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An article in the Editorial Section of today’s newspaper pushed me to write this letter to the editor. One line I left out to keep down the word count was “If you grew up in a household without beds, a stove or refrigerator, hungry with less and less opportunities to better oneself, would you believe more policing, more incarceration is the answer.”

Dear Editor,

In Sunday’s October 18th MJS an editorial written for the Philadelphia Inquirer, called “Black lives matter to police”, characterizes the “Black Lives Matter” movement as holding that “police are the greatest threat facing young black men today.” The author goes on to state the real ‘taboo’ problem is “black on black” crime.

I do not believe the “Black Lives Matter” movement ignores “black on black” crime but is dealing with the underlying causes that fuels the devaluing of black lives in our society. The real taboo is, I believe, racism.

Milwaukee, for example, has a high rate of crime, much of it black on black. Without justifying crime, we can look at the causes of this high crime rate. North Central Milwaukee is the most racially segregated part of Milwaukee in the most racially segregated city in the USA. This area has the highest incarceration rate in the State that has the highest incarceration rate of African Americans males in the USA. It is the poorest neighborhood in one of poorest cities in the USA. It has extremely high unemployment, degrading housing and schools and a poor transportation system.

The first step to combat crime in Milwaukee is for all people, including county, city and State officials, to admit that what we are doing, pushing more poor African Americans into a congested area above North Ave., is racism. Only then can we truly say “Black Lives Matter” and do something about it.

Bob Graf

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