and public transit safe and equitable options for getting around Chicago.†The organization worked for nearly 25 years to secure huge wins for bicycling. In November 2008, the organization expanded its mission to include pedestrian and transit advocacy in its work and, as a result, changed its name to the Active Transportation Alliance. What Problems Are They Trying To Solve? Their main goal is to make walking, biking, and public transit safe and equitable options for getting around Chicago. That's not all they help with: according to the Active Transportation Alliance, it says "Reducing fares for low-income residents, which would allow for more freedom of movement that would in turn work towards combating segregation and creating a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities in our region." When people with low incomes, many of whom are people of color living in segregated communities, are better able to get around, they can access jobs, educational opportunities, and basic services and goods like groceries that are not always readily available in their area. Another thing the Active Transportation Alliance helps with is that they are less costly than many larger construction projects, and can help reduce congestion on roads and bridges by shifting many drivers to other modes. According to the Active Transportation Alliance, it says, “In the next 20 years, we will build a movement. As part of our 20-Year Vision, we are working to create a region with a 50 percent reduction in all crashes and where 50 percent of the population walks, bikes and takes mass transit.†This quote right here shows how much they are doing to try and make the community better and safe, and also indicates that they will be around for a while. 
 What Have They Accomplished? You're probably thinking: is the Active Transportation Alliance reliable? Have they earned awards for what they did? Well actually they earned a lot. Here are some of their achievements: In 1986 they got their volunteer written pamphlet to put their name out there which resulted in their first contract with the Chicago Department of Transportation. In 1989 the first Boulevard Lakefront Tour debuted and generated a new stream of revenue for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. In 1991 the first edition of Chicago’s Bike Map was produced completely by Chicagoland Bicycle Federation volunteers. In 1993 The City of Chicago installed the first striped bike lane on Wells Street. In 1997 Chicago installed 4,250 bike racks thanks to more than $1.5 million in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds.
 Under the banner of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the organization worked for nearly 25 years to secure huge wins for bicycling. These accomplishments help make the city better and safe for transportation. These are just some of their accomplishments - not all. You'll be amazed to see all they've achieved in under the span of 50 years, but this shows that the Active Transportation Alliance is a reliable source to help prevent segregation in the city of Chicago using public transportation.
Want to learn about how redlining created segregation in housing in Chicago? Check out page 24!
DIVISION
By Sukulya Somyoo
CHICAGO'S
By Obed Amandianeze
Segregation in Housing
Police brutality can be traced back to slavery days The earliest slave patrol was in the ’70s But that’s no excuse
 A Black person is 5 times more likely to be arrested by the color of their skin 65% of black people have felt targeted because the color of their skin But that’s no excuse
 Calvin was walking to a friend's house on the South side of Chicago Calvin feared for his life and ran and got shot to death But that’s no excuse
 Researchers analyzed data and it shows that Chicago police make more stops on Black people
 Chicago lawyers have tried to block footage showing the police arresting someone who was not in the wrong But that’s no excuse
 As a Black woman in America I feel it is important to use my voice Racism is a big problem in America But that’s no excuse

"The challenge is really society acting as if [mass incarceration] is normal. It's not a normal thing. This is really happening to people's lives." - Meek Mill
At first when I came to America I was welcomed But I started to hear if were you Black you weren’t treated right Is being Black a crime? What do white people have that we don’t have? We could be them as long as we work for it We are smarter than they think We just have to have our chance As long as you're Black they don’t try to find out if you're innocent or guilty They just put you in jail And if you want something you have to fight for it because we have our rights As long as you know that being Black isn't wrong then you can show it to the world
MASS INCARCERATION
By Zicharee Sago
That’s No Excuse
By Yvette Ishimwe
"The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned." - Bryan Stevenson
By Naomi Reyes
Freedom?
The article "Why American prisons owe their cruelty to slavery¨ by Bryan Stevenson, argues that slavery still exists within the prison system of the United States. As stated in the article, “In Mississippi, a black man was accused of shooting a white landowner who had attacked him. A white mob captured him and the woman with him, cut off their ears and fingers, drilled corkscrews into their flesh, and then burned them alive — while hundreds of white spectators enjoyed deviled eggs and lemonade.†This quote portrays that there is still a system that has existed for years that wants to hurt and put Black and brown people in danger. Being accused of something does not mean they 100% committed the crime. The punishment was cruel and not deserved. Furthermore, this article also states, ¨Black defendants are 22 times more likely to receive the death penalty for crimes whose victims are white, rather than black — a type of bias the Supreme Court has declared ‘inevitable.’†This shows that Black and people of color are still targeted even after years and years of trying to fight it. And being targeted because of history and the color of your skin is very disgusting. Lastly, the article then states, ¨The 13th Amendment is credited with ending slavery, but it stopped short of that: It made an exception for those convicted of crimes. After emancipation, black people, once seen as less than fully human ‘slaves,’ were seen as less than fully human criminals.’†This means American slavery just transformed into an anti-Black country rather than fixing the problem at its core, making the problem less “noticeable†when in reality not much has changed.
Slavery Still Exists Today
Black People in Illinois Wrongfully Convicted
Anthony McDaniels was a man in Illinois who was wrongfully charged with gun possession after he refused to pay a bribe to one of ex-Sgt. Ronald Watts’ crew. McDaniels ended up suffering the consequences and served 10 years in prison. The Exoneration Project saved McDaniels: he was released from prison. He said: “if it wasn’t for them I'd still be doing the rest of this time for nothing.â€
SOURCE: https://www.vera.org/downloads/pdfdownloads/state-incarceration-trends-illinois.pdf
By Vanessa Adu
Robert Taylor
Again, shown in the graph is incarceration clearly based on race. Black people make up 13% of the Illinois population but 56% of the prison population. People of all races commit crimes at the same rate; however, the Black community is the most targeted.
As shown in the graph, Black people make up around 13% of the Illinois population but make up around 50% of the jail population, compared to white people who make up 63% of the Illinois population but only around 30% of the jail population. 

