At 6 feet 2 and 340 pounds, Scott tends to get equally respectful answers. He and his wife, Elaine–he’s 35, she’s 34–bought the first house at Homan Square in 1994, trading a suburban apartment for a three-story home flanked by grass, play areas and, today, hundreds of other middle-class African-American homesteaders. Scott is fully aware of the surrounding area’s remaining problems, which include open-air drug markets; he just won’t succumb to them. “This is our property,” he says, “and it’s our responsibility to take care of it.”
The Scotts can afford to live in Homan Square (their $90,000 investment is now worth $145,000) because of their hard work and, Anthony says, increased chances for black Americans. “Today I have greater opportunities to work with my head instead of my hands,” he says. “And my wife doesn’t have to clean other people’s houses the way her grandmother did.” In 16 years Scott has advanced from the mailroom at Northern Trust, a premier Chicago bank, to an officer’s desk in a big suburban branch. Elaine has a good job at another bank. “Over the years white Americans have become more flexible,” he says, “and blacks have become more adaptable. Whether or not white people had their hand forced through things like affirmative action, we definitely took advantage. And here we are.”
Outside the workplace, he occasionally hears racist insults. But today those are less frequent. When classmates of 8-year-old Stephen Scott ask him why the man he calls his grandfather is white–he’s actually a beloved former teacher of Anthony’s–the child has a ready answer: “Well, because he is.”
One day last week a wealthy white man approached Scott at the bank. The man explained that his eyesight had slipped; he no longer could read. He handed Scott the checkbook to his bulging money-market fund–and his billfold. Scott disappeared to a teller window, then returned with the wallet and a wad of cash. The man took back his things, paying little attention, and thanked Scott. Twenty years ago, Scott says, that nonchalant exchange might not have happened: “Change has taken place across the board–not just one race, but every race.” For Anthony Scott, a good job and a nice house are sources of pride. But he was also heartened that a rich white man would trust him with his wallet.
