Another example of current day segregation and income inequality

I was driving through Grand Rapids, Michigan on Sunday night, August 23rd, 2020. I had driven about 6 hours that day and 8 hours the day before so I was pretty tired. I was doing Door Dash and as I was driving into the downtown area, I drove through a neighborhood that I could tell was very wealthy. The houses I was driving past were huge in neighborhoods that looked like they came out of a movie. I was noticing that predominantly I was seeing white people walking around, doing their nightly jog or out for a walk with their spouse and dog. A few blocks down the street however, it seemed like a completely different world. It was big mansions with manicured lawns and gates around their houses on one block, and the next block couldn't have been more opposite. On the corner is a vacant building, trash all over the ground, a few broken down cars but nothing that surprised me. If you have ever been in an urban area you are used to seeing trash on the street and some older looking cars. I was still in a safe neighborhood. The thing that shocked me about this was the huge difference a block or two made. You can physically see the class and race divide in this city between the predominantly black community and the predominantly white community.

A few days later, I am still shocked at the drastic change in neighborhoods just a few blocks apart. Using Justice Map, I was very easily able to see the actual segregation mapped out. Not only can you see the extreme opposite levels of income but it also made me question what are the actual racial demographics of this area.

As you can see, on the left hand side, the average income is much lower than the average income on the right side of this map of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The darker blue represents a higher average income level and the darker red represents a lower average income level. Notice, the darkest blue patch is surrounding a lake and a country club.

Right in the middle of this map, you see very dark red right next to some of the lighter blue. The lighter blue however does not take up as much space as the area right next to it, the darkest blue patch in the downtown area. This is the dramatic change I saw. This is the result of redlining.

I decided to look up the racial demographics of this area and where these communities predominantly reside. I have taken screenshots of the racial demographics for the black population as well as the white population.

Again, the darker the color, the higher the population count.

No surprise there. This is income inequality and present day segregation. I decided to dig a little deeper into some of the educational opportunities that are provided to each community. I selected two random elementary schools in each area (I simply did a Google search for "elementary schools" and picked two that were in each community) and decided to do some research on them.

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- According to Niche, Lakeside Elementary school has a total of 423 students, 3% of which qualify for free or reduced lunch.

-According to School Digger, the racial demographic of this school is 87% white.

-Lakeside is ranked 19th out of 1,407 Michigan public elementary schools.

-83% are proficient in reading*

-72% are proficient in math*

-According to Niche, Buchanan Elementary school has a total of 430 students, 89% of which qualify for free or reduced lunch.

-According to School Digger, the racial demographic of this school is 88% Hispanic (or Latinx).

-Buchanan is ranked 1,307th out of 1,407 Michigan public elementary schools.

-17% are proficient in reading*

-12% are proficient in math*

*According to state test scores.

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These schools are less than 5 miles apart, which is about a 12 minute car ride. This is ridiculous! Children need to be given the same educational experience regardless of the household average income. Children deserve to be provided with the same quality education.

If this does not further prove that income inequality and segregation are still current and pressing issues, I could continue with more schools and more cities. Instead of taking time out of my day to do so, I suggest that you research your own community and neighborhood schools using these tools. The links to which are on the resource page or just search in Google. Find out what the racial and socioeconomic demographics are in your area and think about going to a poor school less than 5 miles away from one of the top-ranked schools in the state. How would that make you feel? Would you feel motivated to go to school? Would you feel that your community and the people in positions of power care about you, your children and your future?

We must do better for our children.