According to the National Institute of Justice, wrongful convictions are when a person gets convicted for the wrong things (something they didn’t do) and has to suffer the consequences. Wrongful convictions are a problem because they take away opportunities and leave the person being convicted with feelings of guilt or fear, knowing that they can’t have a life well lived. Wrongful convictions disproportionately impact Black people because according to the National Registry of Extonerations, “African Americans are more frequently stopped, searched, arrested, and convicted—including in cases in which they are innocent the extreme form of this practice is systematic racial profiling in drug-law enforcement.†Wrongful convictions relate to the problem of mass incarceration because Black people have to go to prison and suffer wrongful treatment. 
Below are stories of three individual Black men wrongfully convicted in the state of Illinois.

Vondell Wilbourn was a man in Illinois who was wrongfully convicted of a drug crime due to a corrupt former Chicago police officer, Sgt. Ronald Watts. According to Wilbourn, Watts started making up cases about him when he refused to pay him protection money, sell drugs for him, and let him steal weapons. Wilbourn suffered the consequences and spent seven years in prison. Watts was eventually caught and pleaded guilty, but he only received 22 months in prison. As for Wilbourn, he sought a certificate of innocence from the state of Illinois that allowed him to receive compensation for a wrongful conviction.
Jail and Prison Rates in Illinois
SOURCES "Top Prosectuer Kim Foxx apologize as 18 convictions linked to corrupt cop vacated" by Elyssa Cherney The Innocence Project "Man released from prison after conviction tied to corrupt ex-Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts" by Michelle Gallardo
Vondell Wilbourn

Robert Taylor was a man in Illinois who was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews. Taylor was 14 at the time the incident happened and was “interrogated outside the presence of his parents or counsel.†Taylor was pressured into making a false confession and ended up signing a handwritten confession implicating himself. He served 14 years in prison. Taylor was then represented by the Center on Wrongful Convictions . He was found not guilty and all charges against him were dismissed.
Anthony McDaniels

