Summer is here; it was a short spring; and tomorrow Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival, begins. Milwaukee is called the City of Festivals. Each weekend there are four or five major festivals from ethnic festivals to film, church and neighborhood festivals. All the festivals have a few things in common, good food, beer and music.
While Milwaukee is known as a city of festivals, sadly it is also known as the most segregated city in the USA with a population of 500,000 or more, according to the 2010 U.S. Census information. Discrimination is not just racially as the census map demonstrates but also is, like in many cities, along economic lines. The poor live in certain parts, the middle class in certain areas and suburbs and the rich, well they just live in the suburbs. Others in the top five of segregated cities are New York, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. There are no southern cities in the top ten of segregated cities. In 2007 I wrote an essay called The Sweet Waters of Discrimination in Milwaukee but it was the kind of essay people do not want to hear.
Living in the ‘city of festivals’ and the ‘most segregated city’ has its perks. There are many social justice issue, Fish Fries on Friday everywhere, many neighborhood bars, cultures to explore, a wide variety of eating experiences and of course old fashioned ‘ frozen custard stands’ in each area. For music lovers and social justice persons living in a city full festivals and segregation is great. People that grow up in Milwaukee, like me, usually come back to Milwaukee. If you dare to travel the various neighborhoods of Milwaukee and various festivals you can get the sense that you live in a big small town where everyone knows everyone.
Comments
(:commentboxchrono:)
