ZIP CODE > GENETIC CODE

As a competitive squash player, I frequently have to travel to other cities to play tournaments. St. Louis is a few hours drive west and I have been there a few times. Each time we drove in to the city, watching the memorable Arch emerge on the St. Louis skyline will remain one of my abiding memories of my junior squash career.

Little did I know then that the venue of my tournaments is just about 10 miles away from Delmar Blvd. This street serves as a horizontal divider between two neighborhoods. Near though these communities may be in distance, they are very far away from each other in many more important ways.

If you are from just north of this street, you are more likely to have heart disease and cancer. You are less likely to have a bachelor’s degree. Home values are less than a quarter; income levels less than a half. The mere factor of which zip code you were born into determines your health and wealth. A young girl born north of Delmar Blvd is more likely to end up being a teen mom vs. a teen high school graduate.

Changing this dynamic is not as simple as crossing the road to the other side of Delmar Blvd. This divide is playing itself out all across communities in our country. The effects of these disparities last a lifetime. A comparison of life expectancy by zip code in Chicago shows there are decades of difference.

This goes to the heart of the reason we are all working together for greater equality. This journey will not be complete until the mere chance of where you were born determines the length and quality of life you lead.