You have just entered the approved living area for blacks...the Black Belt. In Chicago during the 1940s blacks were forced to live in the slums of the city. Living conditions were below poverty level and many families shared their apartments with rats. Large families were made to share one room apartments with high rents and were clearly discriminated against by the wealthy, white real estate agencies.
"He looked around the street and saw a sign on the building: THIS PROPERTY IS MANAGED BY THE SOUTH SIDE REAL ESTATE COMPANY. He had heard that Mr. Dalton owned the South Side Real Estate Copmany, and the South Side Real Estate Company owned the house in which he lived. He paid eight dollars a week for one rat-infested room." 1
This quote from Native Son helps is a written example of the terrible condition in which blacks lived. Mr. Dalton, the wealthy, white, business man makes a profit from exploiting the blacks; he sells inferior housing for top dollar.
"He owned property all over the Black Belt, and he owned property where the white folk lived, too. But Bigger could not live in a building across the 'line.'" 2