Champaign-Urbana race relations, past and future

Politics and Activism--NAACP, Segregration, Health, Education, History, Geography, Housing, Labor and Jobs, Media--News-Gazette, Racism, Poverty, Community Orgranization--S.O.U.L, Businesses, Restaurants, Law

Housing in Champaign-Urbana was at one time segregated; African-Americans lived primarily in northeast Champaign and the adjacent area of Urbana. African-Americans were not permitted to attend schools of choice but were limited to Lawhead and Willard in Champaign, and Hayes and Washington in Urbana. These students were taught by African-American educators.
Some African-Americans occupied multifamily post-World War II housing. The northeast area consisted of single and multifamily housing. Public housing (Burch Village) was introduced to the northeast area in 1951.
African-Americans were denied access to adequate health care, which led to the creation of the "North End Health Center" at 908 N. Fifth St., C, which provided services to the residents of the northeast area.
The "North End Health Center" was created by a group of citizens, both African-American and white, including a young African-American's group named S.O.U.L. (Security, Opportunity, Unity and Love). This health-care facility moved in 1968 to its current location at 1306 N. Carver Drive, C, and became what is now known as the Frances Nelson Health Center.
African-Americans were denied employment in a variety of positions such as sales clerks, bank tellers, secretaries and many others. Employment in department stores in downtown Champaign was denied to African-Americans and brought people together to picket. As a result, employment opportunities for some began to open up.
From an economic standpoint, within the northeast area, African-Americans owned a variety of businesses & restaurants, barber shops, beauty shops, nightclubs, pool halls and a hotel, just to name a few. These businesses provided employment for African-Americans and enabled them to provide for their families. And they provided services that were denied by white business owners.
This helped bring stability to the African-American community and provide an economic base. These thriving businesses ended as a result of desegregation and the unwillingness on the part of financial institutions to make needed loans for business development and expansion.
The northeast area was red-lined by limited city services, financial institutions' unwillingness to make home loans, insurance companies' failure to provide homeowner policies, educational opportunities, and access to recreational facilities. As a result, red-lining caused the northeast area infrastructure to deteriorate.
Looking at the current state of our community, Champaign and Urbana are growing and prospering. Let's look at North Prospect Avenue, where the city of Champaign has contributed more than $2 million for infrastructure. Developers have created four large shopping areas on North Prospect along with "restaurant row" and a luxury apartment complex. This development draws thousands of shoppers and visitors per day to the community.
In west Champaign, subdivisions including Ponds of Windsor, Turnberry Ridge and Trails of Brittany have been developed with homes starting at $150,000 and above. The city of Urbana has contributed more than $3.5 million for the infrastructure of Stone Creek development (golf course) with homes starting at $300,000.
Looking at the northeast area (east of Neil Street to Lincoln Avenue, north of University Avenue to Interstate 74), there have been two housing developments, King subdivision in Champaign and Eads at Lincoln in Urbana. There was a struggle to get both city governments to participate in the development of these homes. Some of the questions asked by elected officials were, "Who will purchase the homes?" and "Can African-Americans afford $65,000 to $75,000 homes?"
African-Americans are still being denied employment opportunities by some of the major employers and continue to experience the glass-ceiling effect, where they are not allowed to progress beyond a certain point. As we look at school districts, cities, the University of Illinois, park districts and other taxing bodies, we find few African-Americans employed and even fewer in managerial positions. A large number of African-Americans are working two and three jobs in order to provide for their basic needs.
Over the last three years, some African-Americans have lodged complaints with Champaign officials and the Champaign Human Relations Commission regarding Champaign Police Department racial profiling. The NAACP Champaign County Branch and the Urban League of Champaign County receive complaints monthly regarding tactics in stopping African-American motorists. Law enforcement officers are routinely requesting vehicle searches without probable cause, and when the request is denied, the K-9 Unit is called and the dog is walked around the vehicle in an attempt to detect drugs.
As W.E.B. Du Bois said in 1903, "The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line. The question is how far differences of a race which shows themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair will hereafter be made the basis of denying over one-half the world the right of sharing to their utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization. If we expect to gain our rights by nerveless acquiescence in wrong, then we expect to do what no other nation ever did. What must we do then? We must complain. Yes, plain, blunt complaint, ceaseless agitation, unfailing exposure of dishonest and wrong - this is the ancient unwavering way to liberty, and we must follow it."
Looking at our housing, employment, business opportunities and law enforcement, I believe the plight of race relations has not and unfortunately will not progress in the next 100 years. Hopefully, this prediction will not prove to be true.

