The Chicago History Museum, and the end of USS 300

We had a thoroughly wonderful field trip to the Chicago History Museum this week in our final class of the course. The museum was very insightful regarding topics that we were otherwise unable to examine within our 10 classes this term. 

One topic in particular that would have been interesting to study in this context was the change over time of attitudes towards the gay and lesbian community in Chicago. I found this exhibit very fascinating, and the use of the video introductions, although unnerving at first, were insightful and aided in understanding the exhibits as we were given a description as we went. What was most shocking was that one professor had taken a lesbian woman and attempted to explain her sexuality through physical ‘deformity’ and relied on the conclusion that, because her elbows did not touch when her arms were straight, she was deranged and loved women. Now I must admit I stood and watched as people attempted to do the same thing, and NO BODY’S elbows touched! Perhaps I chose the day that only gay people were visiting the exhibit, but alas I do think the professor’s findings were flawed... though I do not like to judge...

It is a shame that we were not able to examine topics such as this, nor religion, within our class time. I think sexuality, religion, and the rights/issues that come hand-in-hand with these topics in modern society are extremely relevant in every global city, and perhaps they should be considered to be looked at in more depth/another class in the future. Of course with the constraints of a 10 week term I am just very thankful that we got to visit the Chicago History Museum at all, which was by far my favourite field trip of the class!

I also believe that this blogging exercise was a very unique way in which to contribute to the class, and I hope that everyone else enjoyed writing this blog as much as I did (who doesn’t like an excuse to rant every now and then – “oh I have to rant about this, my professor told me too...” not that one should rant every week, I’m just saying) 

:)

The Tourist Bubble - Whats it's Worth?

The issue we discussed last week was about the tourist ‘bubble’ in cities, and of course in Chicago in more detail. The idea of the tourist bubble comes from the fact that often in major cities the tourist attractions/districts will be located somehow separately from the flow of everyday city life. Literally they may be placed in one part of the city (Navy Pier and the Lake Front, or Millennium Park and Michigan Avenue), but their figurative flow may also differ. There is often more police presence and more focus on ‘beautifying the area’ (keeping it clean and admirable, moving homeless people along so tourists don’t feel awkward). 

I think in order to maintain any significant tourist business in a city such as Chicago this is a necessary aspect of tourism; I mean if the area is not appealing then people won’t visit, and I think I am safe in assuming that people on holiday would like to come into as little contact as possible with the harsh realities of city life.  And I know that, although that might bother some true urbanites, a lot of tourists come to cities precisely to visit the landmarks such as Sears (Willis) Tower and the ‘Bean’ (Cloud Gate). 

On the issue of whether this is a sound investment I believe that it is. Tourism spawns the birth of many other jobs and income in the city (restaurants, service jobs, hotels, bars etc.) that might not be as successful without a thriving tourist trade. In fact, one of the main reasons that we in Britain have not abolished the Monarchy is that overall it is a good tourist investment!! However I can understand the viewpoints that were expressed in our class discussion. Undoubtedly 100s of millions would be better spent on schools, housing, health care etc.

Yet, if these were focused on, and tourism not, then the revenue from tourism might not come in to make Chicago the thriving, global city that it is today. And in turn the city might go the same way as Detroit or other industrial centres. And then the money spent on housing and schools would go to waste... At the same time, did the city really need to spend so much on that stage in the centre of the park? I agree it is nice, but was the architects name really worth it?

Education, Chicago, and an Excellent Speaker!

Today we had a talk from a gentleman called Matt (an organiser at the Chicago Teachers Union) who talked to us about how Chicago schools are struggling against proposed changes from the “Pioneers Project” put forward by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and the CEO of the Board of Education. This was an incredibly interesting and insightful talk on a subject that I must admit I had very little interest in to begin with. I am afraid to say the Koval readings set this week inspired me very little, but after having the talk today I found them to be a lot more fascinating. No doubt this was due to listening to somebody who was evidently very passionate about his cause. 

I was astounded to hear the word ‘propaganda’ used so often during the talk about the current education issues, but after having it explained to us it started to make sense. He spoke about how the Board of Education were targeting parents and telling them to “persuade your teachers” to vote for the longer school day, and teachers were all for this, but they felt threatened by this tactic because it neglected their issues about a) what to do with this time and b) the issues surrounding not being paid for the 30% extra class time they would be spending and meant they were scared to speak up. However he spoke very inspirationally about how parents came together to support the teachers and their endeavours. 

It was also very interesting because I felt I could relate this issue somewhat to the ‘machine politics’ that we both read and talked about in class today (that, as opposed to the Koval reading, was INCREDIBLY interesting to read). He told us how ‘waiver votes’ were supposed to be used to allow schools to vote for or against the question of extending the school day, with the promise of $1300 for the teacher and $150,000 for the school. This made me think of the patronages and bribes used in Chicago politics of Richard J Daley, and also the way in which the Mayor and Board of Education bypassed the community meetings and discussions normally expected by the teachers union to go into deciding such issues. This reminded me of the ‘boss man’ who headed the top of the machine politics and was able to dictate what happened in city politics. Although this was not an example of a political machine I believe it was certainly comparable and not a little bit surprising in the 21^st century. 

