Skip to content
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • Features
  • Subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania’s Columns
  • Advertise
Suburban Chicagoland

Suburban Chicagoland

Original News, Features & Opinion

  • About
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Our Writers
      • Ray Hanania
      • Bill Lipinski
      • Aaron Hanania
      • Steve Metsch
      • Steve Neuhaus
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reach Out
  • Sections
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Features
    • Seniors
    • Comic Strip
  • Library
    • Midnight Flight Book
      • Midnight Flight Introduction
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 1
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 2
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 3
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 4
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 5
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 6
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 7
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 8
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 9
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 10
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 11
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 12
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 13
    • Villages, Cities & Towns
    • Federal Office Holders
    • County Officials
    • Legislators
  • Seniors
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Comment
  • Podcast
    • Two Guys on Politics Podcast: A Centrist View on Politics
    • Two Guys on Politics
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • The Arab street Podcast
  • Submit a Press Release
  • Toggle search form
  • Lyons Township Democrats Host Fall Fest Sept. 17
    Lyons Township Democrats to host annual FallFest on Sept. 17 Cook County
  • Senate Candidate Mike Porfirio Fundraiser Sept. 1, 2022
    Illinois Senate Candidate Mike Porfirio Fundraiser Sept. 1, 2022 Cook County
  • Congressman Sean Casten
    Illinois AFL-CIO Endorses Sean Casten for Re-Election Cook County
  • Patricia Joan Murphy Worth Township Supervisor
    Worth Township Foundation hosts First Annual Golf Outing Sept. 30 Cook County
  • Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) Wednesday (August 10, 2022 visited Rick and Corey Johnson’s Farm in Monee, IL and held a ‘Barn Hall’ with farmers, growers and food security advocates from the Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Soybean Association, Greater Chicago Food Depository and the USDA Office of Rural Development.
    Rep. Kelly Hosts ‘Barn Hall’ Conversation with Farmers and Food Security Advocates Federal
  • Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey and his wife
    Pritzker lives in glass house of money and hypocrisy Blogger
  • Orland Park Trustee Dan Calandriello at a Village of Orland Park Board meeting.
    Candidate Calandriello announces “Biking the 17th” to raise awareness for Cook County Forest Preserves Cook County
  • Soccer. Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash
    International soccer returns to SeatGeek Stadium Cook County
  • Piano. Photo by Dolo Iglesias on Unsplash
    Too old to rock? Elton John, in town tonight, turning back the clock Blogger
  • President George W. Bush walks across the tarmac with NFO Lt. Ryan Phillips to Navy One, an S-3B Viking jet, at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego Thursday, May 1, 2003. Flying to the USS Abraham Lincoln, the President addressed the nation and declared "Mission accomplished" in Iraq to justify diverting forces from Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Can we win the war in Ukraine? Bill Lipinski
  • Congresswoman Marie Newman, 3rd District Illinois
    Kelly, Foster, Newman among those voting to pass Assault Weapons Ban Act Crime
  • Hanania newspaper column on Pritzker pushing for Democratic National COnvention
    Pritzker push for Democratic National Convention could backfire Blogger
  • Fire Truck, Fire District. Photo courtesy of the Orland Fire Protection District
    Orland Fire District will maintain “all services” despite delayed county tax collections Cook County
  • Mike Porfirio, Democrat endorsed candidate for 11th Senate District
    Porfirio urges “full investigation” into reported racist rant of local official Cook County
  • New Lenox offers Free CERT training
    New Lenox offers free Disaster Preparedness Training to residents Government
Ray Hanania home at 89th and Luella Avenue. Picture 2017

Midnight Flight: Chapter 12 — Looking Back

Posted on January 29, 2016July 14, 2019 By Ray Hanania 1 Comment on Midnight Flight: Chapter 12 — Looking Back
SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  

Midnight Flight: Chapter 12 — Looking Back

One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online novel)

By Ray Hanania

Midnight Flight, (C) 1990-2020 Ray Hanania, All Rights Reserved

The families that moved out of South Shore Valley were the real losers.

We were the victims, too, the people who left. We did it to ourselves.

We fled before we even knew what we were fleeing from. And we never knew where we were running to.

We had only heard about the “suburbs,” but never really understood the term. It was a whole new life that we were unprepared to adopt. Uncharted in our minds. And in many cases, the welcomes we received were unenthusiastic and confrontational.

The Black people who moved into our homes brought a whole new experience to South Shore Valley, and they made it an even more wonderful community.

Ray Hanania home at 89th and Luella Avenue. Picture 2017
Ray Hanania home at 89th and Luella Avenue. Picture 2017

The benefits and the problems that existed before we left, remained the same as they had been when we were gone. If you put the two actions on a balance — White families running and Black families moving in — clearly they both contributed to the problem, but it was the flight that caused the most tension. Think about it. A Black family moving into the area — or any family moving in, for that matter — is really a positive driven event. They came to improve themselves. White families moving out, however, were motivated by negative feelings of fear, uncertainty, and in some cases, even hatred of the Blacks who were moving in.