Cleveland Jefferson is president of the Illinois NAACP. He has been president of the Champaign County branch. A native of Louisiana, Jefferson came to Champaign in 1971 to visit a brother in graduate school here. He intended to stay two weeks.

The News-Gazette welcomes comments from readers on the issues raised in this article. Please send your comments to: Editor, The News-Gazette, 15 Main St., P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677. Send comments by e-mail to news@news-gazette.com.

Cleveland Jefferson, NAACP

News-Gazette

2000

New Focus On Committee Of Champaign Police and African-Americans After Teen Shooting

Policing

A committee working for better relations between the Champaign police and the African-American community is scheduled to meet Thursday (November 19th) at 3 PM, at the Douglass Community Center. After a decade of regular meetings, the Champaign Community and Police Partnership is getting more attention, following last month’s shooting death of 15 year old Kiwane Carrington during a police confrontation. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports on the group, known as “C-Cap” for short:

WILL AM 580

WILL Public Media

November 19, 2009

On the Job: Mike Wood, Electrician in the Facilities and Services Department

Biography, Campus--Community, Community Organizations--National Council For African-American Men, Jobs and Labor, Media--Inside Illinois

Known as “Mike the light bulb guy” to some employees on the Urbana campus, Mike Wood’s amiable manner and ready smile help illuminate the 30 buildings in his work zone as much as the work he does as a laborer-electrician. Before joining the staff of Facilities and Services Division (then known as the Operation and Maintenance Division) in 1987, Wood worked as a bank teller, a hospital orderly, a teacher’s aide/bus driver/custodian at a day-care center, an auditor/accountant with the state of Illinois and a landscaper/physical fitness instructor/movie projectionist with the Champaign Park District. A graduate of Champaign Central High School and the appliance/motor repair program of Stills Electric Co., in Decatur, Wood studied business and other subjects at Parkland College and at the UI. He has volunteered with many organizations – as a youth mentor in local schools and as a board member of the National Council of African-American Men, among others – but he has a special affinity for the Champaign Park District, where he began working as a volunteer during high school and eventually became an employee. “I found my love in the community working for the park district,” working with youth and with elderly people, said Wood, who also sits on the board of Community Blood Services of Illinois and has donated more than 20 gallons of blood.

As a laborer-electrician, what do you do?
I provide lighting in my area, Zone B, which is the heart of campus: Altgeld Hall, Swanlund, etc. We have six zones and one or two people per zone. I change fluorescent, incandescent and mercury vapor bulbs in light fixtures in classrooms, offices, hallways and other places. And I get different work orders and have to go check things out. Maybe someone hears a fixture buzzing, or it’s flickering or they notice leaking or a burning odor. I’ll check the ballast and sometimes tag it so a trouble-shooter electrician can come out and check it. We also clean and upgrade fixtures.

We start work at 7 a.m. so I can get into conference rooms or classrooms before the students or staff members get there.

What do you enjoy most?
It’s rewarding meeting people. I have to say the faculty members and staff members enjoy my services and take good care of me, giving me goodies when they have parties. We also have a great staff and a super boss.

What hobbies do you have or what do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
My hobby would be working with people in the community. I’ve been the union steward for more than five years now for AFSCME Local 698 in electric shop 1. I went to AFSCME’s conference in Springfield last weekend.

I recently went on a five-day cruise to Jamaica and Puerto Rico with my girlfriend on Carnival Cruise Line’s Imagination ship. We beat the hurricane; it was a little behind us, but the ship’s captain rerouted us a little because of it. Unfortunately, it was some type of holiday in Jamaica and many things were shut down, but we went sightseeing and took in all the historic sites and went snorkeling, swimming and parasailing. The people were nice, but the vendors were very aggressive and would grab me by the hand and pull me over to look at the stuff in their booths.

