Community efforts promote unity, understanding as migrant influx stirs frustration
CHICAGO – As Chicago faces the challenges of an influx of Latin American migrants, local organizations are working to foster understanding between the city’s Black and Latino communities. Tensions have been growing as resources stretch thin, but advocates from both groups have initiated discussions aimed at addressing concerns and promoting cooperation.
Richard Wallace, the executive director of Equity and Transformation, is one of the key figures leading efforts to ease tensions. His organization focuses on advocating for Black workers in Chicago, many of whom are grappling with the city’s escalating costs of living, unemployment, and a perceived lack of resources. Wallace connects the struggles faced by migrants today with those endured by his own family during the Great Migration, when his grandfather fled Arkansas for better opportunities in Chicago.
“He didn’t migrate here simply because he wanted to be here,” Wallace said. “He came here because the conditions were better than where he was at. Sometimes people think it’s about choice, and it wasn’t about choice for him, it was about life.”