Protestantism

» Migisi - Ahhh... Chicago

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Chicagoland is one of THE most culturally divers cities in the country. The 'city of big shoulders' means more than stockyards and meat. It's about stature. When I was growing up in Chicago, my neighbors and friends were of all ethnic backgrounds. Latinos, Asians, Germans, Italians, Irish, Africans, Arabs, Jews, Indians, Africans, etc. Many were first or second generation immigrants. We weren't segregated into exclusive ethnic communities, but all mixed together. We kids didn't care about birth countries, language barriers, skin color, religions. We played together in the street, gangways, and playgrounds, went to the same public school, some to the same church, and hung out together on one porch or another. If kids were making trouble, anyone's mom could yell at them in whatever language (and we'd listen - or else!). It was expected and accepted. If a kid didn't know much English, we taught him/her English. My dad owned the 6-flat we lived in, and he rented to any family, regardless of their origin. We didn't know what discrimination was. Today, when I hear ethnic slurs, I get an uncomfortable twinge in my stomach. I still remember my childhood friends, and their earnest dreams and struggles to 'become Americans'. Their families left their native lands - everything they knew and loved - and CHOSE America. They CHOSE Chicago. For so many to do this, they must've believed there was something very special about my country and my working class city! Indeed, there is.
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"Chicago" - by Carl Sandburg
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Hog Butcher of the World
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight
Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks of
wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cun-
ning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be the Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler of the Nation.

-- posted by Migisi