ARCHIVED NEWS: Making It - The story of Chatham part 3

This one is entitled "Chatham invests in education:Parents believe that learning holds key to children's future Series". You can probably already tell what the point of this article is, education.

During the very brief life of this blog one of the many issues that was worth exploring was education especially in the public schools. My only frame of reference was attending neighborhood schools back in the day.

This story again focuses on the relationship between the black middle-class and black lower-class:

Emphasis on education in Chatham has been described as "almost ruthless." The Rev. Michael J. Nallen, pastor of St. Dorothy's Church, said education for Chathamites is "almost like a god."

The teens seemed to agree. All were planning on college, and on business or professional careers, from computer science to electrical engineering.

"The opportunities are out there," said Tonya Berry, 18. "If you know what you want to do in life, there shouldn't be anything there to stop you - whether you're black or purple or whatever. You just have to work hard at it, and believe in what you want to do."

"It's not going to be easy," said Kenneth D. Daniel, 16. "But I feel if I just stay determined and don't let bad times get the worst of me, with a lot of hard work, I can make it. A lot more doors are open. And I've found, over the years, that if I put my mind to most anything, I can get it accomplished."

"If I start out on the right foot, I can make it on my own," said Yvonne Cotton, 14.

"It's going to be really tough," said Darrin P. Golden, 16. "At school they tell me that with a college degree you still might end up working in a grocery store. But I plan to make a lot of money. And I know I can. Times have changed a lot, from what my elders tell me. I don't feel it's open. It's going to be a challenge for the rest of my life. But I'm sure I can make it."

"I can see myself making it in electronics," said Dan Hayes, 15. "If you believe you can make it, you can do it."

"It's like my father always tells me," said Arthur Fykes, 17. "If you want to do something, you can do it, no matter who's there to try to stop you. Just go ahead and do it."

"You don't have to work twice as hard," said Lloyd H. Rice, 16. "Because your parents have paved the way for you to get an education. My mother tells me how hard it was to strive for goals in the South and all that stuff. So I think it's easier now, because our parents paved the way."

"I expect to work twice as hard," Golden said. He split a grin and added, "That's because I plan to be twice as good."

In at least one sense, these are all typical children of Chatham's upwardly mobile middle class. All seven are students at Catholic or private high schools. And that's cause for concern in some quarters, on two counts.

Chatham's parents are supposed to be role models for poor black adults. But what about the children of the poor?

The original idea behind school integration was not to have black children going to school with white children. The idea was to have poor children going to school with middle-class children whose values would somehow rub off. And that won't happen in Chicago if middle-class black parents insist upon sending their children to middle-class schools, including public magnet schools.

There's also a question of how hard a new generation of Chatham parents will work to improve their community if they're not involved in the public schools.

The parents understand this. And they regret it, they'll tell you. But they will put their own children first. And that includes Chatham parents who teach in Chatham's own public schools (which are above average). They bus their children to elite institutions. "Parents will pay any price," Father Nallen said, "because they realize education is the key to upward mobility."

The article goes from education to eventually the issue of crime. You kind of see a very pro 2nd Amendment aspect of protecting Chatham from the criminal element here:

Chathamites cooperate fully with the police. But they're also prepared to defend themselves, if necessary. Clementine Skinner, a 70-year-old widow, recalled the days when the major South Side gangs were forming, in the early 1960s, and she said:

"They came into this area offering `protection.' People met them at their doors with pistols and said, `This is our protection. You come back here, and we'll blow your brains out.' So they left Chatham alone. And that was very early in the game. If you stand up to these characters, they're just chicken."

Some would not approve of this talk, of course this lady was talking about what happened in the 1960s and then the culture was a little different than it is now.

Towards the end the article turns to politics as it was back in 1986.

"Chatham was the base of the black independent political movement," said political strategist Don Rose. "The middle-class people who moved in were economically independent of the Chicago machine, and they were the first people to rebel against the old politics. They elected one of the first black independent aldermen, Bill Cousins, back in 1967, and their neighborhood council was one of the pillars of the civil rights movement. They're the heart and core of Harold Washington's support. They register and vote - with vigor."

"They're thinkers," Nallen said. "They're sophisticated and educated and they think for themselves. They may not vote for you. But they're going to vote for somebody. They're people who take their civic duty seriously."

The 6th Ward that includes Chatham gave Washington his biggest majority in 1983, said Ald. Eugene Sawyer. But you'll hear some pointed criticism of the mayor's performance. His links to influence peddler Clarence McClain, in particular, grate on Chatham's sense of middle-class respectability. ("Lie down with dogs and you get up with fleas," Skinner said.)

"This is a community that's clearly expressing its concern," Rose said. "But I don't think Harold has lost his support. I think you're getting sympathetic criticism. And people shouldn't confuse that with disaffection."

Read the whole thing! There's a lot of material here!