Cincinnati, Ohio is the ranked as one of the top 10 most segregated city in the United States (Kent, Frohlich 2015). As a result, there are dire financial and educational consequences for non white families who experience this structural violence. According to Richard Rothstein, research associate at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), “Since wealth largely comes from housing investments, and home values have increased dramatically over the decades in many areas, those policies have exacerbated income and wealth disparities, Rothstein explained. Black Americans earn about 60% of what white Americans do, and accumulated wealth among typical black households is a mere 6% of the typical white household.” (Kent, Frohlich 2015). With this context in mind, learners will explore the historic and contemporary forces of housing segregation in Cincinnati.
Conceptual Lens
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Forces & Systems
Unit strands
- Understanding – (Interpreting information as informed through their lived experience)
Web out the unit’s topics and the concepts under the strands
Generalizations that you expect students to derive from unit study (what students must UNDERSTAND conceptually)
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Racism has impacted housing and social patterns even in the colloquial North
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Housing segregation remains pervasive
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Northern cities were actively enforcing what was presumed to be Jim Crow southern housing policies
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Segregation impacts all facets of life in Cincinnati
Develop Guiding Questions
Factual Question –
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What were migration patterns of people of color during the post civil war?
Debatable Question
- How did Cincinnati officials promote segregation in their policies
Conceptual question
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What was rationale for enforcing segregation?
Identify the Critical Content (What students must KNOW)
- Students must know the definition of segregation and redlining.
- Students must know federal policies that strengthened the promotion of segregation in housing.
- Students must be able to identify local examples of institutions who fought for desegregation in housing and public accommodations.
Identify key skills (what students must be able to DO)
- Students must be able to explain the history housing segregation in the United States.
- Students will be able to identify and critique housing policies that promote racial segregation.
Radical Chili:
The Paradox of Embracing & Rejecting Immigration in Cincinnati
Cincinnati style chili, a local staple has immigrant roots. Writer Danny Cross explains, “Cincinnati-style chili goes back to 1922, with the creation of downtown’s Empress Chili — named after a burlesque theater next door called “the Empress.” Fact is, Cincinnati chili was invented by Greek immigrants — Empress owners Tom and John Kiradjieff — who used Mediterranean-inspired spices to create a meat sauce used initially to top hot dogs sold out of a cart.” (Cross, 2015). Despite this contribution, alongside the countless other cultural/political/social offerings, immigrant populations have faced waves of violence and resistance in the past (see anti German Hysteria and today see Sanctuary City backlash). Students will research history about local immigrant populations and reflect on how the paradox between embracing immigrant inventions without embracing immigrant populations.
Identify the conceptual Lens
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Paradox & Origins
Identify the Unit strands
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“Connecting”
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“Surfacing”
Web out the unit’s topics and the concepts under the strands
| About that Skyline | Recipe for Success | Ban the Chili? |
| The folks behind the chili (Origins) | Innovation within Immigrant Communities | The Paradox between anti Immigration policies of today and the immigrant products Cincinnatians enjoy |
Generalizations that you expect students to derive from unit study (what students must UNDERSTAND conceptually)
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Non indigenous folks, and non descendants of enslaved Africans have immigrant backgrounds
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Racial hiearchies are embedded in historic and immigration preferences and practices
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Immigrants have uniquely contributed to social/political/ cultural practices that are commonly solely associated with white American
Develop Guiding Questions
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Factual Question –
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Who is credited for popularizing “Cincinnati style” chili?
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Debatable Question
- Cincinnati chili would not exist without the ability for individuals to immigrate to Cincinnati. Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement.
Identify the Critical Content (What students must KNOW)
- Students must know immigration patterns in Cincinnati.
- Students must know how immigration has impacted the culture of the city of Cincinnati.
Identify key skills (what students must be able to DO)
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Students must be able to identify contributions from Cincinnati’s past immigrated populations
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Students will be able to compare and contrast attitudes about immigrants in the past to current debates about immigrants today.
Works Cited:
C. Frohlich, Thomas Kent, Alexander (2015, August, 25) .The 9 Most Segregated Cities In America. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-9-most-segregated-cities-in-america_us_55df53e9e4b0e7117ba92d7f
Cross, Danny (2015, July, 9). So You’ve Probably Heard of Cincinnati Chili. Retrieved from https://www.citybeat.com/home/article/13002194/so-youve-probably-heard-of-cincinnati-chili