The Contract Buyer's League did renegotiate many contracts and influenced some housing legislation. However, the CBL disbanded, and failed to follow through on its goal to end unfair housing practices. Today, Lawndale is still extremely segregated.
“God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Lasting Impact
(Chicago Tribune)
Today, North Lawndale remains one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods.
Unemployment is 18.6%.
42 percent of residents live below the poverty line.
1 in 5 homes is vacant.
While the CBL had some immediate success and affected the lives of many, it failed to follow through with the fight, and thousands continued to lose their homes to contracts. A majority of its successes were symbolic, and the leaders of the League failed to continue to push against discrimination.
Unemployment is 18.6%.
42 percent of residents live below the poverty line.
1 in 5 homes is vacant.
While the CBL had some immediate success and affected the lives of many, it failed to follow through with the fight, and thousands continued to lose their homes to contracts. A majority of its successes were symbolic, and the leaders of the League failed to continue to push against discrimination.
The CBL was a prime example of resistance to oppression and discrimination, allowing a group of people to band together and create conflict in order to fight for justice. While it may not have had a long lasting effect, the empowerment and sense of community it extended to African Americans was incredibly significant.
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Conflict can be a source of pain, but it can also lead to compromise and change. The American spirit is about facing conflict head on, and creating it when there are injustices. This triumph of mankind is demonstrated in the efforts and success of the Contract Buyers League.