I gave Sullivan students a survey about their experience with the police. 81 students from grades 9-12 responded to the survey. Of the respondents, 35.8% identify as Latino, 30.9% identify as Black, 8.6% identify as Asian, and 8.6% identify as mixed race. For gender, 53.1% identify as male and 42% identify as female. The rest chose not to answer or identify as transgender or gender non-conforming.
Police survey
For students who responded that the police have given them reason to not like them, here are some explanations: “They work for a corrupt system, so whether they're good people or not isn't the point. It's the system they work under that sucks. They have also let me down so many time[s] that I have little to no hope for the police force, I distrust them and unless I have to, I will not interact with them.†“They have given a reason for me not to like them. Not all of them though but rather the ones abusing their power and committing unjust acts of violence against minorities like African Americans.†“They made me dislike them because when people are protesting all they do is turn it to violence.†"I've interacted with a few cops and all but one have been patronizing and/or rude to me and to the individuals around me. The situations range from waiting for the L to being stopped for a broken headlight to attending a protest. One particular instance that stands out in my head was a time an officer was harassing and being incredibly condescending to a black woman with cognitive disabilities who was waiting for the red line (I believe she'd used a ticket off the ground to pay her fare), and when I stepped in, tried to justify his behavior and get me on his side.†“I was selling candy at the cubs game and making money. They came to me and harassed me. I didn't know what for until at the station they said soliciting.†“The way the police force has treated peaceful protests over the years has led me to question their purpose. Shutting down the whole city and brutalizing black and brown people of color has led me to distrust them. “George Floyd, Pierre Loury, Sandra Bland and on & on & ON.†“As a general system, the police are biased and corrupt and there are too many examples of police using power they don't have to force people into submission.†“The police, especially at airports are not very kind. They treat people differently based on races and religion. I have been taken into interrogation room because I am a Muslim.†“I felt like due to me and my family not being able to speak perfect English, a police officer felt like he was better than us which made me feel bad." “Police (mainly the white men) have created this normality of letting racism go without being noticed or dealt with in many cases. Most of the time minorities are so obviously being treated worse and like animals by the authority figures.†“My reasg is not due to my personal experience and is not directed towards all cops, but more so the system they for. The justice system is incredibly corrupt and biased, allowing several officers to abuse their power.â€â€¨
Experience with
By Ramon Randolph
Things that stood out: 21.5% of the students who took the survey said they feel like they were treated wrong because of their race,But majority didn't. 89.2% of students hasn’t been arrested. 32.3% of Sullivan students who took the survey were questioned by police and majority didn't. 32.3% of Sullivan students who took the survey have been questioned by police but the majority haven’t been. 21.5% of the students who took the survey said they feel like they were treated wrong because of their race, but the majority did not. 89.2% of students haven’t been arrested
"Slavery ended only 156 years ago. White communities continue to have the beliefs that align with the laws that discriminated and segregated the Black communities. They have always been pushed to the back and given the bare minimum and that includes health care."
MEDICAL & HEALTH CARE INEQUALITY
By Ilse Leyva
The Truth About Health Care
In the article “Why doesn't America have universal health care? One word: race,†Jeneen Interlandi argues that before the medicaid and medicare programs, the health care system was unfair or nonexistent to African Americans. The white people made it impossible for Black people to have the same healthcare as them which is why many Black communities created their own, and this all leads back to slavery and systematic racism. Slavery ended only 156 years ago. White communities continue to have beliefs that align with the laws that discriminated and segregated the Black communities. They have always been pushed to the back and given the bare minimum and that includes healthcare. According to the article, “In the shadows of this exclusion, black communities created their own health systems. Lay black women began a national community health care movement that included fund-raising for black health facilities; campaigns to educate black communities about nutrition, sanitation and disease prevention; and programs like National Negro Health Week that drew national attention to racial health disparities.†This quote shows how Black people were basically forced to create their own healthcare system in their communities because the federal healthcare system doesn’t cater to everyone. Like it says in the text, this brought attention to how differently Black people were treated compared to white people when it came to health care. This really does go back a long time ago to slavery because white people didn’t see Black people as equal and that's why they weren’t treated equally and we can see that happening with our healthcare system as well. Additionally, according to the text, “The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation for any entity receiving federal funds, and the new health care programs soon placed every hospital in the country in that category. But they still excluded millions of Americans. Those who did not fit into specific age, employment or income groups had little to no access to health care.†This proves that no matter how much the government tries to change stuff or say they changed the law, they will always find a way to exclude not only African Americans but other people of color from healthcare, good paying jobs and opportunities a lot of white people have and we don’t. They keep people of color in low income jobs and in very bad areas so we can fit the stereotype they basically made for us and then they have a reason to treat us as unequals, especially Black people. Finally, according to the article, “The Hill-Burton Act provided federal grants for hospital construction to communities in need, giving funding priority to rural areas (many of them in the South). But it also ensured that states controlled the disbursement of funds and could segregate resulting facilities.†Interlandi used this piece of evidence to support her claim due to the fact that her last statement still reflects what is going on today in the health care system. Usually the people in power and that govern state laws that determine which rural and urban communities get the most efficient healthcare are predominantly white. This creates an imbalance due to some of the perspectives the white communities continue to have towards the Black communities making the distribution of healthcare unequal.
NOTE: These data were collected during 3/1/2020 to 4/9/2021. SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Chicago has the highest life expectancy deficit in any major American city, and most of it seems to be racially motivated. The image on the left portrays a clear depiction of the life expectancy of Chicago residents. What's different in Chicago neighborhoods that make the life expectancy of some residents shorter than others ? Redlining: a tactic that is now abolished but once permitted mortgages to be denied to African Americans, causing them to be disproportionately restricted to those cities, developed segregated communities that concentrated poverty and the health issues that come with it. Although many people are surprised by the vast difference in health conditions between wealthy whites and impoverished African Americans, healthcare professionals have known about it for a long time. In Chicago's Black neighborhoods, certain causes that lead to negative health conditions, such as poverty, community disinvestment, and high unemployment, are seen at higher levels. Because of these conditions, people of color that live in the areas where the life expectancy is low have less access to medication, medical services and or medical attention. 

T
How Can Racial Inequity Be Seen In COVID-19 in Illinois?
Slavery All Over Again
By Abolfazl Mazraei and Mohamad Idris Mohamad Hashid
he first case of COVID-19 in Chicago was confirmed on January 24, 2020, according to “Social Vulnerability and Racial Inequality in COVID-19 Deaths in Chicago†by Sage J. Kim and Wendy Bostwick. More than 71% of Black Chicagoans who have died from COVID-19 were 75 years or older during 2020, according to “COVID-19 Deaths Are Rising In Chicago And Black Residents Remain The Most Likely To Die†by Maria Inés Zamudio. Black people have a higher rates of being affected by COVID-19 because of the levels of social vulnerability. According to Kim and Bostwick, on April 20, 2020 there were 13,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Chicago, and of those cases, 45.6% were African American and 20.4% were white, and concerning the COVID-19-related deaths, 56% of the 538 people who have died were African American, and 15.8% were white. Black people make up 30 percent of Chicago’s population, but 72 percent of the city’s COVID-19 deaths were among Black people in Chicago according to “Commentary: COVID-19 Racial Disparities†by Alexis Grant and Jeni Hebert-Beirne. Black people are dying of COVID-19 more than white people in Illinois because Black people are getting unequal medical treatment from the hospital. Even before the pandemic, conditions existed that made it so that Black people received different medical treatment than white people. Problems such as access to healthcare and health insurance, to quality education, and to decent jobs and financial stability have contributed to problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and lung disease that are found at higher rates in people of color than white people. In order to fix this problem, people should treat everyone the same and equally no matter what their skin color is. Hospitals need to give the same treatment to everyone. Chicago Public Schools should stop making plans to come back to school because if we do go back to school, there will be a huge possibility of COVID-19 cases going up. Most restaurants could be open but should not allow their customers to eat inside; customers should take the food somewhere else to eat. Most big stores should have security to stop people without masks from trying to come in.

