Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America) [Paperback]

Arnold R. Hirsch (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226342441 | ISBN-13: 978-0226342443 | Publication Date: May 8, 1998

In Making the Second Ghetto, Arnold Hirsch argues that in the post-depression years Chicago was a "pioneer in developing concepts and devices" for housing segregation. Hirsch shows that the legal framework for the national urban renewal effort was forged in the heat generated by the racial struggles waged on Chicago's South Side. His chronicle of the strategies used by ethnic, political, and business interests in reaction to the great migration of southern blacks in the 1940s describes how the violent reaction of an emergent "white" population combined with public policy to segregate the city.

"In this excellent, intricate, and meticulously researched study, Hirsch exposes the social engineering of the post-war ghetto."—Roma Barnes, Journal of American Studies

"According to Arnold Hirsch, Chicago's postwar housing projects were a colossal exercise in moral deception. . . . [An] excellent study of public policy gone astray."—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune

"An informative and provocative account of critical aspects of the process in [Chicago]. . . . A good and useful book."—Zane Miller, Reviews in American History

"A valuable and important book."—Allan Spear, Journal of American History

Editorial Reviews

Review

' ... this excellent book . Hirsch has succeeded admirably in showing how racial conflict and government intervention recreated the black ghetto in postwar Chicago.' International Journal of Urban and Regional Research --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226342441
• ISBN-13: 978-0226342443
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Law > Administrative Law > Housing & Urban Development

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A roadmap to the dead end., January 19, 2009

By 

James McCabe (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America) (Paperback)

This is a very detailed account of the way the Chicago power elite responded to the Great Migration. Detailed, in fact, to the point of opacity. This is a scholarly work written with peer review in mind and therefore crafted for an academic audience.

Nonetheless, it was able to give a person unfamiliar with Chicago and urban life (I was raised in the desert) an understanding of the forces that shaped the southside and westside ghettos.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Racism + Capitalism = Public Housing in Chicago, December 28, 2002

By 

Alan Mills (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America) (Paperback)

Excellent review of how the Chicago Housing Authority, despite good intentions, ended up not only itself segregated, but reinforced existing housing segregation in the private market.

Hirsch actually takes a much broader view of his subject than public housing. Rather, he exp;ores the various ways public policy was manipulated (generally by commercial interests) to serve their own ends, and how those profit driven manipulations resulted in Chicago being one of America's most segregated cities. Ironically, the dramatic expansion of the Black Ghetto chronicalled by Hirsch occurred at the same time that the country was under seige by the forces of McCarthism...yet in Chicago, the commercial interests (lead by Marshall Field) had no compunction about seizing private property to serve their own ends.

Anyone who believes that neighborhoods are segregated because of private choices must read this book and learn the truth.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the deception of public housing, September 27, 2000

By 

Linda C. Jennings "ennui50" (Chicago, ILLINOIS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America) (Paperback)

After reading The Hidden War,(which made extensive reference to Hirsch's book)I wanted a more detailed history about the creation of public housing as we know it to be in Chicago. This book gives detail of how the political,educational, civic organizations wanted to contain the burgeoning African American community which was growing during post world war II and the great migration years. The powerful in Chicago used government policies to maintain housing segregation...the powerless resorted to violence to keep African Americans out of neighborhoods...the results were the massive and bleak housing structures which are called public housing. This book not only talks about the historical wheelings and dealings of the white power structure, but it also gives insight into how the same tactics are being used today, to maintain certain class and racial segregation. This is a good companion must read along with The Hidden WARS.