There was a group of about 60 of us who went together, and I got a chance to meet a lot of different people. Just the idea of being on the Caribbean was wonderful. It is just fascinating how big these ships are. The food was wonderful, especially the jerk chicken. I brought back a lot of souvenirs, shirts and stuff.

This was my second cruise. On the first cruise, I went to Cozumel, Mexico.

I have a 22-year-old son and a 23-year-old daughter, who reside in a suburb of Atlanta.

I try to stay in shape and work out at the Intramural Physical Education Building for about 90 minutes at a time. I use the treadmill, the stationary bike and then go to the pool and tread water for 20 minutes. That works out all the muscles.

Sharita Forest

Inside Illinois Vol. 25, No. 9

November 3 2005

Hyperlink

Community members concerned about policing methods, retaliation

Kiwane Carrington, Policing

Community members voiced their opinions about policing methods in Champaign in conjunction with the investigation into the death of 15-year old Kiwane Carrington at Tuesday’s Champaign City Council meeting.

“I’m concerned about this city and the community,” said Robert Brownlee, Champaign resident. “We’re looking forward to moving past this situation, and we’re not here to point fingers at anybody.”

Carrington was shot by a Champaign police officer during an altercation Oct. 9 that also involved Chief of Police R.T. Finney and another 15-year-old.

Brownlee said he is waiting for the state’s attorney to publicly discuss the investigation.

Artice James, Champaign resident and member of the National Council of African American Men, said the city council needs to revise the police department’s use of force policy and called for a citizen review board for incidents using excessive force.

“Use of force needs to be written in a way where citizens are less likely to be hurt but still allows the police to do their job,” James said.

Dist. 1 Councilman Will Kyles said the taser section and other parts of the use of force policy concerned him.

“We are looking at revisiting some of the topics in the use of force policy,” he said.

Kyles also talked about revising the complaint process.

“You wouldn’t want to complain to the same person you have a complaint about,” he said. “The biggest reason there aren’t more complaints is a fear of retaliation.”

Karen Foster, council member-at large, said she wants to support the police but wants to make sure people are not fearful of them.

Terry Townsend, Champaign resident, said he fears a riot when the Carrington investigation is made public.

“When the report is released, we are urging parents to keep their kids at home,” Townsend said. “If they’re going to school, parents or guardians should escort them there.”

Dist. 4 Councilwoman Marci Dodds said targeting the Champaign Community and Police Partnership and keeping children home from school is not in the best interest of the community.

“I hope we can continue to make constructive decisions and move forward,” she said.

Colleen Vest

Daily Illini

November 18th, 2009

On the Job: Artice James, President of National Council of African-American Men, C-U chapter

Biography, Campus--Community, Community Organizations--National Council For African-American Men, Jobs and Labor, Media--Inside Illinois

A 22-year employee of the UI, Artice James is a subforeman in the sheet metal shop in the Operation and Maintenance Division. James also is the president of the Champaign chapter of the National Council of African-American Men. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing.

Tell me a little about what you do every day.
The type of work we do is more or less heating and ventilation. We also get into some architecture sheet metal such as gutters, downspouts and copper roofs. It’s a very rewarding trade.

We also get into special fabrications: fume hoods, range hoods for cooking and different types of wheeled janitor carts and table carts.

You said you found your work very rewarding. Why?
We are one of the few trades that builds things from scratch. We take flat sheets of metal and form it into something worthwhile. I like the variety of work that we get into. One day, we could be building a stainless steel sink. The next day we might be putting in an air-handling unit or a heating and air conditioning unit.

What are some of the more unusual things your shop has built?
I think that at one time our shop built a stainless steel enclosure for a popcorn machine at the Assembly Hall. Years ago, when they had the Prairie State Games here, our shop made an Olympic torch out of stainless steel, and it had a burner in it. I was kind of proud of that. Somebody in our shop designed it.

Tell me a little bit about your educational background.
I graduated from Champaign Central High School. I went to a real small college for two years, the University of South Dakota at Springfield. I played basketball and played football there. In that whole school, there were only maybe eight black kids, me being one. It was a little different and took some adjusting.

What is the mission of the National Council of African-American Men?
The main focus is to create a more positive image of black males.

We also have a community summit to talk about different problems and issues and try to come up with solutions. The summit has expanded to what we call now the Black Male Symposium. Parkland College is spearheading that. The symposium brings together different organizations from the community, such as NCAM, NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women and the United Way. We try to get the police chiefs involved too.

