University of Chicago

Sudhir Venkatesh was a grad student at the University of Chicago in sociology. He planned to make his dissertation on race and poverty. He wanted to have authentic stats rather than incorporate census numbers into his work that were not reliable. He worked under one of the foremost professors of sociology, William Julius Wilson, who warned him to stay out of the dangerous projects of Chicago. However, Sudhir wanted to learn about poverty, race and drug gangs from the people themselves.

Washington Park

Sudhir visited Washington Park where some old-timers hung out every day. These African-American men had seen a lot in their times that were relevant to Sudhir’s studies. They had seen racism, poverty, the onset of the drug culture and the emergence of the notorious South Side gangs. One man told Sudhir that blacks and whites would never live in equality. The...