I was very encouraged to hear that the teachers unions and parents were able to make differences in particular schools, especially because in England at the moment Parliament is trying to encourage local councils to transform failing secondary schools into ‘academies’ – something comparable to Charter schools here, and nobody wants them. I know that the teachers at my old secondary school are campaigning against the changes and I really do hope they succeed in the same community manner that schools have in Chicago.

How is Immigration important for Chicago today?

                Labour. To put it quite bluntly, today, as was the case in decades gone by, the running of the city (whether it be Chicago or New York) at a personal level relies heavily on immigration and immigrants. Just look to how historically farming in the South has relied heavily on Mexicans to bring in the crops, or how the building of the railroad relied upon the Chinese.  More often than not the industries of manufacturing, food service, construction and housekeeping (janitors, cleaners, etc.) are dominated by immigrants from Mexico and Poland in the city of Chicago. These jobs are often described as the jobs that Americans just don’t want, and without the large immigrant labour force the city of Chicago would likely suffer for it. Of the 574,055 Mexican residents of Chicago in 2000, 407,904 of these were foreign born and nearly 75% of these are found in one of the four industries mentioned before (Koval, 199-200).  We also talked about in class how the construction profession is often dominated by Polish immigrants – though we must certainly not hold this against the Polish community, because I know how much Chicagoans love construction in the city! 

                Not only this but culturally the amount of immigrants in the city helps add to the ‘Chicago as a Global City’ dynamic that I discussed in last week’s blog. With the examples of rich ethnic culture found in neighbourhoods such as Pilsen and Little Italy, and the fact that such events as the International Chicago Film Festival (note the emphasis) are held here help add to this dynamic. Also I know that the Day of the Dead Parade is now such a part of Chicagoan culture that a North Central College student group are actually organising a student trip to go and partake of this in Pilsen this week.  

                I suppose it is arguable that today immigrants face quite a few obstacles that they have always faced throughout history. There is always an immigration issue to answer for in US general elections, limits upon immigration have always existed, and the day-to-day prejudice that immigrants face from every passer-by (be it the one who generalises what job a certain immigrant should hold, or the one who grumbles that “they come here and take our jobs” – ‘they’ being every person who does not sound or look American) are a part of the immigrant experience.

 Though I am sure that if a modern day Jane Addams were to start up a settlement today the FBI might not jump straight to calling them the most dangerous person in America. And with communities such as Pilsen in which Mexican culture is very openly celebrated it would be more comfortable for an immigrant to try and establish them self in the city than say for someone struggling in ‘Little Hell’ and faced with the more overt prejudices of someone like Zorbaugh. 

I do not wish to belittle the struggle of any immigrant today, in fact I think they should be celebrated more than they are because they contribute to the American way of life just as much as anyone one else does from what I can see. Now my blog is in danger of becoming a slight rant at immigration issues, so I shall just finish by saying that I believe the labour contributions of immigrants in any city stand as one of the most important and significant factors in, not only, immigrant life, but in regular city life too.

Chicago - A Global City...?

We talked and read about how Chicago was becoming a ‘global city’ this week, and the different definitions of what constitutes a global city. Before I did the reading I must admit I had never thought of the possibility that a ‘global city’ could have more than one possible definition, but then again, looking back now I am not sure how I would have defined a global city in a singular way. 

From an economical standing, Chicago is global because it is home to an International Airport (O’Hare) and offices and headquarters of international corporations, such as Boeing, Dominick’s and Wrigley (http://www.december.com/places/chi/notable.html).  But from a personal, or street level, view point you can find people from all nationalities within Chicago, most easily illustrated by the existence of so many cultural neighbourhoods (Chinatown, Little Italy, Pilsen, and Humboldt Park), languages and even tourists. When people hear the word Chicago across the world they know that it is situated in America and the images of the ‘Bean’ (Cloud Gate – Millennium Park) and Sears (Willis) Tower are synonymous with Chicago. 

However, I think Chicago is missing the ‘x-factor’ that makes it a truly global city in the same way that New York, Tokyo and London are global. Unfortunately, being the x-factor, I just can’t put my finger on what it is missing. Is it just that the images of Chicago are not as famous as Times Square in New York, or Buckingham Palace in London? Is it they are not in as many films as these cities are? Does it in some way work against Chicago that it is not home to a single major commodity in the same way that other cities are, even though we discussed this as a positive, because Chicago is one of the very few industrial cities in America to survive the transition from the industrial age to the cyber age (look to Detroit, Michigan for example)? All of these things may count towards Chicago, in my eyes at least, not quite being a global city.

Of course that is just my opinion. Chicago fits all the criteria that Fassil Demissie discusses in chapter two of The New Chicago (Koval, 2006), but maybe checking off a list of criteria is not enough, or maybe Chicago just hasn’t had enough time to grow into its global role. It will be interesting to see how the next ten, twenty, fifty years play out, not just for Chicago, but for other cities across the world too.