Monday, March 02, 2015

Racial Segregation Deeply Rooted. Class Separation Growing

This article from The Atlantic, written by Richard Florida, includes a map showing changes in segregation over many decades. He concludes with this quote:

Where cities and neighborhoods once mixed different kinds of people together, they are now becoming more homogeneous and segregated by income, education, and occupation. … It is not just that the economic divide in America has grown wider; it’s that the rich and poor effectively occupy different worlds, even when they live in the same cities and metros.

I support volunteer involvement in organized, site based non-school tutoring, mentoring and learning programs because of the way they connect people from different economic and education backgrounds, as well as from different racial backgrounds. Some of the well established programs have volunteers who have been involved 10 years and longer.


Here's my list of Chicago tutoring and/or mentoring programs. They vary greatly in how long they have been in business, how well organized they are, and where they are located. I encourage you to pick one and make a long-term commitment to help it become the best in the country at connecting youth, volunteers, ideas and opportunities.

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