We were too frightened to see that, though.

People who stayed, like Sharon Zurek, a close friend who I had not seen again until embarking on this project, were the fortunate ones.

They kept what they had, separated themselves from the weakness of the people who left, and embraced a whole new life rich in experiences and culture that made them better people.

I have often gone back to 89th and Luella, just to wonder at the beauty of that street. I was impressed at how well kept the neighborhood had remained all those years that I was gone. Human nature is already arrogant, making one believe that they are crucial to success in any form. We left. The neighborhood, naturally, would fall apart.

It didn’t.

The reasons that caused the White Flight – perceptions and fears that Blacks moving into the area would bring with them crime and lower economic conditions – were not realized. The fears we had that seemed so important 30 years ago about Black families moving in, never really materialized. Maybe leaving was the best thing many of the Whites who fled could have done for the area. Maybe, moving proved that the White families, and not the Black families who moved in, were the ones who really didn’t care about the community.

On a recent visit, I stood there looking down the street with its umbrella of huge Elm and Maple trees. Squirrels jumped around the lawns at the foot of the tall trees, pausing to examine nuts, sticks and other garden objects. The trees form a beautiful green canopy of leaves and branches that arch over the well-kept, manicured lawns and polished cars parked curbside.

Memories of that wonderful time are still vivid.

I could see the shadows of my friends and neighbors still on the sidewalks and in the windows. I remember every one of their names. I know their houses, by location and by looks, and also where each of them had lived.

Jeff Brody. Walter Flood. Rickie Kramer. Jack Stone. Sheldon Asher. Terry Shy. Michael Rothman. Phillip Resnick. Sherman Sloan. Larry Kagan. His cousin, Steve Kagan. Cathy Lee. Art Wittert. Jay Kraus. Sharon Zurek. Vicky Ferguson. Robert Roubitchek. Nancy Cranston. Larry Kogan. Bruce Elegant. Paul Brooks. Laura Badner. Sherry Weingart. Robyne Halevy. David Gzesh. Judy Friedman. Suzy Mulstein. Larry Green. Stuart Zimmerman. Howie Fishman. (I apologize if I have spelled some names wrong. I never did very well in Mr. Natzche’s English class at Warren. And, I apologize if I have left any names out.)

There were so many good friends. I can say their names and see each one of their faces. A smile. Just the way they looked, back then. (A few I have since seen, a few at the Bowen reunion and few I just heard about.)

We were all there at a wonderful time in our lives. When everyone was a friend, and when there was real meaning in the words “community” and “neighborhood.”

My memory is like a street map that is no longer valid and out-of-date. Yet, few physical things changed.

Calumet Park at 89th and Jeffery Boulevard is renamed in honor of Black Olympic Gold Medalist Jesse Owens. But the Park Field House remained there, intact, in the center of the park. Undisturbed. The curving pathways that ran through the park are the same, passing by the cement water fountains, the basketball courts and the football fields.

Black kids played there, the way White kids had played there 30 years before. Carving initials in the same dark green Chicago Park District benches. Throwing basketballs into the hoops, the way we once did.

I stand there in a truly present tense.

I take one more drive past my old house before I return to a suburb where, after more than twice as many years of living, I don’t know the names of my own neighbors. I pull over and just stare at the house for a moment filled with years of memories.

In front of my home I see the Lilac bush that my father plants on the lawn. I remember vividly watching my father digging out the earth. He places the shovel on the grass and carries the small, burlap wrapped bush and places it in the hole he has just dug. Dad pushes the rich black dirt back over the plant’s roots, and pats the ground around it down.

He asks me to pull the hose to the front from the side of the house. I do it, dragging it across the grass. An aluminum sprinkler is attached and my dad unscrews it.

“We have to water it. We have to enrich it. We paid for it and we don’t want it to die.”

I nod as dad speaks. He smiles. It is a content smile. “One day it will be beautiful.”

I don’t quite understand what he means, but there is a message that becomes apparent years later.

That bush was only two feet tall back in 1962 when he placed it in the ground in our front lawn. Today, it towers above the two-story home itself.

The tree is still there in front of our old house. Flowers blossoming. Branches swaying in the light breeze, filled with sparrows and other birds fluttering about. The broad leaves are a bright, rich green. I can see them wave.

Dad, you were right.

It is beautiful.

