Chapter 1 of Savage Inequalities begins with snapshot of East St. Louis, Illinois, focusing first on the city, before discussing its educational challenges. In so doing, Kozol provides historical and structural backdrops for the socioeconomic aspects of inequality and segregation in this community. Coupled with the crisis in education, the resulting portrait of East St. Louis is bleak.

Described by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development as "the most distressed small city in America," Kozol offers a collection of facts that provide context for this judgment: almost a third of its families subsist on less than $7,500 a year; three-quarters of the buildings on its main street, Missouri Avenue, are unoccupied; 1,170 of its 1,400 city employees have been laid off in recent years, and the city's garbage pickups have been halted since October 1987.

Looming over the city are the Pfizer and Monsanto chemical plants, which vent smoke and fumes incessantly. East St. Louis is in debt by more than $40 million, threatening the closure of its police and fire departments, and needed emergency loans to keep basic services functioning. Public health is notoriously bad in East St. Louis: the city ranks first in fetal death, first in premature birth, and third in infant death.