Percent of vaccines taken
Percent of cases
Percent of deaths
White
75%
56%
61.6%
Black
9%
13%
18.2%
Asian
5%
3%
4.0%
Hispanic
10%
26%
16.2%
Percent of total population
14.1%
6.1%
SOURCE: "Chicago Life Expectancy Gap Driven By Race, Segregation, Says Research" by Paul Caine.
Medical Inequalities in Chicago: Life Expectancy
In the article “How false beliefs in physical racial difference still live in medicine today,†Linda Villarosa argues that during slavery many myths were made about people of color which led slave owners and doctors to dehumanize Black people. Doctors in current times still believe in these false statements. According to the article, “A 2013 review of studies examining racial disparities in pain management published in The American Medical Association Journal of Ethics found that black and Hispanic people — from children with appendicitis to elders in hospice care — received inadequate pain management compared with white counterparts.†This quote shows that race still has an impact on medical treatment. People of color receive fewer pain relievers and not the attention they need from doctors, unlike white people who are provided with everything to avoid their illnesses. This all because doctors still believe the myth that Black people have a high pain tolerance so they can take whatever they’re going through such as taking aggressive whips during slavery. Additionally, according to the text, “These misconceptions about pain tolerance, seized upon by pro-slavery advocates, also allowed the physician J. Marion Sims — long celebrated as the father of modern gynecology — to use black women as subjects in experiments that would be unconscionable today, practicing painful operations (at a time before anesthesia was in use) on enslaved women.†This proves that even in modern times, Black women were being dehumanized and being used as experiments. Their genitals were cut off and this was before anesthesia, meaning these women felt crucial pain. Even after slavery ended, this doctor still believed that these women wouldn’t feel such pain because of false myths made by other racist doctors. These Black women were treated like animals being used for experiments, just like during slavery when they were not seen as humans. Finally, according to the article, “And like many other doctors of the era in the South, he was also a wealthy plantation owner who tried to use science to prove that differences between black people and white people went beyond culture and were more than skin deep, insisting that black bodies were composed and functioned differently than white bodies. They believed that black people had large sex organs and small skulls — which translated to promiscuity and a lack of intelligence — and a higher tolerance for heat, as well as immunity to some illnesses and susceptibility to others.†This means that these false statements that were proven “facts†in medical books have brought society and doctors to believe that enslaved people were only good for hard-working labor and provided support to racist ideas. These myths about Black people having “thicker skin†has brought doctors today to put aside the truthful ache Black people have and not provide the medical care they actually need.
By Zainab Asif
By Larissa Posadas
COVID-19 Data in Illinois
By Jasmin Aguirre Sanchez
Q: Are you eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine? A: Yes, I'm eligible.
 Q: Have you received the COVID vaccine? If not, why? A: I will not get the vaccine because it is an unfinished product that might have prolonged side effects that are unknown. Not enough testing. Q: Do you have trust in today’s doctors? Why or why not? A: I do not trust doctors that over price medication.â€â€¨ Q: Do you believe the COVID-19 vaccine is effective? Why or why not? A: I do not believe the COVID vaccine is effective. There have been patients admitted to the hospital for side effects such as blood clots linked to the vaccine.
 Q: Have you ever experienced mistreatment in the medical field? If so, would you be willing to elaborate? A: I have not been mistreated.

See page 43 for interviews
SOURCE: "First Dose COVID-19 Vaccines Administered by Race/Ethnicity Among All Adults" from Chicago.gov.
Melia
26-years-old, Hispanic, Little Village
Photo provided by Melia
Photo provided by Jerry
Q: Are you eligible to receive the COVID vaccine? A: Yes I’m eligible to receive the COVID vaccine.
 Q: Have you received the COVID-19 vaccine? If not, why? A: No, I have not received the COVID vaccine. I don't trust in the vaccine at the moment with all the side effects and the things people are saying about it.
 Q: Do you have trust in today’s doctors? Why or why not? A: Yes I have trust in doctors today because they know everything about science.
 Q: Do you believe the COVID-19 vaccine is effective? Why or why not? A: Yes I believe the COVID vaccine is effective due to everyone who gets its effects and also someone died from it .â€â€¨ Q: Have you ever experienced mistreatment in the medical field? If so, would you be willing to elaborate? A: No, I haven't experienced mistreatment in the medical field.

