The cartoon shows an old, white man who would not give the boy money for school; even though he has some in his other pocket. The boy is wearing a Chicago Cubs baseball hat, indicating the setting of the cartoon. Chicago is infamous for having one of the highest crime rates in the nation. The white man has no money for the kid in school yet has an abundance of money for Tax Increment Financing (TIF). TIF is a way for governments to improve infrastructure, and raise property value. This cartoon is a criticism of how the city neglected its public schooling systems to prioritize the surface value of their land. The way the Chicago government prioritized the “face” of their city rather than their youth was a classist and racist move. As the majority of lower-income families in Chicago are people of color, who don’t even have the types of funds to even benefit from TIF, they only continue to struggle as the government continues to allocate money to make the rich richer, and keep the poor people poor. 

By: Xena Neira, Parker Qualls, Briana Do