Examining Racial Inequity with the Author of “The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation”

The Net Impact Speaker Series is an ongoing program of thought leadership conversations sponsored by Booth’s Net Impact, a student group that supports and educates students about civic leadership and social impact–focused careers. The most recent conversation in the series, delivered virtually in early June, could not have been more timely and relevant. As protests against the killing of George Floyd reverberated throughout Chicago, the nation, and the world, Natalie Moore, a WBEZ reporter and author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation, joined Caroline Grossman, ’03, executive director of the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, for a virtual discussion with Booth students, faculty, staff, and alumni. 

Along with Booth Net Impact, the event was co-hosted by the Rustandy Center and Booth’s African American MBA Association (AAMBA), which provides a forum for interaction between students of African descent at Chicago Booth and the school community, its allies, corporate partners, and the City of Chicago.

Grossman, who is also an adjunct assistant professor of strategy at Booth, moderated a conversation with Moore spanning topics from the inequity of the impact of COVID-19 to the racial disparities that led to the protests surrounding the death of George Floyd and even how to best support local news organizations covering these important subjects. Moore drew on her critically acclaimed book, published in 2016, which digs deep into the ways that housing and neighborhood discrimination are rooted deeply in the histories of segregation in our cities. The conversation focused on events unfolding around Chicago and the nation. Moore shared insights into how inequities shape our communities, and how people can collaborate on potential solutions. 

Moore has seen Chicago move forward on issues of racism and racial inequity. In the last Chicago mayoral election, she noted, inequity was a central topic, as more and more people began to discuss schooling and housing, issues that weren’t previously as mainstream. In her view, this was sparked by Laquan McDonald’s murder, which was a watershed moment for the city. Moore emphasized that the current protests are continuations of previous movements—the frustration and anger are, in many ways, nothing new. With nationwide protests unfolding even as she spoke, Moore expressed concerns about people trying to infiltrate or co-opt the movement. But she added: “What has been great is seeing people of different races and some white folks putting themselves in the front line in different cities because they recognize the privilege that’s there.” 
 
Asked how students and how other members of the university community could support the communities on Chicago’s South Side, Moore advised starting out by doing your research. “Breaking down segregation is about making sure people have access or are in proximity to power and to resources,” Moore said. Working to break it down involves knowing the history behind its establishment. “Realize that you’re moving into a place that had a fabric,” she said. Educate yourself about the history of redlining, discrimination, and segregation in the area you’ve moved into. “I think that you owe it to the community that you are temporarily calling home to understand it,” Moore said. She encouraged people to be critical of their own pasts, to look back at where they’ve lived in their childhood and young lives and think about how segregation played a factor. “I want people to interrogate segregation in their own lives where they grew up,” said Moore. 

Whether you’re a student currently living in Hyde Park or an alumnus who has settled elsewhere in Chicago, consider how to expand your scope, Moore suggested. “When you’re looking at how you spend your leisure time, think about how vast the city is,” said Moore. Don’t just spend your time downtown or on the North Side; explore the great food, great art, great theater throughout the South Side. 

The next step is to embrace what is there when you arrive. “The best thing you can do is be a good neighbor,” said Moore. She finds that when people ask her how they can help to forge change, the answer is often in their own backyards, being led by community organizations already fighting to resolve local inequity. Lend your voice to the work already being done. “There are so many neighborhood groups, community organizations, that folks can join and be allies to,” she said. It’s the same when it comes to businesses—she shared an anecdote about a company that worked in the South Side but had all its lunch meetings downtown. Why weren’t they eating at South Side restaurants? Hire people from the neighborhood, connect with local Black community groups, and spend time in the community you’re rooted in.   

“I think that the nation at large is really shook right now in ways that they haven’t been,” said Moore, “and people [who are] looking for something, it’s like . . . if you’re serious about this, it’s going to have to be beyond platitudes.” People are using the term equity, but they aren’t practicing it. “Black folks get really exhausted from White people asking them what they can do, especially when they’re looking for very easy things to do and not the hard work,” said Moore. She encouraged business students to study the language that companies are using, and to think about how directness can tell you who’s serious or not. She encouraged people to utilize reading lists to learn the terms so that they can be direct and educated. And toward the end of her conversation, Moore expressed her hope that positive change can come if people commit seriously to doing the work: “I would say just if everybody holds hands and jumps in the deep end together, you can do it.”