Midnight Flight

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Dividing Lines

Chapter 3: A Beautiful, Idyllic Community

Chapter 4: Written Long Before

Chapter 5: Black is Bad

Chapter 6: Alone in the Playground

Chapter 7: Bowen High School

Chapter 8: In the Eye of the Storm

Chapter 9: Midnight Flight

Chapter 10: The Sub-Urban Life

Chapter 11: Friends Left Behind

Chapter 12: Looking Back

Chapter 13: Notes from Readers

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
Ray Hanania
Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)
  • Casten Announces Endorsement from Illinois Democratic Congressional Delegation - August 18, 2022
  • Illinois Senate Candidate Mike Porfirio Fundraiser Sept. 1, 2022 - August 18, 2022
  • Lyons Township Democrats to host annual FallFest on Sept. 17 - August 18, 2022
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  
 
 
 
           
Baby Boomers, Books & Films, Suburban Chicagoland Tags:1960s, African-Americans, Blacks, books, Bowen High school, Calumet Park, changing neighborhood, Chicago, Moved to suburbs, Racism, realtors, selling homes, South Shore Valley, Southeast Side, SuburbanChicagoland, White Flight, White Homeowners

Post navigation

Previous Post: Midnight Flight: Chapter 11 — Friends Left Behind
Next Post: Midnight Flight: Chapter 13 — Notes from Readers

Related Posts

  • Burned dryer 08-10-18 Dryer Fire 144th Mason Orland Park. Photo courtesy of the Orland Fire Protection District.
    Dryer fire in Orland Park home at 144th Block of Mason Lane Editors Pick
  • BNSF Train. Photo courtesy of BNSF Railway www.BNSF.com
    Congresswoman Marie Newman leads letter in urging BNSF Railway to engage workers on new attendance policy Chicago
  • Marie Newman, candidate for the 3rd District
    Marie Newman launches very effective TV Ad Campaign Blogger
  • August 21, 2017 Solar Eclipse from Chicago. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Witnessing the total Solar Eclipse in 1963 Baby Boomers
  • Birthday girl has the blues News
  • Ray Hanania home at 89th and Luella Avenue. Picture 2017
    Online Book, White Flight and racism in Chicago in 1969 Baby Boomers

More Related Articles

One hurt in garage fire News
Sounded like ‘a door slamming’ News
Row House fire July 30, 2022 146th Street and Morningside Road in Orland Park Fire damages Orland Park Row House at 146th and Morningside Road Cook County
Chicago Wolves courtesy of the Chicago Wolves Potluralski’s Hat Trick treats Chicago Wolves to 5th straight win Chicago
Maria Pappas Cook County Treasurer Office. Photo courtesy of the Cook County Treasurer's office Pappas: 39,100 Property Owners Must Pay Delinquent Taxes to Avoid Sale Chicago
Controversy-plagued Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia The racism of the people screaming racism Blogger

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID
  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • 08-17-22 Hanania column on remembering Chicago past
    Remembering a past that has long left Chicago behind
    August 17, 2022
  • 08-17-22 Lipinski column America must defend Taiwan
    Right from the Middle: America must stand up to China and defend Taiwan
    August 17, 2022
  • Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey and his wife
    Pritzker lives in glass house of money and hypocrisy
    August 11, 2022
  • Piano. Photo by Dolo Iglesias on Unsplash
    Too old to rock? Elton John, in town tonight, turning back the clock
    August 5, 2022
  • President George W. Bush walks across the tarmac with NFO Lt. Ryan Phillips to Navy One, an S-3B Viking jet, at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego Thursday, May 1, 2003. Flying to the USS Abraham Lincoln, the President addressed the nation and declared "Mission accomplished" in Iraq to justify diverting forces from Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Right from the Middle: Can we win the war in Ukraine?
    August 3, 2022
  • 17t year old Hadi Abuatelah runs after Oak Lawn police stopped the vehicle he was in asking him to leave a suspicious looking bag in the back seat. Instead, Abuatelah took the bag and tried to run but was caught and beaten to force him to let go of the bag
    Arabs and Muslims wrongly rush to judgment in Oak Lawn police beating of teenager
    August 3, 2022