What types of issues is NCAM working on?
We are trying to come up with an action plan to address the large amount of black males in the criminal justice system and other problems plaguing the minority community. Maybe if we get different minds together we can come up with something that can make a difference.

Does NCAM do other outreach programs?
One of the things that we have done is give scholarships to boys who are being good role models.

Every summer, we have a couple of campouts for boys between the ages of 8 and 14. We’ve been averaging 27 to 30 kids; we’ve been doing it for probably seven years. One of the purposes is to try to introduce them to the outdoors: fishing, pitching tents, telling stories at the campfire.

We also try to give them a little black history or give them a male perspective, since a lot of these boys don’t have fathers around. On occasion, we have a speaker come and talk to them.

During the summer, we also build a float for the Fourth of July parade. This is for girls and boys.

At Douglass Center, we’re involved with the Easter Egg Hunt. We actually hide the eggs, help supervise the kids and support the hunt.

This year we are hoping to have a soapbox derby where we actually build cars and race them in teams. We try to introduce these kids to different things. If they’re not skilled at sports, maybe they’re skilled at designing something or working with their hands.

We mentor kids, but each guy does it in his own way. I have taken seven or eight kids to Ag Day and to basketball games. Some of the men may drop in at the schools and sit in on a class. I think if the kids see more men that are out there doing the right thing, maybe it will influence some kids not to go on the negative side.

Sharita Forres

Inside Illinois Vol. 21, No. 15

March 7 2002

Hyperlink

Carol Lews, National Council of Negro Women, Champaign-Urbana chapter, president

NCNW

Podcast of Carol Lewis speaking WDWS Penny for Your Thoughts program

2009

Operation Control: Champaign, Illinois

Education, Inequalities

Part of book "White Prescriptions?: The Dangerous Social Potential for Ritalin and Other Psychotropic Drugs to Harm Black Boys." Chapter describes the recent history of educational inequalities in Champaign-Urbana schools and the use of drugs to sedate African-American male youth.

Terrence D. Fitzgerald

Paradigm Publishers

2009

About Time (Some Patterns of Time Reckoning)...

Church

Excerpts from an anthropology dissertation written on the concept of time. Includes a twenty-five page section on Salem Baptist Church and its conceptualization of time and the past. Also includes chapter on St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Haruko Kinase-Leggett

Injustice Sheltered: Race Relations at the University of Illinois and Champaign-Urbana, 1942-1962

Civil Rights

Dissertation describing the segregated nature of Champaign-Urbana and the struggle to integrate various facilities, especially around Campustown. Education Dissertation, UIUC

Carrie Franke

1990

Jason Patterson, local artist, exhibit stories from News-Gazette

BACK-UP of Text. For original pieces click on hyperlinks (below) :

Studio Visit: Jason Patterson, 24, of Urbana
Sun, 09/20/2009 - 6:22am | Melissa Merli
photo-15535
Photo by: Robert K. O'Daniell

Jason Patterson with his gallery show at Amara Yoga & Arts in Urbana.

Q: I was surprised to hear that Gerhard Richter (German, born 1932) is one of your favorite artists, as you're so young. Why?

A: I think I'm pretty conservative in what I do as an artist, and I think he is, too. He paints like a machine. My favorite thing is to do something traditional but with really contemporary ideas.

Q: How does this show (at Amara Yoga & Arts, Urbana) reflect that?

A: As far as technique goes, I try to use charcoal and pastel in new ways. For example, in these paintings, I use charcoal and white pastel on unprimed canvas and then seal it with a fixative and then varnish it with a polymer-based glaze or gel. I try to use the materials in a different way but the images are derivative. The images look traditional or simple.

Q: I noticed your work on your Web site is different than your work here.

A: The stuff on the Web site is old, and I was not as focused then. Now I try to work in series. I was telling my boss a few weeks ago (at the Art Coop) that I wish there were 50 hours in a day because I want to do everything. This is all I do. I try to paint 70 hours a week. I'm either at the Art Coop or painting.

One of my favorite painters is Don Pollock, who teaches at the School of the Art Institute. He did a Lincoln series based on old photographs – some portraits and some landscapes. He did a huge series of 30 paintings.

