Chicago Urban League Releases State of Black Chicago Report
Chicago Urban League Releases State of Black Chicago Report
The Chicago Urban League recently hosted its 2019 SUMMIT Luncheon and released the State of Black Chicago report which highlights important statistics about how Chicago’s black residents compare to the general population in areas like education, housing, and employment. The report will be used to help the Chicago Urban League better serve black Chicagoans.
The State of Black Chicago report was developed by the Chicago Urban League’s Research and Policy Center. The report analyzes data from over 10 sources, including Chicago Public Schools data, the U.S. Census, and Chicago Police Department data.
“The overarching finding is that the landscape of opportunity for Black residents of Chicago continues to be hampered by the intersection of structural racism, money, and power. This institutionalized racism helps to form the “social determinants of opportunity,” or the social conditions that either provide or limit opportunities for individuals,” according to a press release from the Chicago Urban League.
Black residents make up 31% of Chicago’s population and 27 of Chicago’s 77 community areas are predominantly Black, according to the State of Black Chicago report. Additionally, the report found that the median income for black households in the City of Chicago was $31,056 in 2017 compared to $79,425 for white households.
“What we wanted to do was really focus our study on Black Chicago and we knew going into this that there would be a lot of findings that were sort of exactly what we expected to see,” said Stephanie Schmitz-Bechteler, executive director of the Research and Policy Center at the Chicago Urban League. “I think our intent was really to compile the information and focus it on Black Chicago and then use this report as our starting point for tracking this kind of information.”
The report offers suggestions on what will be needed to shift the “Social Determinants of Opportunity” and create opportunities for progress in Chicago’s black neighborhoods. Some of the suggestions include increasing exposure to emerging career fields, more equitable distribution of resources in schools, creating greater access to mentors, and long-term approaches for addressing root causes of violence and incarceration.
“We’re really using the results of the research behind this report to arm ourselves with information as the Research and Policy team continues to have discussions with policymakers and legislators and our team continues to build programming to help our clients,” said Calmetta Coleman, vice president of External Affairs for the Chicago Urban League.
The information provided in the State of Black Chicago report will be useful not only for the Chicago Urban League, it will also be a resource for local legislators, community members, and community partners.
“We’re going to our partners and sharing this information and really hoping that it will help to increase their participation and help us bring on new partners to really move the needle on some of these issues of racial disparity,” said Coleman.
To view the State of Black Chicago report, visit www.chiul.org/reports.
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