When R.J. Harris bought two houses on Chicago's North Side in 1970 — $65,000 for the pair — the neighborhood was not yet one of Chicago's most coveted.
As new, mostly white people moved in, and almost all the other black families moved out, the Harrises sometimes felt marginalized. Still, when developers knocked, they said: Not for sale.
In a neighborhood of new mansions, it stood out, with its bedraggled American flag, the window fan, the brown wooden steps that sloped straight to the sidewalk.
What I did NOT see, was any claim that the Harris family monopolizes Privet Playlot Park. The article notes that their house and the park are separated by a vacant lot, but I cannot find any reference to the family monopolizing the park, nor can I find any indication of accusations that the Harris family is responsible for the drug dealing or other problems which are apparently evident in that park.
Will you please provide quotes from the article to back up your claim regarding any misuse of the park on their part?.
PS - he house was not condemned until AFTER the SWAT raid. Prior to that “ they had never been issued a building code violation”.
I would guess that they could effectively monopolize the park by spending a lot of time there, and acting in ways that would have suburban moms feel it was unsafe to bring their children there. The dogs would probably contribute to that.