This 3D pie chart shows the percentage among all adults, broken down by race, that got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago. Mostly white people got the first dose of the vaccine & fewer Asians got the first dose of the vaccine. 25% of people who received the first dose are Latinx & 22% are Black. The other 8% that got vaccinated were marked under an unknown race.
December 31, 2019: the day the first Coronavirus was reported in Wuhan, China. This virus has caused a large outbreak of sick people and deaths all over the world. Every country was told to quarantine, and even though COVID-19 didn't fully go away, quarantine helped maintain the low death rates. Hope was given for everyone and in a matter of months many scientists and money was put into developing a vaccine. This vaccine is currently being distributed to people 12 and older in Illinois. Not everyone believed this disease was even real, though. Some said it's a hoax or that it's the government trying to trick us. Social media has played a big role in misinformation and mistrust in the development of this vaccine. However, some people already never really trusted doctors from the beginning because of mistreatment in the past, especially for people of color. This mistreatment goes back to times of slavery where Black people were dehumanized by white people. White doctors created false myths about Black people, such as Black people have a higher pain tolerance. To this day, many doctors still believe such things since they have also been written about in medical books. Just like the Black community struggles to trust doctors, so does the Latinx community. When you look at the numbers, you can see the racial differences right away: Black people in Chicago die from the Coronavirus at a higher rate than everyone else. According to the Chicago COVID-19 dashboard, Black people make up 30% of Chicago’s population but make up 60% of COVID-19 deaths. Since Black seem to have a struggle with the medical field, these Black neighborhoods aren't getting the vaccine. In addition to mistrust in doctors, there are many other reasons why people don’t trust in the COVID-19 vaccine. I decided to interview individuals who didn't want to get the COVID-19 vaccine and see their point of view.

30-years-old, Hispanic, Albany Park
Jerry
Mistreatment Leads to Mistrust in the COVID-19 Vaccine
Cases
Tests
Death
50,986
818,511
1,139
45,893
594,243
1,990
7,095
138,368
237
89,211
565,792
1,725
8.6%
Positivity
5.3%
6.4%
3.6%
NOTE: These data were collected during 3/1/2020 to 4/9/2021. SOURCE: Chicago COVID Dashboard..
Q: Have you gotten the new COVID-19 vaccine? Why or why not? A: Yes but listen I didn’t take it because I was afraid like other people; I’m not afraid. God told me it was okay. I don’t trust man. I trust God and God led me and told me it was okay to take the COVID vaccine, so I took the COVID vaccine.
 Q: Have you ever gotten any other vaccines? Why or why not? A: Yes because it was a blindfold being obedient not knowing any better when I was little until god opened my eyes and he made me realize that I didn’t have to blindly take vaccines.

Cumulative Totals in Chicago
By Raymon Washington & Timothy Ivory
Photo provided by Loria
Photo provided by Neca
Loria
Neca
Zaquon
Photo provided by Zaquon
Q: Have you gotten the new COVID-19 vaccine? Why or why not? A: No. I decided not to take the new COVID vaccine due to the fact that I don’t feel there's enough research done on it.
 Q: Have you ever gotten any other vaccines? Why or why not? A: Well basically as a child every child has to get vaccinated in order to be in Chicago Public Schools or in any kind of daycare or anything of that nature, so yes I was vaccinated as a kid with immunizations and that was basically it. But I have never taken the flu shot due to my choice.
Why don’t some Black people trust doctors? This is a question that many people have been asking for years and the answers were kind of in front of their faces. Some Black people don't trust doctors nowadays because of the history of how the white people treated Black people in terms of medical care and health care. According to “Racism and discrimination in health care: Providers and patients†by Monique Tello, her patient shared about her visit to an emergency room: “They treated me like I was trying to play them, like I was just trying to get pain meds out of them. They didn’t try to make any diagnosis or help me at all. They couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.†This was a patient that was trying to get medicine and didn't receive the right care. This is one reason why Black people in Chicago may not trust doctors. 
 Black Chicagoans struggle to get the COVID-19 vaccine and many don't even want the vaccine due to the lack of trust they have in the medical field. According to Tello, “Multiple national surveys have shown that a significant number of Black Americans are hesitant to take the vaccine, given decades of mistrust, racism and medical abuse.†This quote shows that there were surveys sent out and a lot of Black people said that they aren't comfortable with taking the COVID-19 vaccine. A lot of Black people try to go to their family or primary health care doctor to get the vaccine. However, not all primary doctors received doses of the vaccine to give out. According to “Black Chicagoans Struggle To Get Access To The COVID-19 Vaccine†by Kristine Schorsch, “Dr. Scott Levin, a family physician with West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, said he doesn’t have an answer for his patients when they ask why they can’t get vaccinated during visits and where they can go. About half of Levin’s patients are Black and about one-third have Medicaid health insurance. Many are from Chicago’s Austin neighborhood across the street,†This means that many people have tried to get vaccinations from him and he couldn't comfort his patients with security about being healthy and getting this vaccine. Dr. Levin even said, “I see the look on their face: How could you not know where I'm supposed to get the vaccine?†He seems to even be upset about the limitations for the vaccine, especially when it comes to Black people. Many people from the community have tried to get the vaccine but he didn't have any access to it. Schorsch also states that “Collins-Wright lives in South Deering on Chicago’s Far South Side, where only 1% of the community has been fully vaccinated.†This is stating that the Black people on the south side of Chicago have not been able to receive the vaccine like everyone else.
 We decided to interview family members in Chicago from different generations about whether they trust Black doctors and the COVID-19 vaccine or not. In these interviews we plan to learn and explain why some Black people don’t always trust medical professionals in Chicago.

