Race and Community

Race and My Community 1

All of my experiences and opinions on cultural diversity are derived from living my entire life in Bourbonnais, Illinois which is a culturally diverse town with approximately 30,000 residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau my community is made up of about 50% Caucasian, 41% African-American 0.27% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latinos of any race makes up 9.25% of the population. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000) Some racial issues that I deal with in my community are racism, lack of equal opportunity and inequities within certain community organizations.

Although my community is very diverse, I would say that there is a significant portion that does look like me and a significant portion that does not depending on your location within Kankakee. The North side of Kankakee is predominantly African-American while West Kankakee is made up of mostly Caucasians. Leaders in my community are mostly Caucasian and male and generally seem to treat most members of my community the same. I do think that overall, people in Kankakee are more accepting of people of different races than in some other areas because this is such a diverse area.

In 2000, Kankakee was rated as the worst community to live by the Places Rated Almanac. This rating provoked Jay Leno to contact Kankakee Mayor, Don Green and interview him on air. Leno had two Gazebo’s sent to the Kankakee County Courthouse hoping the town could turn itself around as the "Home Of The Twin Gazebos." (Savageau, 1999) Although this was amusing to the residents of Kankakee it did spark great effort to make improvements.

Race and My Community 2

I personally have not been treated badly by other members of my community. However, being Caucasian with a fiancÐ"© who is African-American I have witnessed several incidences of racism. Several years ago I was interested in renting an apartment and met with the landlord who seemed very nice and eager to rent the apartment to me. He stated that I would be perfect for the place since I didn’t own any pets and they “tried to stay away from dogs and blacks.” Needless to say, I passed on that offer. I often notice a change in people’s demeanor after I introduce them to my fiancÐ"©, as if they are panicking, wondering if they have made any racial remarks that might have offended me.

As a member of the majority group, I do have an advantage in that most things in my community are geared toward people like me. Local media, newspapers, TV, radio are all primarily directed to the white middle class. Most textbooks, work manuals etc. are addressed to a white middle class audience or someone who has the education of that group. Recently there has been an increase in minority group interests in my community. There has been an increase in elected officials that are minorities, which will help to further serve the interests of those groups and will hopefully encourage them to become more active in ways that will help them progress in society. Recently, three out of four Republican presidential candidates turned down invitations to a PBS debate held at a historically black college in Baltimore, which lead moderator Tavis Smiley to accuse them of ignoring minority voters. (Lawrence, 2007) He declared that "No one should be elected president of this country in 2008 if they think that along the way they can ignore people of

Race and My Community 3

color," said Smiley, host of radio and TV talk shows. "If you want to be president of all America, you need to speak to all Americans." He believes the rejections are part of a pattern, noting most GOP candidates declined invitations to address several black and Hispanic groups, including a Univision debate for a Latino audience. Minority groups are more likely to vote and take part in their communities’ politics if they feel that there is a candidate who represents them and has an interest in their issues.

While I can provide my perspective on race relations in Kankakee, I do not have a great deal of experience with this issue. To provide another perspective, I have enrolled the aid of James Hanson, a citizen of Kankakee for over Fifty years and a minority group member. Mr. Hanson has been active in several community organizations during that time. He has great interest in racial equality issues and was excited to participate in this assignment. Mr. Hanson does not believe that race relations in our community have changed very much from how they were fifty years ago. He stated that although we are more assimilated now than we were then, there is still a long way to go towards achieving racial equality. He feels that there is not as much opportunity for minorities in many areas of our community, especially when it comes to education and employment and believes that high dropout rates, low paying jobs and unemployment lead to drug dealing or usage, gang membership, criminal records, and ultimately a lower quality lifestyle. (Hanson, 2007) Hanson stated that up until about 30 years ago, Kankakee was predominantly white and attributes its present diversity to fear and prejudice and states that “for every black that moved in two whites moved out.” He has been working with his church to create

Race and My Community