SEPARATE AND STILL UNEQUAL: AN ANALYSIS OF CHICAGO’S STRUGGLE TO DESEGREGATE ITS NEIGHBORHOODS AND SCHOOLS

Abstract

With a history dominated by a number of forms of racial residential segregation, the city of Chicago still feels the repercussions of having such highly stratified neighborhoods today. Through an analysis of this history, it is striking to see the ways in which the impact of policies implemented long ago continue to leave their mark. Additionally, when studying the history of racial residential segregation alongside the rocky history of Chicago Public Schools it is interesting to look at the ways in which residential segregation and school segregation affect one another, as well as the ways in which the elimination of one could potentially lead to elimination of the other. This paper seeks to do just this, looking at the divide that has become a trademark of Chicago through the lens of its highly segregated communities and its struggling public school system.