Why Some Black People Don't Trust Doctors and the COVID-19 Vaccine
See page 45 for interviews
Q: What are your inner thoughts about the COVID-19 vaccine that you would like to share? A: I think it’s helpful. Sure maybe it doesn’t prevent you from getting COVID, but it sure as heck will help you not die from COVID. It’s really helpful to have it and plus you get to travel again. But for the love of God please still wear your damn mask.
 Q: Are there any myths that you have heard of or believe in about the COVID-19 vaccine? If so, what are they? A: WHEEW sweetie, so sometimes I need to work outside of the pharmacy room to take care and keep an eye on people who just got the vaccine just to like make sure they don’t have a weird reaction. Just in case, ya know? And sometimes other people come by to ask or talk about the vaccine. The most recent one was this man telling me his son didn’t want to get it because there was a chip in the vaccine that would track us down. I personally don’t believe that but even if it was true - Y’all do realize our phones are used for tracking us down, right? These things literally spy on us. We carry them everywhere though. I highly doubt the government would pay more money for another chip. Plus why do you think the government wants to track YOU? There’s a ton of people so why YOU, ya know?
 Q: Do you think the vaccine is effective? If yes, why? If not, why? A: I have no idea if it’s actually effective because I haven’t caught COVID after getting it to test it out, ya know? But it’s just a precaution thing and I’m pretty sure it will do its job. I've had no concerns! It’s been doing okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore. It never really hurt; my arm just felt sore for a good two days.
 Q: Have you had any concerns about the vaccine? If so, what are they? A: I've seen people with slightly different reactions to the vaccine only like 2-3 but nothing TOO concerning.
 Q: If you could get the chance to receive the vaccine, would you get it? Why or why not?. A: I got it because why not? It’s not going to hurt me. Some people say it will make you a zombie and I think that’s f***ing rad finally spicing up my life, ya know? In all seriousness, it’s also because I live with my grandparents and I have a three-year-old sister and don’t want to be the reason they end up with COVID, especially since we can’t get the tiny ones vaccinated - at least not yet.
 Q: Do you trust your local health clinic on this issue? Why or why not? A: I mean, I think yes? If they’re getting the vaccine then it means that whoever handles them trusts the clinic. I doubt they'd waste so many doses.
Photo provided by Jennifer
Axeel Araujo is a 16-year-old male and part of the Latinx community. He is a junior at Sullivan High School and an athlete who plays for the Sullivan basketball team.
By Katherine Avila & Sofia Martinez
Jennifer s an 18-year-old merchandiser at Sam’s Club.
How Gen-Z Views the COVID-19 Vaccine
Jennifer
Photo provided by Axeel
Q: What are your inner thoughts about the COVID-19 vaccine that you would like to share? A: I think the COVID-19 vaccine is good and though I don’t exactly know the science behind it or who they had in the process of making sure that the vaccine is safe for everyone, but I do know that the Black community have built up a lot of distrust between them and the medical field because of things they have done in the past.
 Q: Are there any myths that you have heard of or believe in about the COVID-19 vaccine? If so, what are they? A: That everyone that gets it is going to be super super sick from it and the majority of people that get it will die. No I don’t believe in them because both my aunt and me had the virus. I had a very quick recovery. I lost my sense of smell and taste for like a day and they came back. My aunt lost her sense of smell and taste for a couple of weeks and those are the worse two symptoms we got but mine was literally not even bad at all. I’ve had a fake cold which is like when the seasons change and pollen and stuff start going around. I get like these symptoms that mimic a cold and that is literally way worse than what I went through. My aunt is like 72 and she didn’t die from it and she has all of the health risks that they said you would most likely die.
 Q: Do you think the vaccine is effective? If yes, why? If not, why? A: I’m not exactly sure about the effectiveness of it, but I do know that I don’t want to get it until I see how it affects other people.
 Q: Have you had any concerns about the vaccine? If so, what are they? A: The only concern I would say I have is that they are going to try to force everyone to get it, which I do not think is fair.
 Q: If you could get the chance to receive the vaccine, would you get it? A: No.
 Q: Do you trust your local health clinic on this issue? Why or why not? A: I usually go to one of the Heartland clinics, so I would say if Sandra is there I would trust it but I would still not want to get it. Like I don’t have anything against anybody like a healthcare professional that would recommend it but I still won’t get it.

Q: What are your inner thoughts about the COVID-19 vaccine that you would like to share? A: I'm not confident in the vaccine yet. There are other illnesses that still don't have the vaccine or cure too, so why would COVID ( a really deadly virus) already have one?
 A: Are there any myths that you have heard of or believe in about the COVID-19 vaccine? If so, what are they? A: Religiously, they said that the vaccine is the mark of the beast, and it automatically sends you to hell. Another myth is that the vaccine has a chip which will soon be controlled in the future.
 Q: Do you think the vaccine is effective? If yes, why? If not, why? A I feel like it could be somewhat effective because you can get sick from it, but you have to get sick to get stronger.
 Q: Have you had any concerns about the vaccine? If so, what are they? A: A concern is that the vaccine could probably have a rare side effect that could probably be awful. Another is that they are putting these into people so that they can control the population and could possibly get closer to death slowly.
 Q: If you could get the chance to receive the vaccine, would you get it? Why or why not? A: No, because I do not know what it is going in me, and I do not trust it at all. Someone has gotten a disorder over a flu vaccine before, so why would I get a vaccine that does not prevent COVID-19?
 Q:Do you trust your local health clinic on this issue? Why or why not? A: I don't trust any doctor because I feel like everyone is getting the same dose, but it'll be even worse if it was a different dose, and a different vaccine.

