The Death of Dolton

Since getting more than a handful of fellow Doltonites to “friend” me on facebook, I decided to write about something I feel very passionate about. The death of the town I grew up in, and my perceptions of same.

Dolton, Illinois is a Southern suburb of Chicago, My Mom, Dad, brother, and I moved from Chicago to the town when I was in 2nd grade. We lived in a ranch style house at 14500 Van Buren Street. I loved growing up in that house and have some very fond memories. I remember every Christmas spent there, the family dinners at the table, and moving bedrooms three times.

Dolton itself was a bustling community. It had basically everyplace a kid would need growing up. Minnie’s candy store, Andy’s Dairy Freeze, Boz Hot Dogs, Value Village department store, and Dolton House Restaurant were local business hangouts. There was a park with a huge rocket slide, and so many sidewalks and side streets to ride a bicycle on. It even had streetlights everywhere, and I know this because Mom always told me as a kid that I should be heading home when I saw the streetlights turn on.

I think I traveled down memory lane enough. Fast forward to High School. Dolton started to change and not for the better.

Every good story needs a villain, and in this story the villains were greedy real estate developers and speculators. They had a brilliant plan, and unfortunately it lead to the destruction of the village.

They looked upon Dolton as an apple ripe for picking. A bustling community of hard working middle class people, most with jobs in Chicago, and land for the taking. But how to engineer their plot?

The Illinois Supreme Court caught a bite of the liberal bug and started the process of bussing kids to different schools. So some of the predominately Caucasian kids of Dolton would be bussed to the predominately African American school in Harvey, and vice versa. This was supposed to equalize the system. To make it ever more confusing the two schools shared similar names: Thornridge and Thornton.

I don’t know how they figured out the whole thing, perhaps a dartboard or consulting the entrails of a swine. But Dolton was split among the two schools, and the residents weren’t excited about it. Dolton kids who lived just blocks away from Thornridge would be bussed to Harvey. No choice.

As for myself, I managed to eject from the fray and went the private route attending Mount Carmel High School in Chicago. I got a well-rounded education that prepared me well for college, and the teacher and student population were extremely diverse (except perhaps on religious viewpoints, but that’s to be expected). Through Mount Carmel I would come to fall in love with the City of Chicago, which to this day I still call my hometown.

But enough about me, and back to the story. With the bussing of students, the evil real estate developers and speculators saw how it was affecting Dolton. They saw that this predominately white community was perhaps a little on the racist side. Or if not racist, there was enough of a fear of other races to be used to our villains’ advantage.

So they begin their plot. They start selling houses in Dolton to African Americans, perhaps even putting their own money towards the purchase price to encourage the process. It is my belief that they specifically targeted black people for houses in Dolton as those houses became available. They weren’t interested in selling to white people, as it didn’t serve their needs.

Then the fear struck Dolton. The neighborhood will be overrun, and poor whites will become the minority. The sky is falling, run and tell the King!

I remember Mayor Michael Peck of Dolton. I had once visited his office with the intention of starting a Dungeons & Dragons group and needed approval to use village meeting space (Yes, I was a D&D playing geek and I loved it).

I will never forget walking into the Mayor’s office. His desk was adorned with various figures showing less than flattering caricatures of black men and women. Some of the statues had pins stuck in them like something out of Voodoo, and others hanging by a rope. No attempt to hide such figures, as they were in open display for all to see. All he needed in that office was a KKK outfit to complete the ensemble.

Far from a hero, the Mayor strove to defend Dolton. I think it just played into our villains’ hands all the more in that it continued to stoke the fires of fear in the heart of the citizens that their white-bred community was in danger. This fear was like pure cake to the speculators.

It was obvious to me that Dolton was using every legal resource at their disposal to stop the racial makeup of their town from changing. Including outlawing real estate signs in front of people’s houses. All these maneuvers wouldn’t stop our villains, as the law shielded them. You can’t discriminate in housing. You can’t stop commerce of people buying and selling houses.

One by one the houses started to sell. The fear grew and grew. As more houses sold, the selling price of homes went down and down. The white citizens wanted out of Dolton, if not for the fear of another race, then for fear of dwindling house prices.

During this time, my Dad’s employer let him go. Chicago was no longer going to be a center of steel production, as foreign markets for steel were more attractive. I was in college at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago when my parents told me that they were leaving Dolton and heading for Indiana. So I had to leave my beloved Chicago.
I am not sure exactly whom my parents sold the house to, but I have a strong feeling that it helped add to our villain’s scheme.

The speculators I am sure no longer had to prime the pump with their own money. I am sure they were advertising to the black communities that they should take their money and come to the nice suburban town of Dolton. All are welcome! Good schools! Parks! Businesses! More houses entering the market everyday. Good homes at good prices.

When I last visited Dolton, nothing was the same. No longer white bred, but a mix of other races. The businesses not the same, the schools not the same. Nothing of what I remembered. This town I grew up in was no more. And I’m sorry, but while I embrace change, this was not for the better. This was a sad transformation.

Even if you go to the website now for the Village of Dolton, you will find that none of the links work.

However, looking back on it, the real estate speculators were just servants of the real villain. They set it up, they profited by it, and they helped destroy my Dolton. The true villain of this story is racism, hatred, and fear. Had the citizens not given into these and accepted their fellow human beings, this would not have happened. Instead they were lead by the speculators like lambs to slaughter.

We live in a great country, this United States of America. A country of different races, colors, creeds, nationalities, sexual orientations, ages, genders, political affiliations, cultures, foods, entertainment, and beliefs. All of these become a rich tapestry that should be embraced. Our differences make us strong, not weak.

When we allow our differences to divide us and fuel hate and fear, we give in to the most powerful of evil destructive forces ever known. At least powerful enough to destroy a village, perhaps a nation.