These businesses, highly visible in Chicago’s Black communities are what the private sector now looks like.
Around the country, in already underfunded, sub-par public schools systems where most young, Black boys are educated, more schools are shutting down. Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel ordered the closing of nearly 50 Chicago Public Schools last year, impacting 30,000 students, 90 percent of them Black.
“There is focus on a continuing effort to turn away providing necessary resources and it’s pretty clear when you close the numbers of schools that you close and you look at the areas that they’re closed in,” added Mr. Nelson.