The Coronavirus has been very tough for all of us. People were hoping to get a vaccine for this deadly virus, but now that it is here, many Black and Latinx communities don’t trust this safe vaccine. According to the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago, about 41% of Hispanic Americans and 37% of Black Americans are not sure about getting the vaccine. Why could this be? Many of these people are afraid about the government using them as guinea pigs like they have been doing since America began. Many organizations have been created to help break the myths and conspiracies that the Latinx and Black communities are believing about the vaccine. One example is Promotoras de Salud in Chicago. They are an organization that is working to distribute information about the virus. They were trained by state public health officials to distribute correct information on the virus and the vaccine. They have talked to more than 40,000 Spanish-speakers around the city of Chicago and have heard many of their concerns. The Promotoras de Salud have surveyed over 600 people and half of the people surveyed do not trust the vaccine for the main reason of how they think the government only wants to play with their lives. To learn more about this issue, we conducted some interviews with people from our local community and asked some questions about their overall feelings regarding the COVID 19 vaccine and race. Two of these people are from Roger C Sullivan High School and one of them goes to college. We decided to base this interview on Gen Z’s thoughts because they are the future of America and because Gen Z is just now becoming eligible for vaccines. This interview was conducted based on COVID- 19 guidelines, which was done safely via Google Meet and via text message.
Axeel
A'Lexus
Continued on page 48
A’Lexus is a 16-year-old female, part of the Black community, and a sophomore at Sullivan High School.
How Gen-Z Views the COVID-19 Vaccine cont.
Continued from page 47
THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP
This 3D pie chart shows the percentage among seniors, broken down by race, that got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago. Mostly white and Black seniors got the first dose of the vaccine. 19% of seniors who got the first dose of the vaccine are Latinx, 6% are Asians, and 3% of the people that got the first dose remain under unknown race.
By Bayo Aina and George Quist
By Hugo Segundo
How did the racial wealth gap between Black and white people start? The wealth gap started after the Civil War and it still exists today. For example, according to the Chicago Community Trust, “White veterans returning home from World War II found government-supported paths to education and homeownership—key avenues for building wealth—through the G.I. bill. Black veterans, however, were statutorily and systematically excluded from receiving these same government-funded benefits.†The reason why this is important is that Black people were not included in government benefits, namely education and homeownership. Since they didn’t receive government benefits, they didn’t have enough money for education and homeownership. 
 Does the racial gap still exist today? Yes, the racial gap still exists today. As stated in Lee in “How America's Vast Racial Wealth Grew By Plunder†by Trymaine Lee, “The median family wealth for white people is $171,000 compared with just $17,000 for black people.†This proves that the average Black family doesn't make as much as the average white family. According to “Chicago’s racial wealth gap examined in new UIC report†by UIC Today, “Exacerbating this pattern, white families both receive far more support from family members and are also less often called upon to provide support to their extended family than their Black and Latino peers. As a result, white families generally have far more assets and far less debt than Black and Latino families, even when they have similar levels of education and income.†This shows that people of color don’t have the same type of resources and families that could provide for them the way many white families do. Also, white people often have more connections.
 The racial wealth gap in Chicago According to “Chicago’s racial wealth gap far worse than U.S. average, report finds†by Gail Marksjarvis, “About 65 percent of African-American, Latino and Asian households in Chicago have so little savings and other assets that a sudden job loss, medical emergency or other income disruption would throw them into poverty within three months, according to a report on wealth inequities in the city.†This shows that 65 percent of people of color don't have enough savings and anything that affects their income will lead them to poverty.
The average income of people of color is lower than the average income of white people. The number of homes owned by white people is more than the number of homes owned by people of color. According to Marksjarvis, “The median income of whites in Chicago is $70,960 compared with $56,373 for Asians, $41,188 for Latinos and $30,303 for blacks. And the median values of homes owned by African-Americans and Latinos in Chicago are only about half those owned by whites, said Asante-Muhammad. Only 34.5 percent of African-Americans and 43 percent of Latinos own homes, compared with 53.5 percent of white residents. The median value of white homes is $275,000.†This shows that the income and the number of homes owned by white people is higher than people of color.
The Racial Wealth Gap in the U.S.
The Persistence of the Racial Wealth Gap
The chart above shows the inequality in median income between four races in Chicago. The biggest inequality I see is white residents earning on average over $40k more than Black residents. Even though white residents earn more than the three other races, white and Black residents have the biggest difference.
SOURCE: Statistical Atlas.
By Syed Zaki
According to the article “10 Shocking Facts About Inequality in America†by Capital & Main, in the United States more than 30% of Black children and over 26% Hispanic children live in poverty. The racial wealth gap is a huge income difference between people of different races, and particularly between Black and white people. It tells us how if a Black man and a white man were doing the same job, the white man would likely make significantly more money then the Black man even though it is the same job. America is very segregated and most of the areas that are very wealthy have a large white population and other places mixed races often are well wealthy. For example, if you were to compare the South side of Chicago to the North side, there would be a very big difference in the average incomes of residents According to Trymaine Lee in “How America's Vast Racial Wealth Grew By Plunder,†the wealth gap started when the first enslaved people were freed and they had no money or land. They had nothing, so they had to work hard in other people's houses or work as sharecroppers to make money. Lee says when legal slavery ended in 1865, Black people were promised a lot of things such as birthright citizenship, compensation, and the right to vote. But after Lincoln was assassinated, Vice President Andrew Johnson canceled all of these promises and said “This is a country for White men, and by God, as long as I am president, it shall be a government for White men.'' According to Lee, the only reason Black people could not make money was because of white supremacy and anytime they would start making financial progress and reconstructing the past then racial violence would come and take it all away. Later during the Jim crow era, Black codes were made and these Black codes worked just like slavery because they would not let Black people vote, take loans, and get jobs. So these Black codes were basically used to control Black people. Until this day the wealth gap between whites and Blacks is really big. Even though they say slavery is really over, is it? As time passed on, the wealth gap has been kept the same. According to Capital & Main, “The median white family has 41 times more wealth than the median Black family and 22 times more wealth than the median Latino family.