There were several housing projects built in Chicago between the forties and the fifties but the most notorious of the housing projects built by the Chicago Housing Authority were The Robert Taylor Homes, Chicago's and the country's largest housing project.
These projects were completed in 1962.
Although these projects were built to give poor Blacks a better life, there were several structural barriers that prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from building a sustainable community and from partaking in the "good life" supposedly offered to all American citizens.
The barriers that prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from achieving their dreams of assimilating into American society were the same systematic barriers that have hindered Blacks throughout their history in America: slavery, de jure discrimination, and institutionalized racism.
Slavery prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from realizing and exercising their full citizenship rights because unlike other ethnic groups in American society, they were brought to this country against their will and were stripped of their African culture.
Their caste in society was the lowest of the low and although Blacks had been freed from slavery over a hundred years by the time Robert Taylor was built, they were never considered equal.
Simply abolishing slavery does not set enslaved individuals free.
On paper, it may look and sound good but as a practical matter, it does not carry any weight.
There are economic, cultural, and psychological issues; all of which must be addressed to secure true freedom.
The residents of Robert Taylor Homes never had an opportunity to address these issues.
De jure discrimination, which is the practice of discriminating against African-Americans through laws that prevent them receiving the same benefits as White Americans.
They were not allowed to move into neighborhoods of their own choosing because they were met with massive White resistance, both political and violent, that forced them stay confined in the overcrowded and dilapidated slums of the South Side.
This was one of the main reasons Robert Taylor was built.
Practices such as redlining and restrictive covenants was used legally to prevent African-Americans from securing mortgages in certain neighborhoods.
These practices began in 1934 with the signing of Housing Act of 1934, which created the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the parent of the Chicago Housing Authority.
Although this department was created to develop housing for poor urban residents, this act also required cities to target specific areas and neighborhoods for different racial groups, and certain areas of cities were not eligible to receive loans at all, therefore guaranteeing racial segregation.
Blacks who had the means to move into better neighborhoods were not allowed to and were forced to settle for Robert Taylor or other predominately Black neighborhoods in the hopes that they could create communities of their own.
They were also discriminated against through economics and education.
Blacks were not allowed to apply for jobs that would enable them move up economically; as a result they were chronically unemployed and as a last result, depended upon welfare to provide for their needs.
The schools for Blacks were inadequate and did not provide the type of education that is necessary to succeed in American society.
The residents of Robert Taylor were overwhelmingly burdened by the lack of educational and economic opportunities for them and as a result, became stuck in the ghetto.
Slavery and de jure discrimination are two of the many weapons used in the systematic and enduing existence of institutionalized racism, which has existed in American society since its foundation.
It first began with Constitution, which declared African Americans three-fifths of human being.
It was furthered with the continuance of slavery, the freeing of the slaves without an economic material base, and the denying of African-Americans their full citizenship rights until the six decade of the 20th century.
Institutionalized racism prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from securing decent job opportunities, the right to a decent education and right to decent housing.
No one listened to their complaints about the poor living conditions of their homes because they had the triple jeopardy of being poor, Black and undereducated.
Institutionalized racism prevented the residents from participating in the White and predominately Irish political machine that controlled Chicago at that time, a machine that could have helped the residents with most of their problems.
Institutionalized racism prevented the police from attending to the needs of the residents who called on regular basis, complaining about rampant drug dealing and gangs that permeated Robert Taylor Homes and prevented CHA from attending to the complaints of its inhabitants.
Ultimately, this same racism lead to the Reagan administration's 'New Federalism' which lead to massive cuts to the HUD budget.
The existence of institutionalized racism in American society kept the residents of Robert Taylor on the low end of the economic, political, and educational ladder of this society.
These same structural barriers are related to the political economy of contemporary American society because without these barriers, the political economy would not exist.
The entire political economic existence of American society came into its own and thrived because of slavery.
Millions of Africans were brought to this country against their will to toil in the cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco fields of the South.
