The book that I was assigned to read and provide a review on this semester is American Project by Sudhir Alladi. American Project aims to shine a light on the reality of living in the housing projects in Chicago. Robert Taylor Holmes was built in Chicago in 1962, with a purpose of giving families a temporary place to live. It was located in the so-called ghetto and is described as being isolated from other neighborhoods. The author strives to show the reader the importance of relationships within public housing in Chicago. Upon reading this book, an individual begins to understand that the political system was incredibly flawed. The only key social institution that seems to be serving its purpose is family, seeing as this is what provides …show more content…
Despite multiple occasions of tenants joining together to voice their concerns, no improvements were made. The Chicago Housing Authority appeared to be lacking the ability or the desire to help improve the living conditions. Both the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago police represented corruption as they worked with professional gangs (The Sharks and the Black Kings gang). People participated in gambling and distributing drugs and then bribing officials to sweep their crimes under the rug. The housing development had no political leverage. Children living here were unable to enjoy their youth as children in neighboring white communities could. The fact that they couldn’t even provide an adequate number of resources and services including recreational parks, healthcare facilities and social services. This is of course due to little to no funding. Robert Taylor being overcrowded made things worse, as there were not enough schools or areas for …show more content…
It becomes more and more clear that with the overwhelming prevalence of gangs in the area made things much worse. Community organizations wouldn’t help to provide much needed resources because, like police, they did not want to get involved with the gang activity. Critique Venkatesh tries to tell an alternative story as he informs the reader of the criminal activity that occurred in Robert Taylor, including drug distribution, gambling, prostitution, and tenants selling stolen goods. However, he uses language that depicts the residents as people rather than labeling them as criminals, since the truth is that they are just trying to get by. He explains that some tenants also sold food and homemade clothing, which kept tenants from having to spend money to travel long distances to stores. This is important because it shows how the residents helped each other to get by. On the other hand, I feel that the author should have focused more on the fact that mostly single parent households lived in Robert Taylor. This is because it is a known fact that children who grow up in single parent households are more likely to engage in criminal