Subscribe

  • Ray-Hanania-Newsletter-300-wide-Banner.jpg

Trending

  • Bridgeview Police shut down a stretch of 79th Street between Roberts Road and 78th Avenue on Wednesday  night August 17 , 2022 after a pickup truck and motorcycle collided. Motorcycle-truck accident... Motorcycle-truck accident shuts down 79th street in Bridgeview Bridgeview... posted on August 17, 2022
  • Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey and his wife Pritzker lives in glass h... Pritzker lives in glass house of money and hypocrisy Illinois Governor J.B... posted on August 11, 2022
  • Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash Tough punishment needed i... Tough punishment needed in wake of Danny Golden shooting Society must dema... posted on July 20, 2022
  • Felon Donzel Jenkins charged with armed weapons possession in Orland Park July 22, 2022 Orland Park Police arrest... Orland Park Police arrest armed felon charged with weapons possession and v... posted on July 23, 2022
  • Row House fire July 30, 2022 146th Street and Morningside Road in Orland Park Fire damages Orland Park... Fire damages Orland Park Row House at 146th and Morningside Road A fire th... posted on August 1, 2022
  • NEWS
  • Congressman Sean Casten
    Casten Announces Endorsement from Illinois Democratic Congressional Delegation
    August 18, 2022
  • Senate Candidate Mike Porfirio Fundraiser Sept. 1, 2022
    Illinois Senate Candidate Mike Porfirio Fundraiser Sept. 1, 2022
    August 18, 2022
  • Lyons Township Democrats Host Fall Fest Sept. 17
    Lyons Township Democrats to host annual FallFest on Sept. 17
    August 18, 2022
  • Back to School event August 18, 2022
    Back to School COVID testing today in Summit August 18 4 – 7 PM
    August 18, 2022
  • Bridgeview Police shut down a stretch of 79th Street between Roberts Road and 78th Avenue on Wednesday  night August 17 , 2022 after a pickup truck and motorcycle collided.
    Motorcycle-truck accident shuts down 79th street in Bridgeview
    August 17, 2022
  • Congressman Sean Casten
    Illinois AFL-CIO Endorses Sean Casten for Re-Election
    August 15, 2022
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png

The Political Pundit

Political Pundit Aug. 24, 2021. Taliban thanks president for boxes of MAGA hats
  • WORD PRESS REVIEWS
  • MyCloud by Western Digital, a hard drive that doesn't last. Don't purchase Western Digital.
    Western Digital tubes its loyal customers for profit
    October 17, 2021
  • Macho Themes website front page. Don't buy their themes. They don't work
    Difficulties with Macho Themes for WordPress
    August 21, 2021
  • TECHNOLOGY REVIEWS
  • TikTok Screen shot
    TikTok generates nearly $4 billion in consumer spending
    July 21, 2022
  • Netflix is the best streaming service, despite drop in stock price
    April 20, 2022
  • Book Cover "Laptop from Hell" by Miranda Devince
    Questions remain unanswered about Hunter Biden’s ties to Ukraine
    February 20, 2022

Follow Ray Hanania at
Gab.com, MeWe.com
IDobbinate.com,
Twitter, Facebook

Creative Commons License
All works on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

What We’re Reading

Arab News Newspaper Leading English Language Publication in the GulfArab News Newspaper

Ray Hanania on Politics
SW News Newspaper Group

  • SPORTS
  • Soccer. Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash
    International soccer returns to SeatGeek Stadium
    August 7, 2022
  • Stefan Noesen, Chicago Wolves
    Chicago Wolves Noesen wins President’s Award
    July 22, 2022
  • SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview
    Chicago Fire sets dates for “home games” at SeatGeek Stadium because of date conflicts with Soldier Field and Bears
    July 22, 2022
  • Chicago Wolves celebrate Calder Cup Championship 2022. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Wolves
    Calder Cup Champions Chicago Wolves sign two veterans forwards
    July 18, 2022
  • NEWS RELEASES
  • Hastings files lawsuit against Frankfort police after politicized domestic violence report released
    August 10, 2022
  • Senior Care Home, eberhard 🖐 grossgasteiger on social or copy the text below to attribute.
    Nursing Home Violations for First Quarter of 2022
    June 7, 2022
  • John B. Schulz, 36, of the 7400 block of Brookside Drive in Hanover Park
    Hanover Park Man Charged with Multiple Felonies After Attempt to Meet Minor for Sex
    May 27, 2022
  • State Rep Fran Hurley 35th district
    Hurley-led Measure to Support Families of Fallen First Responders Signed by Governor
    May 24, 2022
  • Orland Township hosts Job Fair
    Orland Township events: Walk & Talk program, and Summer Job Fair
    May 17, 2022
Two Guys on PoliticsTwo Guys on Politics

John Kass Columns

Order the book PoweR PR; Ethnic Activists Guide to Strategic Communications
  • BUSINESS NEWS
  • Patricia Joan Murphy Worth Township Supervisor
    Partnership Will Offer Economic Development and Employment Support in South Suburbs 
    July 25, 2022
  • TikTok Screen shot
    TikTok generates nearly $4 billion in consumer spending
    July 21, 2022
  • Agave Cocina and Tequila Bar at 6050 W. 159th Street on Oak Forest, Illinois
    Restaurant Review: Agave Cocina in Oak Forest
    July 10, 2022
  • Congresswoman Marie Newman, 3rd District Illinois
    House passes two bills sponsored by Congresswoman Newman to support small businesses and strengthen trade
    June 9, 2022
Click this link to watch or use the widget below:

Click here to view the video on YouTube or use the widget below.
Email Ray Hanania for more information about performing at your event at rghanania@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2022 Suburban Chicagoland & Urban Strategies Group

Powered by PressBook Premium theme