Stop treating the South Side like an embarrassing family member

Chicago's South Side is a storied collection of vibrant, resilient, culturally rich and diverse neighborhoods. Steeped in African-American heritage, the community offers a host of unique amenities and experiences, from White Sox baseball to the DuSable Museum of African American History. The South Side also serves as a historic and contemporary hub for visual, performing and literary arts. However, against this engaging backdrop also lies one of the nation's largest underserved communities. South Side residents are disproportionately afflicted by chronic diseases and other complicated public health concerns.

Nothing gets under the skin like a non-Chicagoan bemoaning the violence on Chicago's South Side, as if the region that constitutes a full 60 percent of the city's area and more than a dozen neighborhoods is some kind of faceless monolith. The same goes for the West Side. If you're going to act like you care, at least understand our city's geography—there are problems on the North, West and South Sides. Learn about the causes of violence (and what you can do to help those affected) before you mouth off about it.