However the current Chicago Public School system is in shambles. Today their school board voted to close 50 schools, schools where there are not enough kids enrolled according to the powers to be. On first glance this may seem like a sound business practice except that Chicago has a gang problem, it always has had a gang problem. Moving kids around like boxes on an Excel spreadsheet in a city with epidemic violence isn’t just a bad idea, it is a truly horrendous idea. Kids will have to cross gang lines and chaos will ensue. This is not hyperbole designed for good reading; this is the reality of life in the third largest city in the US. Never mind that these cuts are disproportionately affecting communities of color, the same communities that have already lost access to community mental health centers as well as other services. The same communities where access to a full service grocery store is damn near impossible and free services like the libraries are a joke and have been for the past twenty years. Nine out of ten kids affected by these school closing is Black…think about that.
Yet our President and First Lady who both call Chicago their hometown just this past weekend made speeches encouraging African American college graduates to do better, dream for more than being a rapper, etc. Too bad we have a new generation coming up whose chances of living to adulthood probably just got slimmer. Creating situations where children will have to face even greater danger just to save a few bucks and run a more efficient school system is not doing all that we can to help youth, it is basically telling them that they don’t matter.
Chicago on my mind…save a few bucks, kill the lil darkies off: