The writers of the two 7/31/2001 Chicago Defender articles, "Maxwell St landmark serves last meal", and "Four Black brothers accuse UIC of closing their 57-year firm" should be applauded. Reporters Annah Dumas-Mitchell and Chinta Strassberg did their homework. They have been able to get UIC and City to reveal their discriminatory intent in UIC's South Campus expansion, which is in the old Maxwell Street area.

In the first article, Mayor Daley's spokesperson Pat Scales says that he thinks that the charges of racism in UIC's and City's policies towards Maxwell Street is "laughable." Our reply is that racism is no laughing matter. What he is "laughing" about is that the City and UIC are getting away with it. He further reveals deception when he says that "no one has been left out of the project, and businesses in the community can return under a new lease." What about the African-American Jackson brothers whose Smith Glass is being closed down? What about Reverend Johnson owner of Heritage Music and the famous Blues Bus? What about Henry the last shed vendor on O'Brien? What about Kaleilia, Rasheed, Prince, Bobby Lee and the other African-American street vendors who sell incense and socks? What about the minority employees of the over 30 businesses that were operating a year ago?

What is so insidious is that this type of racism is clever and deceptive using the interaction of the twin prongs of race and class. Rich and educated Blacks will be welcomed in the new South Campus area as long as there is reasonable expectations their proportion will not be too great. Poor and working class Blacks will be eliminated by making them feel ill at ease by the erasure of their history there: by destroying the businesses where they shopped and the restaurants where they ate, and the traditional Blues music they listened to, and by increasing the prices for everything from parking to eating to housing and even to entertainment.

UIC spokesperson Mike Rosati reveals this in the article about Jackson brothers' Smith Glass Company when he says that Jim's Hot Dogs "will be part of the new retail development, retailers who will be serving the new community as well as the broader community." What is important is that he never mentioned the old community, the community of poor and working class people of color who were forcibly removed. Nor does he mention that the format of Jim's will be transformed. Jim's Original Hot Dogs is a white owned business and the only one of over thirty businesses that will be allowed to stay, but forced by UIC to change its format to appeal to the new elite residents of the area.

This is, I hope, still America where property rights are supposed to be protected. Daley and UIC should not have the power to take away the businesses of one group and give them to another group, richer and whiter. If a business stays within the law, Daley and UIC should not be able to dictate how a business ought to operate, where to operate at, or who its clientele should be.

This is a principle the Maxwell Street Coalition has fought about for over 8 years. But, unless the larger working class and poor minority communities strongly fight this people-removal policy, the deception will continue and we will more swiftly move into the era of the new American Apartheid. To this end, we have called for a boycott against UIC's new dorms and University Village. The time to stop this is now!

For more information about Maxwell Street and the Call for a Boycott of UIC's new dorm and University Village, visit the website <www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html> or call 312-341-3696.

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