Where the Neighborhood Ends
High School: Grades 9–12
Story
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"If the city tears down this block, maybe your mother could apply for an apartment at Prairie Avenue Courts," Lane suggested cautiously, uncertain of the twins' reaction. "My dad says those new public housing units are really great. Shiny kitchens. Big bathrooms. Plenty of bedrooms."
Esau set down his root beer. His jaw muscles tightened, and he glared at Lane. "You ever see it? That place look real fancy but it a warehouse. A warehouse for Negroes. Poor Negroes." He paused, as if startled to hear his own voice. It must have sounded good to him because he added:"You wanta win? Then don't trust nobody."
Later, as Lane walked home, he thought about Cobie's belief that everything depended on raw, unpredictable luck. Until this afternoon, he had envied Cobie's carefree outlook on life. But suddenly Lane realized that outlook was actually a kind of surrender. Esau's resistance, in contrast, commanded Lane's admiration.
When Lane arrived home, he headed for the den, hoping for a private talk with his father about the events of the past two days. He knocked twice, swung the door open, and stepped into the room. It was empty. Through the window, Lane heard his parents' voices; they were in the backyard, grilling steaks for dinner. As he turned to leave the den, a folder labeled "Slums" caught his eye. He closed the door and sat down at the desk for a closer look.
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As a lawyer, Lane's father often worked for the NAACP on cases involving housing or employment issues. "You can't win a case unless you do the research," Henry always said; and he filled file drawers with photographs, legal documents, and whatever evidence he could find to support his clients. Lane guessed the folder lying on the desk was somehow related to the meeting of neighbors and university officials the previous night.
The first document in the folder was a letter from the Auburn Park Property Restriction Association urging a home owner to sign an "Anti-Colored Restriction Agreement." This agreement prohibited the sale or lease of the property to Negroes. The only nonwhites allowed to live on the property were servants. Auburn Park lay southwest of Hyde Park, and when Lane looked for a date on the letter, he saw that it had been written in August 1929. Clipped to the letter was a note in his father's handwriting: "Restrictive covenants outlawed—see U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)."
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