Letter: Combining DCCG, NIU DeKalb north side development proposals is systemic racism in action

I was disheartened by the DeKalb City Council’s response to the two proposals for development on the corner of Hillcrest Drive and Blackhawk Road.

Between Northern Illinois University’s proposal for a Center for Greek Life and the DeKalb County Community Garden’s (DCCG) proposal to create a Community Health Education & Food (CHEF) Center, only the DCCG proposal comprehensively meets the needs named during the city’s community listening sessions in recent years.

Even though a large multiracial, multigenerational coalition gathered at April 10th’s City Council meeting to support the CHEF Center in an area where the majority of Black and Brown residents are on food stamps (https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Illinois/DeKalb/Greek-Rows/Food-Stamps), Mayor Cohen Barnes and several Council members seemed to already have their minds made up, recommending that the council reject both proposals and that DCCG and NIU collaborate and split the property.

By putting Greek life on par with the needs of a neighborhood long impacted by disinvestment, the city is deprioritizing its most marginalized residents. Splitting the property will dilute the impact of the CHEF Center, forcing it to eliminate core aspects or move further into the country and out of residents’ reach.

It seems the only way that both projects could share space is if NIU uses its wealth and fundraising capacities to contribute significantly to the CHEF Center, enabling it to add a level.

Short of this, “collaboration” sounds more like using power and connections to help NIU get prime real estate at a cheap price.

And this, DeKalb, is systemic racism in action.

Shrestha Singh

DeKalb