Chicago City Proposal

Cathy J. Cohen
University of Chicago
Professor, Political Science Department
Director, Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture

Chicago: You can use this as a description of Chicago in proposal if you prefer

As one of the largest cities in the world, Chicago exhibits many of the expected
characteristics of urban metropolises—racial and ethnic diversification, increased economic
productivity and influence, rising property values, intense and critical intellectual atmospheres, a
successful tourist trade, and the existence of old and newly emergent political constituencies
engaged in conflict and compromise as each tries to control the resources and policies of the city
government. And while many of the trends mentioned above are mobilized to depict the city as a
place of unlimited growth and possibility, Chicago is also well known for the stark disparities in
lived experience that negatively impact different racial and ethnic groups throughout the city.
For example, researchers have long noted Chicago as one of the most racially segregated cities in
the United States with the African American population (36%) traditionally living on the south
and west sides of the city, whites (31%) living on the north side of the city and Latinos (26%)
residing on the west side of the city and in a few northern neighborhoods. Recent Census data
reveals that while the geographic divisions of the city are changing, with Latinos moving to the
suburbs in increasing numbers, substantial residential segregation still remains. In concert with
this trend of established and persisting segregation has been the evolution of power within
historically marginal communities. So while a disproportionate number of African Americans in
Chicago live below the poverty line, there is also an established and empowered middle-class
integrally involved in the machine politics that dominates the city. Similarly, other racially
marginalized groups such as the Mexican American community in Chicago also are experiencing
the tensions associated with a bifurcated community, with some members moving solidly into the
middle-class while other newly immigrated members of the community find themselves
systematically marginalized across the multiple dimensions of their life. It is the intersection of
race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class, as it generates differences both between and within
racialized communities that makes Chicago an especially important site for this study.

This intersection is especially visible when thinking about the residential boundaries that
saturate the city. For example, on the north side of Chicago there are neighborhoods like
“Boystown” and “Andersonville” that are imagined and understood to be populated by primarily
white, middle-class, gay men (with some similarly positioned white lesbians living in
Andersonville). These individuals not only have access to economic resources and political
status, but have used these materials to demand recognition of “their” community by the
established political and business elite. The commercial districts of these neighborhoods are
regularly populated by sexually marginalized individuals who live throughout the city. And
while one can find a sizeable population of individuals of color in the commercialized districts of
these “gay” neighborhoods, these more marginal members of “gay” communities are most often
relegated to the position of consumer or temporary object of desire, and are largely invisible as
permanent residents or business owners. In these same neighborhoods once can youth of color,
who feel limited in the public sexual options available to them in their own communities.
Crossing established and learned geographic racial boundaries, these young people hope to
experience the sexual liberation they are denied in their own neighborhoods. Far too often what
they encounter is the freedom that comes from annonmity and the constant surveillance that
results from being marked an outsider, even in these “gay friendly” neighborhoods.

It would, however, be a grave mistake to limit our understanding of the marginality

experienced by youth of color, whatever their sexual activities, identities and desires, to
primarily geographic segregation. Once an industrial powerhouse, the post-World War II
industrial complex in Chicago has been replaced by a services-oriented economy. The original
Great Migration of Blacks into northern cities to provide labor for the large industry and
manufacturing base created a stable job market, but the deindustrialization, and subsequent
shifting economy has created an employment opportunity shortage for African Americans and
other marginal racial groups. On nearly every indicator measuring quality of life, African
Americans and Latinos rank at or close to the bottom. For example, only 39 percent of African
American males finish high school by the time they are 19 years old, compared to 58 percent of
white males in the public schools. The disparity is similar for girls with 57 percent of African
American girls compared to 71 percent of white girls receiving their high school degree by the
time they are 19. In Illinois African Americans and Latinos account for the majority of AIDS
cases among adolescents from 13 to 19. They also face higher unemployment, violence and
incarceration rates that white youth.

In response to the overwhelming marginalization encountered by youth of color in

Chicago, they have developed an indigenous and sometimes oppositional set of institutions,
practices, networks and norms meant to sustain, nourish and support their survival. This study
will provide an opportunity to hear directly from young people how the intersection of race,
ethnicity, gender and sexuality shapes their lived experience and decision-making daily.

Research Focus:

The research undertaken in Chicago will focus on African American youth and how the
intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality impacts their affective desires and sexual
choices. We are especially interested in how the experiences of marginalization encountered by
African American young people in Chicago compare to those experienced by young people in
the other five sites that are a part of this study. Specifically, how does membership in a racially
marginal group shape the sexual imagination, identity and practices of these young people? How
does membership in racially marginal groups shape the sexual behaviors they perform, the
gender scripts they adopt, the identities they both embrace and create, and the attitudes about
intimacy they take on and espouse. This work will be closely aligned with research I am
already conducting on the sexual decision-making, attitudes and norms of young people, in
particular African Americans, ages 15-25. To pursue this work the Chicago team will use a
mixed research design that includes in-depth interviews, ethnographic approaches such as
participant observation and the analysis of secondary data.

Budget

Student Research
Year I (2 students) /$15 /960 hours total $14400
 Year II (2 students) /$15 /800 hours total $12000

Interview Incentives
48 @ $50 each $2400

Questionnaires (additional 50 @$20) $1000

Office supplies (Years I and II) $3,000

Computer, Video, Audio equipment

and Data analysis software (Years I and II) $5000

Transcription
4 @ $150 $7200

Total Direct Expenses $45,000

Indirect Costs $4,500

Total $49,500