Racial Change Takes to the Suburbs

By: Paul F. CuadrosAn increase in minorities and the poor since 1980 has forced suburban towns and villages to take a crash course in cultural diversity. And while some get passing grades, others have failed the test.

Blacks, for example, have been welcomed in many south suburban communities, but are still shut out of others.

"We have a dual housing market," said Kale Williams, former director of the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities. "One that markets vigorously to blacks, and one that at best ignores blacks and at worst discriminates against them."

Similarly, Latinos are finding overt and often illegal attempts to keep them out of town.

"Our experience has been that (in) any suburb that has a significant level of Latinos there is resistance across the board," said Arturo Jauregui, executive director of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

"We Latinos are going after the suburban dream like anyone else and the message is we're not welcomed."

Helping Out
But the news is not all bad. Some suburban municipalities are responding to the growth in their black populations by offering housing assistance and forming community organizations. Towns with large Latino populations are trying to bridge the cultural gap through community relations and human services.

The minority population of Asians, blacks and Latinos has grown by 68 percent in suburban Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, from 461,506 in 1980 to 775,609 in 1990, according to the 1990 census.

Minorities make up 17.3 percent of suburbia, up from 11.2 percent in 1980. African Americans have moved primarily to southern and western Cook, while more Latinos are in DuPage, Kane, Lake and western Cook counties. Many Asian Americans have moved to DuPage and northern Cook.

Life in the "burbs" conjures up images of quiet, tree-lined, streets and friendly neighbors.

Minorities move out of the city for the same reasons as whites, experts say.

"I don't think the motivation is any different than anyone else," said James Shannon, director of the Fair Housing Centers of the Leadership Council. "People have to be closer to the jobs. AT&T, Sears, all of these have located to the suburbs."

As businesses have relocated in the last 10 years, Chicagoans also have looked beyond the city for their livelihoods. And many Mexican immigrants bypass Chicago altogether.

"I'm finding out now that a lot of people are coming to the suburbs because of the industrial parks," said Isaac Siprian, an outreach worker for the DuPage County Educational Services Region. "It seems a lot easier for them. They no longer need to go to Chicago and expand from there.'

But as suburbia has become more diverse, it also has become more impoverished. The number of people living in poverty has increased 14.2 percent, from 189,220 to 216,103, according to the 1990 census.

Poverty increased 16.8 percent in Lake County; Cook County had a 16 percent increase.

Southern Hospitality
Many African Americans move to southern Cook County looking for a better life.

"I was living on 98th and Dobson," said Zenovia Evans, a receptionist who moved to Riverdale in 1984. "I considered it a move to a quieter community."

In April, Evans was elected the first black member of the Riverdale Board of Trustees.

"A lot of blacks have families and relatives who live in the suburbs," Shannon said. "So when they're ready to look for a house, they look there."

Blacks are now 7.5 percent of the six county suburban area, increasing from 230,827 in 1980 to 337,346 in 1990.

In some cases, the growth came in towns already predominantly black.

Harvey, a city of 29,771, was 65.6 percent black in 1980. A decade later, it was 79.9 percent African American. In western Cook County, Maywood is now 83.7 percent black.

But other towns began the 1980s with few black citizens. Riverdale had 36 blacks in 1980; by 1990, there were 5,557, or 40.6 percent of the village's population.

Dolton went from 487 blacks, or 2 percent of its 1980 population, to 9,127, or 38.1 percent. Hazel Crest and Country Club Hills are now majority black.

The black population of Bellwood more than doubled, and Broadview grew by 77.7 percent. African Americans have nearly doubled their ranks in DuPage, growing from 7,809 to 15,462.

Tough Choices
The dramatic change in Riverdale also made it poorer. About 14 percent of the population now lives below the poverty level, up from 4.1 percent in 1980, and 21.3 percent of Riverdale's blacks are poor.

The rise in poverty has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in residents living in federally subsidized housing.

The Cook County Housing Authority offers Section 8 certificates to assist low income people find affordable housing.

During the 1980s, eight of the 10 Cook County municipalities with the most Section 8 tenants were in the south suburbs. Harvey and Chicago Heights in the south, and Evanston in the north had the most tenants.

"It's the responsibility [of communities] to absorb their fair share of subsidies," said Sharon Caddigan, president of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance. But a high concentration of low- income housing "will have a devastating effect," reducing property tax revenues and increasing the demand for services, she said.

County officials say they don't control where Section 8 tenants live. "We don't locate them," said Gary Jump, program coordinator for the Cook County Housing Authority. "You give them a certificate and they find their own housing."

Many blacks don't realize there are alternatives to the south suburbs, and "the housing authority doesn't do much to change that perception," said Paul B. Fischer, an associate professor of politics at Lake Forest College who has researched Section 8 housing in the Chicago area.

Fischer found that 71 percent of black Section 8 families live in the south suburbs. And nearly 44 percent of those families are living in just two ZIP codes: 60411 and 60426-in Chicago Heights and Harvey, respectively, he said. The program, he added, has "contributed to resegregation in the suburbs."