Without their free labor, the American Industrial Revolution could not have existed.
The freeing of the slaves made it possible for society to have a group of people who could be blamed for everything that goes wrong in America.
The political economy of American society has lead to a vast amount of income inequality between Blacks and Whites and although this society had several opportunities to make amends to African-Americans by giving them same economic advantages Whites took for granted, it never happened because Blacks would be on the same economic playing field as Whites.
This same system forced the residents of Robert Taylor to leave the only home some of them had known for almost thirty years and face a world that has little use for them except for scapegoats.
In my opinion, Venkatesh does an admirable job discussing the structural barriers that ultimately ended in the demise of the Robert Taylor community.
He could have elaborated more on the lives of the inhabitants, meaning he should have made the residents more human in his book than specimens that he was studying.
Also, since social control is the primary theme of the book, one would expect more that just passing references to the many single parent families that existed in the Robert Taylor community.
Since Robert Taylor and other projects throughout America are notorious for having large concentrations of single parent families, he should have spent sometime discussing their stories.
The policies which led to the unfortunate demise of the Robert Taylor Homes have been presented by Venkatesh as the result of forces resisting change, namely racist political and real estate interests as well as from the misguided theories of modernist architecture.
Well intentioned, progressive administrators in Chicago intended from the start to tear down dilapidated neighborhoods and put low income former slum dwellers in large, often high-rise, projects.
Even if Chicago's City Council had not blocked vacant land sites, the CHA still planned to rebuild ghetto areas into new public housing.
The concentration of intense poverty in these housing projects would chase away perspective business owners and the middle-classed.
Maintenance problems, apparent almost from the start, stemmed from the project's size, scale, and demographics.
Finally, ineffective leadership at the CHA and indifferent political leadership in City Hall failed to provide sufficient services or security, insuring second-class citizenship for Taylor's residents.
Public housing, instead of giving the poor an outlet of hope, continued the vicious cycle of poverty and turned Robert Taylor Homes into a war zone.
Hopefully, the United States and its ideals of individualism and contempt for the poor will change.
These projects were completed in 1962.
Although these projects were built to give poor Blacks a better life, there were several structural barriers that prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from building a sustainable community and from partaking in the "good life" supposedly offered to all American citizens.
The barriers that prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from achieving their dreams of assimilating into American society were the same systematic barriers that have hindered Blacks throughout their history in America: slavery, de jure discrimination, and institutionalized racism.
Slavery prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from realizing and exercising their full citizenship rights because unlike other ethnic groups in American society, they were brought to this country against their will and were stripped of their African culture.
Their caste in society was the lowest of the low and although Blacks had been freed from slavery over a hundred years by the time Robert Taylor was built, they were never considered equal.
Simply abolishing slavery does not set enslaved individuals free.
On paper, it may look and sound good but as a practical matter, it does not carry any weight.
There are economic, cultural, and psychological issues; all of which must be addressed to secure true freedom.
The residents of Robert Taylor Homes never had an opportunity to address these issues.
De jure discrimination, which is the practice of discriminating against African-Americans through laws that prevent them receiving the same benefits as White Americans.
They were not allowed to move into neighborhoods of their own choosing because they were met with massive White resistance, both political and violent, that forced them stay confined in the overcrowded and dilapidated slums of the South Side.
This was one of the main reasons Robert Taylor was built.
Practices such as redlining and restrictive covenants was used legally to prevent African-Americans from securing mortgages in certain neighborhoods.
These practices began in 1934 with the signing of Housing Act of 1934, which created the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the parent of the Chicago Housing Authority.
Although this department was created to develop housing for poor urban residents, this act also required cities to target specific areas and neighborhoods for different racial groups, and certain areas of cities were not eligible to receive loans at all, therefore guaranteeing racial segregation.
Blacks who had the means to move into better neighborhoods were not allowed to and were forced to settle for Robert Taylor or other predominately Black neighborhoods in the hopes that they could create communities of their own.
