Arrivals...there goes the neighborhood

Gissel Hernandez

English 5^th      

America is the way it is today thanks to the explorers hundreds of years ago that came and conquered the land. It saddens me though, that this discovery meant getting rid of the Native Americans. Or in other words it saddens me when one family moves into a community that is generally populated by another culture and then immediately moves out because they feel uncomfortable.

Chicago is a very segregated community. There is a fine border line between the Hispanic neighborhood and the Caucasian neighborhood, or between the African American neighborhood and an Asian neighborhood. Growing up in little Village I went to a Mexican school, Mexican grocery store, and even a Mexican community park. Honestly I rarely interacted with people of different races and backgrounds. When I was in 4^th grade a Caucasian girl transferred over to my school. She literally was the only Caucasian in our school. She transferred out in less than three months because her mom didn't like that her school was not diverse. I remember thinking “the reason this school is not diverse is because when one student of a different race transfers in, they immediately transfer out”. All it takes is for one student of a different race to stay and sooner or later the school will become more diverse.  It takes a group effort though. Maybe if we made the girl feel more welcomed she would have stayed. I wonder if the Native Americans welcomed the explorers. If they did it probably wouldn’t have made a difference because the explorers wanted land. If they wanted unity would the Native American community still be here?