Integrated blocks
more than 80% Black
more than 80% white
other populations mix
With the help of a friend and researcher I am hoping to start a new project call MAPS, Milwaukee Area Poverty and Segregation. In the 2000 and 2010 census Milwaukee was the most segregated city in the USA. Also Milwaukee has be designated the fourth poorest city in the USA. What I tried to show in my essays The Catholic Church in North Central Milwaukee is the most segregated area of Milwaukee is also the poorest. Related maps, like the imprisonment and release rate of persons, or unemployment overlap the same area.
All this might seem obvious to someone looking at Milwaukee from the outside but many people, especially those in power, seem to ignore this information. When some talk about segregation they often think about the open housing marches of the 60’s that ultimate got an open housing law passed. However, Milwaukee is the more segregated than it was in the 60’s. The great war against poverty has been diminished and now when people need basic help like a bed to sleep on, a stove to cook food or a refrigerator to keep food there is only the St.Vincent De Paul society and due to closing of Churches in poor and segregated areas they are limited and cannot serve all those in need.
All this did not happen naturally, As mass transportation was limited, as individuals, business and churches moved out, as the quality of public education was lessen and politicians ignored the area, the area got poorer and more segregated. This naturally lead to more crime and was a self fulfilling prophecy. The more the area was neglected, the worst conditions become and the more it was ignored and feared.
Milwaukee prides itself in being an ethnic town. We have ethnic festivals for Irish, Italians, Polish, Native American, Germans, Greeks and other ethnic groups, including a big one for African Americans. This is great but festivals and parades do equal integration and equality.
I cannot change people. If they do not want to hear or see what is happening I cannot change this. However, I and others can show in our personal life and decisions and by projects like this one, MAPS, what is really happening.
I believe that deep down in all human beings and in nature there is drive for equality and dignity of all persons. “We are who we are looking for” if only we can see and hear. The MAPS project might be a small way to grow awareness of what is happening to our beloved city and help us to have the courage to change it
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