Why do I write so often about Milwaukee’s African-Americans?

July 9th, 2007

I recently saw a post on a liberal blog that implied that people like me who write about the overwhelming levels of crime in the inner-city of Milwaukee are motivated by racism. (I’ve since gone back to look for the post, discount viagra health but I’ve been unable to locate it.)

That made me wonder why I do write so often about the failures of a portion of Milwaukee’s African-American community.

And I realized it has several parts:

1.) I’m very disturbed by the crime in Milwaukee. I love this city. I live within 50 blocks of the neighborhoods where most of the murders and shootings take place. I spend almost every day in downtown Milwaukee. I hate that this crime is hurting my neighbors and the reputation of the place I love most in the world.

2.) I subconsciously associate the violence in the inner-city with all the failures of the Left in the last 60 years.

After all, what party has controlled Milwaukee for most of it’s downfall? The Democrats.

What institution is failing the most in the inner city? The Milwaukee Public School system. Who keeps the schools from being held responsible? The teacher’s unions. Who do the teacher’s unions support? The Democrats.

Who turned Milwaukee into a welfare magnet in the ’70s and attracted the most shiftless and least employable citizens of Chicago to move to Milwaukee and live off the dole? The Democrats.

Who presided over the dismantling of the traditional family and the diminishment of shame that has lead to fatherless families and children raising children in the inner-city? The Democrats.

So basically, I see every inner-city crime that I highlight as an indictment of the Left, their policies, and their unwillingness to clean up the mess that they’ve created.

I draw attention to what happens in Milwaukee’s inner-city not because I hate African-Americans, but because I hate the wrong-headed and fuzzy thinking that helped create the culture of violence and failure that too often extinguishes their hopes…and ours.

Entry Filed under: Milwaukee,Observations

9 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Tim  |  July 9th, 2007 at 12:02 pm

    I agree with all of what you say. But I would also hope that you talk about the racism felt by minorities in the suburbs. I am an Indian American and recently had a bad experience at a store in Hales Corner due to racism. I have lived in both the city of Milwaukee in a black neighborhood and white neighborhood in the suburbs. As an Indian American, I always feel much more racism in the suburbs from Caucasians than I do in the city of Milwaukee from blacks. Why is that so many people in the suburbs are against non-whites even though they are well off financially? And Indian American community is a very educated community which has performed very well financially. If an Indian American person like me faces so much racism in the suburbs, one can only imagine the racism felt by blacks. So there are two sides to every issue. Perhaps you can’t write about these issues since you don’t experience them. Perhaps there were more conservative minorities who also write about such experience. I am a conservative but I feel that these issues are also important like the high crime in the inner city.

  • 2. Administrator  |  July 9th, 2007 at 12:38 pm

    Since so much of the racism that still exists in the suburbs is subtle and hidden, it’s hard to comment on.

    I know racism still exists.

    I’m sure Driving While Black is still a reason why people get pulled over on the interstate.

    And I know that a black kid in Oconomowoc is going to get more scrutiny than he probably deserves.

    It’s just difficult to write about since I don’t experience it first hand.

    What I can say, is that I don’t tolerate racism from my friends or from myself. I try to always judge people by their actions and attitudes, not pigmentation (or even party affiliation. ;)

  • 3. Tim  |  July 9th, 2007 at 12:50 pm

    Vast majority of the people in suburbs are nice people who I have no problem with. But there is significant minority that seems to have a big problem with non-white people. Some of these people are outright racists who don’t mind hiding their prejudices. I am a conservative and believe in family values and other conservative ideals. Many non-white people like me move from the city of Milwaukee to suburbs so that they can have a nice and peaceful life. But when they move to the suburbs, they find out that they are still not accepted because of their skin color. So what place is left for people like me to live peacefully and without facing racism. If we live in the city, their is crime. If we live in the suburbs, their is racism. So we have to live with either crime or racism.

  • 4. Administrator  |  July 9th, 2007 at 12:58 pm

    I only know of one way to fight racism…familiarity. Move to the suburbs, join the PTA, go to the block parties, take up golf, meet the neighbors.

    Unfortunately, there will always be some idiots (and stupidity comes in every color of the rainbow). ;)

    By the way, I’m sorry you sometimes get treated badly by idiots.

  • 5. libocrat  |  July 9th, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    I fail to see how a black kid getting more scrutiny in Oconomowoc has anything to do with murder, gang rape, drop outs, failed families, and lack of work ethic in the inner.city.
    I know I’m insensitive and a non-PC dinosaur, but I honestly don’t see how someone not liking you because of your color makes your father disown you and smoke crack. Me being racist or not does not make 14 year old black girls spread their legs.
    My hating or loving blacks does not cause Trevonne to drop out of Marshall High School. Here is a suggestion.
    Stop the excuses. K?
    .

  • 6. Tim  |  July 9th, 2007 at 4:09 pm

    I am not making excuses for the people in inner city. Facing racism in inner city does not make one rob and kill other people. It does not make one have kid when they are 15. Even though facing racism makes me angry, it does not make me kill and beat other people. I am just saying that we also have to look at the suburbs and how non-white people are treated there rather than just focusing on the inner city all the time.

  • 7. Tim  |  July 9th, 2007 at 4:13 pm

    I meant to say “facing racism in the suburbs”.

  • 8. capper  |  July 9th, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    Administrator-

    I commend you on your honesty. You comment on what you observe and what you know, unlike many others. There is a surprisingly amount of crime in the ‘burbs (although not the same murder rate) but it does not receive the same level of coverage.

    I do want to point out that Milwaukee is not an isolated occurence of violence and crime. Every major city is suffering the same elevated levels of violence, most to a much higher degree than Milwaukee. I feel that it is unfair to say that the Dems ruined the city, when the nation is in crisis. And as malignant that you may consider the Dems, there is enough blame to go around. The question that needs our focus is, where do we go from here?

  • 9. Administrator  |  July 10th, 2007 at 10:13 am

    Thanks, Cap.

    Actually, I don’t think the Dems are malignant. I think most Democrats are terrific people. Probably, much better people than me on most days. Their intentions are honorable, I just think their methods have had too many unexpected and unintentional consequences. (Also we tend to differ strongly on base assumptions. In general, most democrats/liberals value equality above individuality. I tilt the opposite way.)

    Where do we go from here?

    I wish I knew.

    In the end, education is the only cure. We have to convince young people that education is the only sure path to success. We have to teach them to be self-reliant and responsible. And we have to teach people to let the past go. We’ll never get ahead, if we keep getting trapped in the grievances of the past.

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