In fact, as the complexion of the south suburbs has changed, some municipalities have remained almost uniformly white.

Homewood, for example, is 6.4 percent black compared to 2.1 percent in 1980. Lansing has only 832 blacks or 2.9 percent, up from 321 or 1.1 percent in 1980. And Tinley Park is 1.6 percent black.

"Where there seems to be a pattern of blacks in certain communities and whites in others, it shows that there's work to be done to broaden opportunities," said Michael Roche, director of the Housing Coalition of the South Suburbs.

"The real estate industry continues its now subtle practice of racial steering," said Beth Ruyle, executive director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association. "We accepted that this was going to be a diverse area years ago and most of us feel that's a good thing.'

"To the best of my knowledge, we haven't had those problems in years," said Conrad Sweet, associate president of the South Suburban Association of Realtors.

"You have some steering by some realtors, but some people are choosing to move there," said Paul Green, director of the Institute for Public Policy at Governor's's State University.

"The key issue is having choices," Roche said. "When people buy or houses without a choice this results in a lack of competition and an economic base that isn't as strong."

Catching Up
Many suburbs have seen an increase in the number of poor and they are struggling to meet their needs.

"The need is outstripping the desire or ability of government to meet it," said Douglas Dobmeyer, director of The Public Welfare Coalition. "There needs to be a determination of whether they want to solve a problem or rationalize it."

Other towns have gained minorities without a significant rise in poverty. The median income of Country Club Hills, for example, went from $27,239 in 1980 to $45,284 in 1990.

Country Club Hills passed an ordinance that requires regular housing inspections, said Caddigan, who is also the village's director of the planning and zoning department. The ordinance helps maintain property values and forces absentee landlords to rehabilitate buildings before renting or selling, she said.

To counter the loss of industrial jobs, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and several south suburban colleges formed the Regional Economic Development Coordinating Corporation in 1984.

"With the decline of the steel industry, we lost a lot of our heavy industry," said Donald Goff, director of business services and public affairs for the organization.

The group helps municipalities attract investment through about 40 tax increment financing districts, which use local taxes to help pay for industrial development in the area. "If you want to compete in Cook County, you have to offer some incentives," Goff said.

¡Los Suburbios!
Each spring, many suburban Latinos come to Chicago to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of a battle between Mexican and French forces in 1862. Towns with substantial Latino populations such as Addison, Bensenville and Franklin Park have no celebrations.

"Everyone goes to Chicago," said Rita Gonzales, executive director of Hispanos Unidos, a new group in Addison that is organizing its own celebration.

In the suburbs, Latinos have grown by 83.5 percent, from 158,531 in 1980 to 291,053 in 1990. Latinos are now 6.5 percent of the six county suburban population, up from 3.9 percent in 1980. Cicero, for example, is now 36.9 percent Latino, up from 8.6 percent in 1980. Stone Park is now 58 percent Latino. In DuPage County, West Chicago grew from 16.7 percent to 30.1 percent Latino.

Like other minorities, Latinos leave Chicago in search of jobs. "The city has really lost its manufacturing base and that's the prime reason that Latinos are moving away," said Maria G. Valdez, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Seventy-nine percent of suburban Latinos either have jobs or are looking for work, compared to 71 percent of non-Latinos, according to a recent report by the Latino Institute.

But 12 percent of Latinos were living in poverty in 1990, compared to 4.5 percent of non-Latinos.

"People have an economic shock when they get here," said outreach worker Siprian. "In Bensenville, we have families sharing apartments because of the high rent. Although they're employed, these people are still at the poverty level."

But as more Latinos move to the suburbs, they encounter stiff resistance from certain communities.

Towns like Franklin Park and Cicero have enforced housing occupancy ordinances that are aimed at Latinos, critics charge. The ordinances require strict limits on the number of people per dwelling.

On March 25, the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division filed a housing discrimination lawsuit against Cicero, charging that it had discriminated against Hispanics with the intent to keep them from moving into Cicero.

Such ordinances "are a means used by predominantly white suburbs to attempt to curtail or limit the migration of Hispanics to the suburbs," said attorney Juan M. Soliz, Chicago's 25th Ward Democratic committeeman, who is negotiating with Franklin Park. "I see them as a growing impediment."

And many Latinos say they are not getting their fair share of municipal services, such as police.

"A lot of Latinos feel they can't rely on the police to come to their aid because of the language problems and prejudice," Valdez said. "Latinos pay taxes and have a right to those services, and in most communities that's not being addressed."

Cesar Madrigal Jr. said he was once stopped by Addison police as he walked down the street. "A police officer asked me if I was a U.S. citizen," said Madrigal, a former director of the Hispanic Task Force, a Bensenville organization that folded in 1990. "There was no reason for questioning me."

"There are some areas where police have been overly aggressive," said state Sen. Miguel del Valle, a Chicago Democrat. "We've seen police get too aggressive in stopping Latinos, because they are Latinos."

