How many IQ points does it take to equate that both the Republican and Democratic parties have evolved since you were a kid in Chicago? Both for the good and the bad.
I know there's plenty of Confederate flag flying hillbillies down South that are Obama supporters. They just don't want to admit it.
Chicago is a NORTHERN city, not some town full of bigots in the heart of dixie. The police torture instances happend 20 years after I was a kid in Chicago. Yeah, it evolved.
Chicago isn't unique. Segregation through social and civic planning (build a freeway to separate people of color from the richest suburb in the nation):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Palo_Alto,_California
About half of East Palo Alto's residents were African Americans in 1990, largely due to redlining practices in Palo Alto [5]. Latinos now constitute about 65% of the total population, while the proportion of African Americans has decreased to about 15%. A small minority of Pacific Islander population also resides in East Palo Alto, mostly Tongans with some Samoans and Fijians[citation needed]. East Palo Alto has the largest concentration of Pacific Islanders of any U.S. city or town outside of Hawaii[citation needed].
In the past, East Palo Alto experienced profound crime and poverty, especially during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1992, it had the highest homicide rate in the country with 24,322 people, and 42 murders, equaling a rate of 172.7 homicides per 100,000 residents.[6] Since then the city's crime problems have subsided, and the murder rate in particular has declined to a typical urban level. In 2006, East Palo Alto experienced a comparatively low 6 murders. There were 7 murders in 2007, and only 5 in 2008.
According to a 2008 report provided by Chief of Police Ron Davis, violence is on the decline. Davis reports an overall 42% reduction in homicides and a 20% reduction in
overall crime between 2006–2008, compared to the previous three years.
The prosperity that benefited the Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s largely bypassed East Palo Alto. The Ravenswood City School District, which serves East Palo Alto and part of adjoining Menlo Park, has struggled with low academic performance.[citation needed] Eventually, however, the Peninsula's shortage of land and soaring property prices meant that even East Palo Alto became an option for urban regeneration. Until recently, gentrification has been rare in East Palo Alto. East Palo Alto was depicted in the 1995 film Dangerous Minds, which was based on the experiences of a Carlmont High School teacher and her experiences with bused-in students from East Palo Alto.
