Sunday, June 01, 2008

Is This Our Version of Wonderland?

Yesterday a couple of my friends and I took our kids to see a play at an arts center in Chicago. We had gone there before, and the kids really enjoyed it. (We have to keep the kids busy!) This time the play was 'Alice in Wonderland.' The book version always freaked me out, and this play did too. However, the cast did a wonderful job! The boys were even able to tell me their favorite characters and why they were their favorites. They definitely are getting older!

S. loves going to this Chicago neighborhood, as do I. My cousins' house is there, and I always remember, as a child, thinking how beautiful it was. This neighborhood also has many little shops, and very few chain stores and restaurants. Living in the burbs', it seems all we have are chains!

This neighborhood is not perfect, though. It isn't as picturesque as it looks. You cannot go east of a certain street, because that neighborhood is terrible. The crime rate has soared in the last decade. However, to the west the neighborhood is still very good. Well, as good as any neighborhood in the city can be.

When I was in my early 20's, I used to go to a bar out there with my friends. The first time I went I assumed, due to it being in the city and all, that there would be an ethnic mix. There was none. The customers were all white, and still are. This bar is Irish, and if you know anything about the Irish in our city, Mayor Daley..., they generally tend to be opinionated. They aren't going to put up with anything, and generally like to stick together. As an example, a guy friend of mine from college said he could never marry me because I wasn't Irish. Not for any other reason. As a result, we never dated. What would be the point? Irish ancestry is revered that much here.
My point here is there are only white people in this bar. I really couldn't believe it, as the neighborhood isn't strictly white, being the city and all. Our bars in the burbs' have more of a mix. I am not going to slam whites like Father Pleger did at St. Sabina. Personally, I am tired of hearing how awful white people are. Now I am not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but I feel strongly that he went too far in his 'sermon'.

At any rate, if you go to the other side of town, those bars are the same except that whites aren't accepted. The problem I have here is each of these bars are segregated. Haven't we gotten past this? I thought people wanted to be brought together. Not the whole 'separate but equal' bullshit from so long ago. Maybe I'm wrong, but every time I see the movies captured during the civil rights days, particularly with Martin Luther King in them, I feel that all of us in this world are more alike than different, and that people were fighting to be treated well regardless of race or religion. Is this idea of a truly united states a vision of our own 'wonderland' that we may never see?

1 comment:

Teachermom said...

Looks like a fun time - and your haircut is cute! :)

I'd write more but I'm grading papers...you miss it, right?! eek!