†This shows us that if a Black man had $100,000 than a White man would have 40 times more than that and 22 times more than Latino family. This shows how big the racial wealth gap is. Lee tells us that “the median family wealth for white people is $171,000 and for Black people it is $17,600. White people make 7 times more the wealth of Black people. Even though Black people make nearly 13% of the United States people they only hold 3% of America’s wealth. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 19% of Black households have zero or negative net worth and only just 9% of white families are poor.†According to “The Racial Wealth Gap Persists in 2020†by PayScale, the controlled lifetime earning table shows us that a white man's lifetime earning is $5.62 million when a Black man is $5.51 million and a white woman is $5.52 million while a Black woman is $5.46 million. This shows us that a white man would make about 10 million more than a Black man and a white woman would make 6 million more than a Black woman. 10 million is a lot of money and this shows us how bad the wealth gap in the United States is. This wealth gap can be seen in Chicago today. According to the article “Chicago's racial wealth gap is by far the worse than the U.S average, reports say†by Gail Marksjarvis, in Chicago about 65% Black, Asian, and Latino households have so little savings and other assets that a sudden job loss, medical emergency or other income disruption would throw them into poverty within three months, according to a report by Wealth Inequalities In The City. This shows us that if they lose their job or if they have a medical emergency then they would be in a bad spot because they would easily fall into poverty within three months. According to Marksjarvis, ''The median income of whites in Chicago is $70,960 compared with $56,373 for Asians, $41,188 for Latinos and $30,303 for Blacks.†This shows that in Chicago the wealth gap between Black and whites is over a $40,000 difference and that is a lot of money. Only 34.5% Blacks and 43% percent of Latinos own homes, compared with 53.5 percent of white residents. The median value of white homes is $275,000. Most of half Latino and Black homeowners are cost burdened compared to 36% whites. They pay 30% of their income for the house and then are left with less money to buy important resources like food and clothing. Even though Black and Latino people own homes they have to pay a lot of the homes rent of their income and left with half the money they earned and they often do not have enough for important resources like food and shelter.This tells that in Chicago being a different race and owning a house is a very challenging thing and it can make you go into poverty. It shows that we should all be paid equal because if you are white and you pay 30% off the $70,960 then you will be paying about $20,000 which will still leave you with extra $50,000 to spend for family and important things and if you are Black and you pay 30% of the $30,303 you get then you are paying about $10,000 which will leave you $20,000 to spend for important things. $20,000 is a lot but is not as much compared to the $50,000 that white people get.
Sahinab Saliu
By Aly Esquivel
Leiram Rivera Soto
“The racial wealth gap exists in terms of resources for neighborhoods in Chicago, since neighborhoods are so segregated in Chicago as well. One of the biggest issues is that we don't get access to as many resources as wealthier people do. For example, a family with more money has access to tutoring for their kids, which helps them get better grades and then go to a better college. Then, that student graduates with a good degree and gets a better job, which means they have more money for THEIR kids to get tutoring...so the gap gets bigger and bigger. This is why the gap stays racial... it becomes generational, too. It's so important to bring awareness to it because awareness is the first step to making change. One of the first steps to addressing the racial wealth gap is to invest in underserved neighborhoods. For example, if we know that there are fewer ways for lower-income families to access tutoring, free tutoring opportunities could be offered. There could also be job training to increase skills so the people in these areas can get better jobs and increase their access to wealth. Furthermore, by giving more opportunities to people of color, the overrepresentation of white people in places of power and wealth can be reduced so that we do not continue widening the racial wealth gap.â€
Photo provided by Brookes
City Year Corps Member
Jason Brookes
Senior Seminar Teacher
The racial wealth gap has affected multiple families. especially families of color. I interviewed three Sullivan staff members to see how they view the racial wealth gap.

School Counselor
SULLIVAN STAFF OF COLOR'S thoughts on the racial wealth gap
Photo provided by Rivera Soto
â€I see it as unfair, inconsistent and only beneficial to middle and upper class people. For example, on the Northside people have access to grocery stores while food deserts persist on the South side. Even the train stations look better on the North side but going South it becomes less appealing. The racial wealth gap affects families and individuals because many have to receive food stamps just to put food on the table. You also have to be making a certain amount of money to qualify. You can’t make too much and you can’t make too little. Also, not everyone has access to health care which makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need. I think it’s very important to raise awareness and for people to know the history behind the racial wealth gap.We need to continue to raise awareness, people should receive better financial education and keep themselves informed.â€
Photo provided by Saliu
By Hussein Abdi
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Note: Read pages left to right, but read panels within each page from right to left! Panels are numbered to help guide your reading.
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