A Lesson on Gentrification Turned Slum Tour

Uptown, Chicago

As part of our school's “Civic Engagement” program, I spent my morning in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Despite living a mere 20 minutes away, until today, the area was completely unfamiliar to me.

Our school bus pulled up to the intersection of Wilson and Sheridan and we filed out and began walking towards a coffee shop across the street. My first reaction to my observation was that the pedestrians around us seemed to be moving so slowly. It seemed they had no where to be. I didn’t feel unsafe, but rather depressed.

In a windowless room behind the coffee shop, we were introduced to Anton, a social activist and a life-long resident of Uptown. He took us through a narrative of his personal history with the neighborhood; we learned about his experience in local schools and his observations about the changing nature of the city. Our conversation moved towards a discussion regarding the “Chicago 21” plans and the city’s ploys to gentrify areas like Uptown.  With only basic knowledge of the history of Chicago – especially as it relates to segregation and socio-economic imbalance – I learned a ton. Of course, Anton had a strong bias against the “powers in city hall”, but nonetheless he had a powerful presence and a story I trusted.  

His main message was clear: gentrification ruins the rich history of Chicago neighborhoods and unjustly displaces residents from the areas they have known forever. The message was meaningful and Anton made his personal truths accessible and tangible.

But my appreciation for the day’s activities soured slightly when Anton took us on a “tour” of Uptown.  He showed us various streets in the neighborhood, recounting historical facts about the places we passed. But while we were able to get a sense of the area, the walk mostly felt like a slum tour. There we were, a group of around 25 white students wearing lulu lemon leggings and Patagonia fleeces, walking past rambling homeless men and groups of guys smoking marijuana in a park. I always understood the “slum tour” phenomenon to be totally contradictory to societal norms. Traveling to see poverty, whether it be for purposes of entertainment or education, seems distasteful.  There must be other ways to learn about a neighborhood without walking around, almost trying to look like an outsider looking inwards.

Overall, the day’s message was important and the opportunity to learn about a new neighborhood was valuable, but the way in which we went around accomplishing these goals should have been approached differently.