RACE, ETHNICITY & IMMIGRATION STRUCTURE AND SHIFTS
Since the city of Chicago is one of the big metropolitan areas in the United States as well as an international hub for commerce and trade along with major international airport and port, many people from all over the world and the nation come to the city in the hope of better job opportunities and standard of living. This contributed a great diversity in the population size and type. The racial composition of the city consists of White, Blacks, Hispanic, Asian and people from others race. One can observe that, there is clear segregation of people throughout the city in terms of its racial and ethnic group. Northern part of the city is concentrated by Whites, whereas the southern part is and some part of west is dominated by the black population. Hispanic population is concentrated in between them and Asian population proportion is less as compared to the three, mainly concentrated in the south west part of the city.
As earlier stated, the city of Chicago attracts many immigrants notionally and internationally because of it is place of importance for the trade & commerce, in today’s time it is home for many commercial banks and base for big companies which creates a job base not only for its state as well as other states like Indiana and Wisconsin. But the city experience a historic migration which lasted for more than 40 years. The Great Migration, a long term movement of African Americans from the South to the urban North transformed many northern cities between 1916 and 1970. Chicago was one of those cities, who attracted slightly more than 500,000 of the approximately seven million African Americans who left the South during these decades in search of job opportunities and better lifestyle (Grossman 2005).
African Americans constituted just two percent of Chicago’s population before the Great Migration, but by 1970, it was increased to 33 percent. This population which was marginal at one point of time in Chicago emerged by the mid-twentieth century as a powerful force in the city’s political, economic and cultural life. Although the migration of African Americans had been contributing to Chicago’s black community since the 1840s, the city offered few job opportunities to this group until World War I. During World War I, when there was a halt in immigration from Europe at that time Chicago’s employers were in need of new source of labor which was then filled by this group of African American migrants from south. When the news of new jobs opportunity was spread through the Chicago Defender newspaper, many black southerners going to other northern cities were attracted to Chicago. Equally important were the correspondence and visits that established “migration chains,” linking Chicago with numerous southern communities, especially in Mississippi (Grossman 2005).
During World War II, in 1940s and 1950s this migration got accelerated rapidly with the expansion of industry in Chicago. But by 1960s, many industries like packinghouses got closed and steel mills started declining this resulted in the degeneration of hard work labor jobs and the city had opportunities mainly for educated men and women. By 1980s, there was a reverse migration of African American class of people from Chicago, especially retired people began to return back to their respective homeland (Grossman 2005).
As earlier stated, the city of Chicago attracts many immigrants notionally and internationally because of it is place of importance for the trade & commerce, in today’s time it is home for many commercial banks and base for big companies which creates a job base not only for its state as well as other states like Indiana and Wisconsin. But the city experience a historic migration which lasted for more than 40 years. The Great Migration, a long term movement of African Americans from the South to the urban North transformed many northern cities between 1916 and 1970. Chicago was one of those cities, who attracted slightly more than 500,000 of the approximately seven million African Americans who left the South during these decades in search of job opportunities and better lifestyle (Grossman 2005).
African Americans constituted just two percent of Chicago’s population before the Great Migration, but by 1970, it was increased to 33 percent. This population which was marginal at one point of time in Chicago emerged by the mid-twentieth century as a powerful force in the city’s political, economic and cultural life. Although the migration of African Americans had been contributing to Chicago’s black community since the 1840s, the city offered few job opportunities to this group until World War I. During World War I, when there was a halt in immigration from Europe at that time Chicago’s employers were in need of new source of labor which was then filled by this group of African American migrants from south. When the news of new jobs opportunity was spread through the Chicago Defender newspaper, many black southerners going to other northern cities were attracted to Chicago. Equally important were the correspondence and visits that established “migration chains,” linking Chicago with numerous southern communities, especially in Mississippi (Grossman 2005).
During World War II, in 1940s and 1950s this migration got accelerated rapidly with the expansion of industry in Chicago. But by 1960s, many industries like packinghouses got closed and steel mills started declining this resulted in the degeneration of hard work labor jobs and the city had opportunities mainly for educated men and women. By 1980s, there was a reverse migration of African American class of people from Chicago, especially retired people began to return back to their respective homeland (Grossman 2005).