dorkitude/Cairo, IL - dorkitude comment on reddit

## Cairo, IL - dorkitude comment on reddit
I'm from Cairo, IL.

I can tell you that it is most certainly special.

It is depressing simply as a pass-through town for tourists like the OP (to an inspiring extent -- see Stace England's album at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greetings_From_Cairo,_Illinois , or its piece in Neil Gaiman's book American Gods).. so imagine what it's like to live there and to have roots there.

With its population arguably below 1500 people and its unemployment well over 50%, the dead city is still alive with emotion, politics, and greed.

As the southernmost point in the union, Cairo's racial attitudes are a complicated history worthy of scholarly study. My hometown holds a position in literature as the beacon of hope for Mark Twain's ex-slave Jim, and in reality as an important link in the underground railroad. On the other hand, the city was one of the Union cities most plagued by segregation and therefore most polarized by the civil rights movement. In 1967, the city underwent days of violent race riots.

Like any city, there are great people in Cairo and there are awful people in Cairo. Unlike most cities, it's really hard to tell which is which.

While the city's not technically segregated, the collective psyche is one of mistrust, inequity, and greed, on both sides of the racial divide.

Now I live in San Francisco, arguably the most racially integrated city in the USA. The trek home for Christmas each year is a jarring journey across time and space.
	I'm from Cairo, IL.

	I can tell you that it is most certainly special.

	It is depressing simply as a pass-through town for tourists like the OP (to an inspiring extent -- see Stace England's album at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greetings_From_Cairo,_Illinois , or its piece in Neil Gaiman's book American Gods).. so imagine what it's like to live there and to have roots there.

	With its population arguably below 1500 people and its unemployment well over 50%, the dead city is still alive with emotion, politics, and greed.

	As the southernmost point in the union, Cairo's racial attitudes are a complicated history worthy of scholarly study. My hometown holds a position in literature as the beacon of hope for Mark Twain's ex-slave Jim, and in reality as an important link in the underground railroad. On the other hand, the city was one of the Union cities most plagued by segregation and therefore most polarized by the civil rights movement. In 1967, the city underwent days of violent race riots.

	Like any city, there are great people in Cairo and there are awful people in Cairo. Unlike most cities, it's really hard to tell which is which.

	While the city's not technically segregated, the collective psyche is one of mistrust, inequity, and greed, on both sides of the racial divide.

	Now I live in San Francisco, arguably the most racially integrated city in the USA. The trek home for Christmas each year is a jarring journey across time and space.