They were also discriminated against through economics and education.
Blacks were not allowed to apply for jobs that would enable them move up economically; as a result they were chronically unemployed and as a last result, depended upon welfare to provide for their needs.
The schools for Blacks were inadequate and did not provide the type of education that is necessary to succeed in American society.
The residents of Robert Taylor were overwhelmingly burdened by the lack of educational and economic opportunities for them and as a result, became stuck in the ghetto.
Slavery and de jure discrimination are two of the many weapons used in the systematic and enduing existence of institutionalized racism, which has existed in American society since its foundation.
It first began with Constitution, which declared African Americans three-fifths of human being.
It was furthered with the continuance of slavery, the freeing of the slaves without an economic material base, and the denying of African-Americans their full citizenship rights until the six decade of the 20th century.
Institutionalized racism prevented the residents of Robert Taylor from securing decent job opportunities, the right to a decent education and right to decent housing.
No one listened to their complaints about the poor living conditions of their homes because they had the triple jeopardy of being poor, Black and undereducated.
Institutionalized racism prevented the residents from participating in the White and predominately Irish political machine that controlled Chicago at that time, a machine that could have helped the residents with most of their problems.
Institutionalized racism prevented the police from attending to the needs of the residents who called on regular basis, complaining about rampant drug dealing and gangs that permeated Robert Taylor Homes and prevented CHA from attending to the complaints of its inhabitants.
Ultimately, this same racism lead to the Reagan administration's 'New Federalism' which lead to massive cuts to the HUD budget.
The existence of institutionalized racism in American society kept the residents of Robert Taylor on the low end of the economic, political, and educational ladder of this society.
These same structural barriers are related to the political economy of contemporary American society because without these barriers, the political economy would not exist.
The entire political economic existence of American society came into its own and thrived because of slavery.
Millions of Africans were brought to this country against their will to toil in the cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco fields of the South.
Without their free labor, the American Industrial Revolution could not have existed.
The freeing of the slaves made it possible for society to have a group of people who could be blamed for everything that goes wrong in America.
The political economy of American society has lead to a vast amount of income inequality between Blacks and Whites and although this society had several opportunities to make amends to African-Americans by giving them same economic advantages Whites took for granted, it never happened because Blacks would be on the same economic playing field as Whites.
This same system forced the residents of Robert Taylor to leave the only home some of them had known for almost thirty years and face a world that has little use for them except for scapegoats.
In my opinion, Venkatesh does an admirable job discussing the structural barriers that ultimately ended in the demise of the Robert Taylor community.
He could have elaborated more on the lives of the inhabitants, meaning he should have made the residents more human in his book than specimens that he was studying.
Also, since social control is the primary theme of the book, one would expect more that just passing references to the many single parent families that existed in the Robert Taylor community.
Since Robert Taylor and other projects throughout America are notorious for having large concentrations of single parent families, he should have spent sometime discussing their stories.
The policies which led to the unfortunate demise of the Robert Taylor Homes have been presented by Venkatesh as the result of forces resisting change, namely racist political and real estate interests as well as from the misguided theories of modernist architecture.
Well intentioned, progressive administrators in Chicago intended from the start to tear down dilapidated neighborhoods and put low income former slum dwellers in large, often high-rise, projects.
Even if Chicago's City Council had not blocked vacant land sites, the CHA still planned to rebuild ghetto areas into new public housing.
The concentration of intense poverty in these housing projects would chase away perspective business owners and the middle-classed.
Maintenance problems, apparent almost from the start, stemmed from the project's size, scale, and demographics.
Finally, ineffective leadership at the CHA and indifferent political leadership in City Hall failed to provide sufficient services or security, insuring second-class citizenship for Taylor's residents.
Public housing, instead of giving the poor an outlet of hope, continued the vicious cycle of poverty and turned Robert Taylor Homes into a war zone.
Hopefully, the United States and its ideals of individualism and contempt for the poor will change.
Source...