When Latinos in Elgin complained of police harassment in 1992, MALDEF called Elgin Police Chief Charles Gruber. The department held its first cultural awareness program on May 26, said Deputy Chief James J. Burns.

Elgin has also hired an officer to serve as a Raison to the Latino community.

Suburban Latinos are establishing community organizations to increase their political power. Hispanos en Accion, a new Bensenville group, is holding its flat citizenship workshop in June.

"We're going to try and get at least I 00 people to sign up to apply for U.S. citizenship," said Anita Cavazos, the organization's president. "And after they become citizens, we're going to register them to vote and we're going to teach them to participate."

"There has to be more sensitivity," adds Siprian. "People are realizing that Hispanics are here now and we're going to stay here."

When the Rev. Solomon Lee and his family arrived in the United States in 1970 from South Korea, they didn't know much about Chicago. But they learned fast.

"We found the neighborhood so rough," said Solomon, assistant pastor at St. Mary's Korean Episcopal Church on Chicago's Northwest Side. 'It was not a desirable environment for the kids.' The family moved to Morton Grove two years later.

Asians are the fastest growing minority in the suburbs, jumping from 72,148 in 1980 to 147,210 in 1990. They now make up 3.2 percent of the six county suburban population.

Asians are now 15 percent of north suburban Skokie, up from 7 percent in 1980. Morton Grove had a similar increase, from 6.4 percent to 15 percent, and Lincolnwood increased to 15.6 percent. In Oak Brook, Asians more than tripled their numbers.

Asians are moving to the suburbs in search of a better life, good schools and safer neighborhoods, said William Yoshino, Midwest director of the Japanese American Citizen League.

But poverty among Asian Americans has also increased. In 1980, there were 3,873 Asian poor in the six county area. By 1990, there were 6,238.

The number of Asian poor in suburban Cook County swelled from 1,579 in 1980 to 3,586 in 1990.

"We had a greater migration of Hmong people, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotians for political reasons," said Ping Tom, president of the Chinese American Development Association. "Because of their poor agrarian background, they've had a tougher time."

Like other minorities, Asians have found limited social services in the suburbs. "Once you get out of Chicago, they become very limited," Yoshino said. "These municipalities are small and their financial resources are limited."

Skokie's Human Relations Commission reaches out to Asians through workshops, an annual festival, and by publishing city brochures in Korean. The village has formed a committee to acquaint new immigrants with city services.

"Asians keep sort of a low profile," said Paul Luke, a Chinese American on the Skokie Planning Commission. "It's hard to get them involved."

"We have programs and activities that not only inform but also get people to know one another," said commission Chairman George Mitchell. "When you look at the influx of Asians, you have to be prepared with information services."

Tent City
Dressed in a white blouse and navy skirt, a young black woman steps outside, straightens her hair and leaves for work. You would never know she is homeless. and lives in a tent.

Tent City USA, founded in 1989, Res just east of the Fox River in Aurora. About 40 tents stand in narrow rows outside Hesed House, a homeless shelter.

In April, the residents of Tent City elected two co-mayors, and secretaries of agriculture, water and defense. "We got a good thing going here," said Mike Groner, one of the co-mayors. "The only thing I worry about are people floating in here and taking advantage of people."

Poverty has hit Kane County hard since 1980, when 16,718 people lived below poverty.

By 1990, that number had risen to 21,275, a 27.3 percent increase, the highest in the six county region.

In Aurora, the county's largest city, 10.5 percent of the population is poor. Of the people living in poverty, 25.3 percent are black, compared to 16.1 percent who are Latino and 6.7 percent who are white.

"The increase in poverty has been due to the closing of factories and blue collar jobs," said Jane Reese, director of Aurora's Human Services Department. "People who were earning a good living suddenly find that their jobs aren't there anymore."

"We see people who have trouble with utility bills or the rent," said Diane Nilan, program director at Hesed House and president of the Illinois Coalition to End Homelessness. "We see the people who fall off the edge."

In 1982, the Aurora Area Clergy Association created an ecumenical ministry to provide shelter for the homeless. Churches set up foam sleeping pads on their floors until Hesed House was established in 1985. The shelter includes a food pantry, donated clothing and rooms for people to stay for up to six months.

Aurora provides free snow removal, grass cutting and portable toilets. The city gave the shelter a generous deal when it sold the building, Nilan said.

But the city has no money to provide utility assistance or other help for people who are living on the edge, she said.

"The city can't get funding," Reese said. "Many people in the community don't want their tax dollars going for that."

But the city cannot afford to provide direct services, only referrals to advocacy groups. Aurora created a Human Services Department in 1985; since then, its budget has grown to $156,000.

The city assists the poor through Community Development Block Grants, which pay for youth employment and building programs, Reese said.

Hesed House got a $23,000 block grant to renovate its showers and bathrooms.

The shelter gets most of its funding through federal grants, Nilan said. As for Illinois, she said, "This is a state that absolutely refuses to do anything to keep people from becoming homeless."

Interns Mikahla Beutler, J.J. Breazeale and Burney J. Simpson helped research these articles.