Young black men in Chicago: Out of work, out of school, and out of luck
Note--outsourcing to Europe saved Brach's a huge bundle in health care expenses.
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/7/1478844/-Young-black-men-in-Chicago-Out-of-work-out-of-school-and-out-of-luck
You can blame the high incidence in shootings on easy gun trafficking from other states (true) or the “Ferguson effect” (not true). Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel went so far as to blame the uptick in shootings on an anti-police backlash, saying Chicago police officers have pulled back on enforcing the law—in essence, that that they were forced into a fetal position.
You can talk about illegal drugs, failed schools, malnutrition, substandard housing, and a host of other issues. There’s truth in all of those factors. But the biggest culprit is lack of economic opportunity.
Chicago is no different from many other urban areas that have experienced job flight from the inner city. You used to see large factories throughout the city that employed hundreds of workers. Now, those same workplaces are shuttered or torn down. And not much has been left in their place.
During my commuting days, I always rode the CTA Green Line along the West Side. The worst sight was the old Brach’s candy factory, which closed its doors in 2001 after 76 years of making StarBrite Mints and Milk Maid Caramels, leaving 1,100 people out of work. The company moved most of its candy manufacturing to Europe.
