In the 1960s, most of America was struggling with segregation, integration and racial violence. That was certainly still true in the 1970s when I took this photograph in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. However, during the entire four years I photographed in Uptown, I can’t recall hearing one racial epithet. People would certainly refer to others by their race or nationality, but never in a derogatory fashion. Perhaps this was because they had experienced so much discrimination themselves. But for the most part, I think people just genuinely got along. Even the Latin Kings and Latin Eagles were racially integrated. I found these four friends chatting in front of an apartment building. After I snapped this shot, the two women went inside and the men went off in another direction. A reader wrote to say this image “was taken around 920 West Leland. The building in the foreground has now been replaced by a 6 unit condominium and the building in the background is now Uplift High School while under construction.”
