Friday, October 4, 2013

Governmental Schemes

 

In the book, Fires of Hatred: Ethnic cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe, by Norman Naimark, he address the topics of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ethnic cleansing can be described as a process where certain ethnic, or religious groups, are either killed or deported because they are not wanted in a certain location. Genocide can be explained as killing all of the people, or part of the people, that are part of a certain race, religion, or ethnic group. The topic of race is also discussed throughout the book. Race has, and always will, have an impact on society; however the author says that the Ottoman attacks on the Armenians did not have to do with race. The author wrote, “It would be anachronistic to suggest that the Ottomans demonstrated racial and ethnic tolerance, because they did not think at all in those terms” (Naimark, 19). In other words, the Ottomans did not accept people because of their race, the author wrote on page 19 that people could be accepted into the Ottoman Elite by converting to Islam and being loyal to the Ottoman. Although this book is about ethnic cleansing and genocides, Naimark would not classify this as genocide right away or an ethnic cleansing, as explained on page 23.  The author explains that the purpose of the Ottoman was to punish instead of get rid of the whole group. He also stated, “Nor do the events of 1894-96 share the general characteristics or ethnic cleansing” (Naimark, 23).  In other words, the Ottoman’s attack would not have been labeled as ethnic cleansing either, because the Ottoman was not trying to move the Armenians they just wanted to control them.
 One real-life example I can think of that relates to this topic is the Chicago Housing Projects. My family and lived in a high rise apartment building in the Rockwell projects in Chicago. I was too young to remember fully, but I do remember some things. I remember when the government tore Rockwell projects down and forced my family to move. The government built the projects for low income families which were majority black. They were offering a better way to live that people could afford. But, the living conditions were horrid and there were not any stores or restaurants inside the project walls. There were great amounts of poverty, scarce resources, and a very high crime rate.Living in the projects is kind of like jail because there are criminals, low resources, and you are separated from the rest of the city by walls and high-rise buildings. The government finally decided to close down every public housing project building in Chicago one by one and build new condos. They said that the residents that lived in the projects could live in the new buildings, but they knew that most of the blacks could not afford to live there. The Rockwell Projects were torn down in 2003, and my family had no choice but to move. It was me, my mother, and my two sisters, and we barely had any money to move. The Housing Authority told the residents of the projects that they would receive vouchers that would enable them to move to better neighborhoods.
When they finally destroyed our building the government kept their word and found us somewhere to live immediately. They moved us to the west side of the city of Chicago, where my mother said the crime was worse. So, they moved us to another high poverty and crime infested area. My mother would always say, “At least in the projects we knew everyone and knew who would commit a crime.” We didn't live on the west side too long though. We eventually moved to a suburb called Maywood to live with my aunt. But, the point is that they basically grouped all the poor people (blacks) together in the projects to separate them from the rest of the city, but when the government wanted the land back he forced everyone out. However, some of the people were allowed to stay and live among the majority. The government’s purpose was not only to keep the minorities together, but also to control them like the Ottoman did to the Armenian. The only difference is that the Chicago police or United States Army did not kill any of the Chicago residents.  

Here are a couple links that will further elaborate on the Chicago Housing Projects, and how the government tried to control the minorities that lived in them:


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