Blog Assignment #11

After reading Chapter 1, the author made me view writing a research paper in a different aspect. I for one loathed research papers, especially when the topic has no interest to me or anything that will help improve my life.  Now, if I were asked to research the best shoe stores or True Blood, then I am sold. In my opinion I think that key to a good research paper is simply good timing and preparation. If the topic is not really your cup of tea, like most things, you can always find the good in it.  The community that I choose to research was Hyde Park.  What interested me the most about this particular area was the stereo types that I had heard about the people lived in the area. And that fact some elite class African Americans lived in this area, which I was not accustomed to growing up in the Austin Area. Growing up in the west side the "thing" was that people that lived on the South Side were considered to be bourgeois or had a tendency to look down on people from the west side.  Since I have now become a resident of Hyde Park, I have now noticed that my view has changed, to a certain degree.

Questions:

If you were influenced by someone/something in your community, how were you influenced? Was is negative, positive, or both?

Did the influence make you view your current community or group differently? If so how.

How would you compare/contrast certain stereotypes to the community you grew up in to the one that you live in now?

How do individuals view your community? Do they believe in the stereotypes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park,_Chicago

What do Hugh Hefner & Barack Obama have in Common?

Hyde is considered to be an elite area for some African Americans, and considering that Chicago is one of the most segregated cities, Hyde Park is considered to be one of the most diverse area in all of Chicago,  43.5% White, 38% Black. This area is the home to some of Chicago's education institutions, such as the University of Chicago, Dusable Museum of African American History, and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, along with others. During the 1930's Hyde park had established a very successful run in the hotel business. This included over 100 hotels and resorts. Post World War 1 a lot of African Americans settled into Hyde park from some of the southern states, which offered affordable housing.  Hyde park  has also been the home to such celebrities as our very own President Barack Obama , Louis Farrakhan, Mahalia Jackson & Hugh Hefner.