Why We Don’t 'Rock the Boat' in Lakeview

By Martia LaManna

Being a student at a progressive and socially involved professional psychology school I am constantly a part of innumerable discussions on diversity. We discuss the implications of diversity in terms of inclusion versus exclusion. We attempt to understand the key aspects within inequality and those that are underrepresented or marginalized.

These key aspects instruct the divide between those that have power and privilege over those that either face multiple barriers or are incapable of achieving it. What I have come to realize is how easy it is to see the forest for the trees. It is easier to sometimes see socially inadequate issues within one’s community, or even to address how one discusses these issues, without addressing how the individual contributes to them.

This means that we all are to a certain extent responsible for the breakdown of diversity within our community, often unintentionally. There are times we avoid taking part in a socially responsible act because we either feel threatened or too meek to do so. My efforts are to address this feeling and encourage us to look beyond the discomfort and see what is socially responsible and just.

Diversity by definition is the condition of composing differing elements. Many aspects of our culture and society encourage the concept of diversity. We have attempted to implement progressive guidelines such as the affirmative action clause and equal rights policies.

However, we have had a significantly difficult history with accepting and cultivating diversity. There have been wars forged and families torn apart as a result of the desire to create a diverse community or to deny this development. The Civil War was fought because states wanted the opportunity to create their own rules that would be applied to their lands.

A war was forged to protect the individual rights of those states within the Union, at that time. And, throughout history, there are examples of our inability to find peace within the creation and maintenance of diversity. This is evident when discussing issues of race, gender and the recognition of equal rights. For example, we are seeing how personal agendas against diversity play into the concept of equality within marriage as well.

The Lakeview area of Chicago has been celebrated as one of the most diverse areas in the city. Yet this concept of diversity meets resistance when certain aspect of it is not appealing to the majority.

In other words, when the neighborhood has an affordable housing property like a Single Room Occupancy hotel (SRO) or a transition home, a major part of the community finds reason to label these properties blighted and wishes them away. However, this compromises the essence of social interest--we forget that diversity is the combination of differing elements. So, if we are challenged by diversity, can diversity ever exist?                        

Locally, there has been the repeated but implicit expression of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) throughout the community when discussing homeless shelters, SROs, and transition home locations. NIMBYism is the concept that a community would rather refrain from having undesirable situations and events take place within their living space. An example of NIMBYism in the Lakeview area is the lack of outrage over the recent closing of the Hotel Chateau. 

The residents have been put out without any real place to go as convenient as this location. Given the population that, we think, typically resides here, the Lakeview community says little to protest this closing. It’s easier for us to understand and accept concepts that do not challenge our way of living and compromise those interactions within our surroundings. Is this why the cultivation of diversity has been such a difficult concept to accept and maintain throughout history?

Historically, it is apparent that we have pushed for and pulled away from diversity simultaneously. But does the nature of diversity actually work against our innate desires for sameness and predictability? We do desire predictability because it allows for safety and security to maintain our persons; sometimes, the slightest deviation from the norm sets off warning signals for many. 

Whether this means that eventually diversity will have no place in Lakeview and NIMBYism is going to win hands down depends on one important process as events unfold--it’s interaction with the subaltern culture and societal expectations represented primarily by the residents living in affordable housing in Lakeview.