I don’t think she meant it in a racist way Southie. I live in Chicago and know exactly what she’s talking about.
The area she’s referring to **has **taken a huge hit in the last 10 years…its no longer safe…although when I was a kid…it was safe. We would go out all the time for long walks in the evening without my dad…just us sisters, mom and grandma. I was mentioning this to my husband just last week and he laughed at me…said there’s no way even he would do that now.
The “kachra” she’s referring to is basically gang violence, crime, etc. She’s not referring to the entire colored community as “kachra”.