Nation: Division Lesson

Along Chicago's volatile Northwest Side, boredom pangs were as palpable as the prickling humidity. On Division Street, main stem of the barrio that holds the majority of Chicago's Puerto Rican population, people drooped languidly from tenement windows and crowded the front stoops, ducking for cover during thundershowers that drenched the area off and on all day. In any other minority neighborhood, the cop on the beat might have been nervous, for the day (it was Sunday), the mood and the weather afforded the classic setting for a racial explosion. But Division Street, as...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!