Q: What kind of series are you working on now?

A: I'm going to work on this civil rights/slave series until I think it's done. I took old pictures of slaves and pixelated them and changed the colors. I pixelated them to make them anonymous. If you're a slave, you have no name. I think when I finish this series, it will be the only black culture/civil rights work I'll do.

Q: What other themes interest you?

A: With my themes and ideas I try to stay as contemporary as possible. For my next series, I want to do paintings of scrambled Internet videos so they look like abstract paintings, but they're not really abstract. I think more and more people are watching things on the Internet.

Q: When did you start making art?

A: As soon as I was old enough to pick up a pencil. When I moved out of my parents' house, I made really big drawings of Michael Jordan, comic-book heroes and the Chief (Illiniwek), which makes me cringe a little now. When I was a kid, I was like the pro-Chief people, thinking he was more than a mascot. I actually went on to make one piece stating just the opposite.

Q: You grew up in Champaign, right?

A: Yes, I graduated from Champaign Central in 2003. I took art classes at Parkland College, but I guess my high school education is my only degree.

Q: With whom did you study at Parkland?

A: The biggest influences there were Matthew Watt, Joan Stolz and Stephen Hudson.

Q: Did you win any awards at Parkland?

A: The Art Coop award. That was before I started working there.

Q: Do you plan to get a degree in art?

A: I don't know. I'm sure if I went to a big school it would make me better, but it wouldn't make me better enough to spend 100 grand. I'm really happy with the way I do my work now, so it's really hard to think of a reason to go to school right now.

Q: How long will your show ("Phases of Construction," also featuring work by Barbara F. Miller) be here at Amara?

A: Probably a month, through mid-October. In February, these pieces will probably be at the Indi Go gallery in Champaign. I'm just going to put all these and anything new I do there. These pieces are part of my civil rights series, and I'll probably do 48 pieces altogether in that.

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Urbana artist raising money to assist Don Moyer Club
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 11:28am | Melissa Merli
photo-17505
Photo by: Robert K. O'Daniell

Jason Patterson displays some of the pieces from the Civil Rights Project at Amara Yoga & Arts in Urbana. His work will be on display this weekend at the Indi Go Gallery in Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN – Artist Jason Patterson, who is biracial, says he has encountered in his life only two minor incidents of racism or prejudice.

One happened when he was young. "I actually didn't notice it; my parents did," he said. The other time came in high school, when a friend called Patterson an "Oreo."

"He didn't know it was derogatory," he said. "He thought it was funny. But a teacher heard it and told him it was racist and inappropriate. The kid cried and apologized over and over."

Patterson, a 2003 graduate of Champaign Central High School, credits his "comfortable" life to the civil rights movement that got under way well before he was born.

In tribute to it, he began creating a series of charcoal drawings in 2008 that he calls the Civil Rights Project.

This past fall, he showed some of the works from the series at Amara Yoga & Arts in Urbana. This weekend, he will show those plus newer Civil Rights Project pieces at Indi Go Gallery as a fundraiser for the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club in Champaign.

Patterson, who studied art at Parkland College, created his black-and-white drawings, which he covered with an acrylic glaze, from video stills he grabbed from the Internet. They depict people and scenes from the movement.

"A lot of people in the '50s and '60s would have seen these on their televisions," he said.

Patterson, who lives in Urbana, said it was James Barham's idea to make the "Civil Rights Project" at Indi Go a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club. Already, Barham, who founded Indi Go Gallery as an artist cooperative, has raised $2,500 from sponsors. Patterson plans to give the Boys and Girls Club half of the proceeds from each drawing he sells. The works range from $500 to $2,500, with a large one priced at $5,000.

The opening reception at Indi Go, 9 E. University Ave., C, will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday. The works will remain on view through Feb. 21, with events at the gallery on Feb. 12 and 19. For more information, visit online www.indi-go-art.com.

The show is sponsored by both Champaign's and Urbana's Office of Human Relations; the University of Illinois Department of Public Engagement; The Downey Group Inc.; Fox Development Corp.; KEC Design; Ramshaw Real Estate; Bank Champaign N.A.; and Barham Benefit Group.

Noah Lenstra

Noah Lenstra