Chicago: city of unequal opportunities

Abstract

Around 1920 Chicago had emerged as one of the largest centers of Jewish life in the world. However, this is a little-known fact. Jews do not feature prominently in Chicago's history and memory, even though they constituted close to 10% of the city's population during the first half of the 20 th century. The article raises the question why and how Jews became insiders in a city of outsiders, with a focus on the economic and political spheres. A related question is why African Americans who moved to Chicago during the 20 th century from the American South were systematically excluded.