In 2007 I wrote an essay called The Sweet Waters of Discrimination in Milwaukee. In 2008 I wrote an essay called Essay on Violence in Milwaukee. In the essays I talked about structural discrimination and made some specific suggestions of how to curb the violence. In those days I was not completely ignored and got some response and comments from public officials, Mayor, Police Chief and County Executive at the time. However, nothing was changed by my essays and the discrimination and violence in Milwaukee has increased.
I have done some addition research and writing on discrimination and violence in Milwaukee but now realized that I was missing the main cause of discrimination and some of the violence in Milwaukee, recognizing racism.
No one likes to hear or use the word racism but we, before we can solve any problem, we need to call it as it is. People can say that the taking down of basket board rims in our County parks was because players were nuisance or due to violence. However, if you look at the County Parks which lost rims in Milwaukee County they are in neighbors with a majority of white residents, 85% plus. The rims where lost when African-American young adults started to play basketball at the parks. Outside of a few parks in the very southern white suburbs and county parks in the segregated, 85% black neighbors of North Central Milwaukee, there are no full court basketball courts in county parks. Call it what you want, full court basketball players, a nuisance, dangerous young men even “recreational redlining” the facts are it is simple and pure ‘racism.’
The decision by white St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) staff and board members to build a thrift store in a white suburb of Greenfield, which is 85% white and with a household income of over 42, 000, where it is not needed, rather than in North Central Milwaukee, 85% African American with average household income of $20,000, where it is needed, is clearly a ‘racist’ decision.
In the white suburbs there are very few home visits to people in need per year where in North Central there are thousands. The purpose of the SVDP thrift stores is to serve the conferences in serving those in need. Some white conferences members say the store is to create a “revenue stream”, to make money, to serve the poor in North Central Milwaukee. But the budget just passed by the board makes it clear that with the addition of new store in the suburbs the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will run a much greater deficit than ever. Rather than ‘revenue stream’ the thrift store in the suburbs will create a greater debt for a Society that says “all monies belong to the poor” and it mission is not to make money but to facilitate person to person home visits to people in need. The African American poor in North Central Milwaukee, the most segregated city in the USA know what to call it: Racism.
The Police chief of Milwaukee puts his budget money in what he calls “data driven policing” rather than Crisis Intervention Team (CIP) training does not recognize the tragic error of one his policeman who shot an unarmed African American male who was sleeping on a park bench in a public park. Yet a local employee had called the police twice earlier in the day about this man in the park and both times the police came and found nothing illegal about his presence. The police asked the employee not to call any more since the man was doing nothing illegal. A third call was made and a police officer, probably unaware of the ‘data’ of the first two calls, arrives on the scene and ends up shooting the young man fourteen times. Over four months later the case is still under investigation. The family knows that race played a large part in the killing of their beloved family member as does the illegal searches, profiling, stop and arrest of so many African American males.
In fact Wisconsin has the highest ratio of young adult African American males in prison of all the states in the USA and great majority of them come from the racially segregated are of North Central Milwaukee. How can someone not call this Racism?
Racial discrimination, just like poverty, abuse, imprisonment, profiling by police, poor education and high employment does not excuse a crime but it plays such a large role in creating an environment for violence and discrimination.
Today we made a SVDP home to visit an African American family in North Central Milwaukee that the man and woman had seven kids, 18 and under in the house. As we pulled up the house we noticed a number of police officers roping off a crime scene across the street. We asked what happened and the lady of the house there had been a shooting. Tonight on the news they reported eight shootings in Milwaukee in the last day, some of them fatal. My wife and I looked for this location and it was not on the map. Violence in racially segregated neighbors of North Central and South Central (85% Hispanic and poor) have become routine and expected. Our police chief says criminals are shooting mostly criminals, although the newspapers and other sources have found many victims of homicide have no or very little criminal records. Calling people in racial minorities names, like cowards, stupid,wacko’s, criminals, and sick persons does not aide in crime fighting but just reinforces racism.
More examples of racism can be given. But ignoring the poor, criminalizing African American males, cutting funds for public education, placing a thrift store in white suburbs at a cost of millions to the poor and black, taking down basketball rims where African Americans use them, a police officer shooting an unarmed African American male 14 times needs to be called what it is “racism”.
A ten year girl was shot and killed last year at a recreational park in the city by the shooting at each other of two African American males. When family and friends rallied at the playground they did not call for taking down the basketball rim or elimination of the park. They called for more neighborhood unity, more support for the playground and more work in fighting violence. Naturally the community, the girl and the shooters were African Americans.
Until we can say the word, understand it and face it we will only prolong the problems that racism fosters in our in our city and County. We need not To Be Afraid to call it as it is, Racism.
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