McBride Gets Milwaukee and 'Tosa Right

For a clear, sharp view of Milwaukee, suburbs, race and class:

Our enduring racism is the problem, not a mall

The incidents in Wauwatosa present a challenge but also an opportunity to begin a discussion that our seven-county region has never had. Wauwatosa's current openness is a stark reversal from its history of restrictive covenants and sundown laws. How Milwaukee's oldest suburb deals with change can be an example to other communities that are, or will be, facing change, too.

Across our region, we must ensure that all of our children are educated and that everyone of working age has a job. All residents and business, political and religious leaders must join the effort to address common issues of race, poverty and crime.

Comments

[Anon]

Really? Suburbs nationwide are almost 40 percent African American? Etc.--does it really "get it correct"?

[Leonid480]

The problem is single parent families and a culture of crime in our inner cities. Breaking down the racial barriers is part of the solution. The black community has to start trusting the police and working together with the white community to battle crime. Because the majority of criminals are black because of these single family homes, it only exacerbates the racial divide but we can't hide from reality.

[Anon]

More reality checks needed. Leonid, your statements are about as accurate as the statement in the article that almost forty percent of the population of the nation's suburbs is African American. The suburbs are not even near forty percent minority.

The majority of African Americans in this country live in traditional families, and the majority of criminals in this country are white -- as are the majority of people committing crimes at Mayfair, it seems, from the hometowns on the police reports.

It is the level of crime, to violent crime, that is the problem at Mayfair, and that may involve more criminals from Milwaukee. But many of those also may be white, as there are more whites in Milwaukee than African Americans. (Yes, it is now a majority-minority city, but that means all minorities -- Hispanics, Hmong Americans, etc.)

These statistics -- the real ones, not the one in the article -- are from sources online like the Census Bureau and the Journal Sentinel online.

[Leonid480]

Yes Anon, I guess I have to clarify that when I say the majority I am talking about the crime that is endemic in the inner city and the type of crime that is hurting Mayfair's image. I don't think massive shoplifting would keep people away from the mall, outside of rising prices to make up for the losses.
While living separately keeps the comfort level between the races almost non existent, it does not mean people in the suburbs, and many are black and of other races, are racist. More than racism the family crisis in our inner cities and the dismal education system is the problem here. I believe the 40% suburban black figure. In Washington DC there are vast suburbs that are majority black. There are plenty of stable families in the inner city also, but if you want to tell me there is no thug culture related directly to single parent or non existent families in the inner city you are delusional. And it is these thugs and their influence on their peers that destroyed Capital Court, Northridge and now threatening Mayfair. The blacks community's refusal to trust the police and labeling any input by the white community as racist is akin to ignoring the problem and hence it will not be solved.

[Paul]

There can be quibbling over some of McBride's data, but the fundamental position is correct. The issues of race, poverty and crime are of regional, if not statewide, concern that require thinking and solutions that go beyond the boundaries of Milwaukee.
The health of the seven counties is linked.

[Dennis R. McBride]

I just came across the discussion on this web site of my Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article of February 25, 2007, on the race issues confronting Wauwatosa and Mayfair Mall.

I'm chagrined that I misstated one bit of data, and that that misstatement may have distracted some readers from the key points of my article.

It is correct, as some readers have pointed out, that America's suburbs are not 39% black. Actually, what I meant to say was that, on average, 39% of the black population in America's 100 largest metropolitan areas live in suburbs. That data comes from the excellent study by Dr. Marc V. Levine of the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, "The Two Milwaukees: Separate and Unequal," June 30, 2005 (http://uwm.edu).

Thanks to all of the readers who pointed out the confusion. I hope this clears up that confusion, and refocuses the discussion.