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United States News Title: Why is Milwaukee so bad for black people? Editors Note: On Thursday, Milwaukee will host Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton for a debate moderated by PBS NewsHour anchors Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff. Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in the country, and so to put that in perspective, we have cross-posted analysis originally published March 5, 2015, on NPRs Code Switch blog. During Thursdays debate, we also will be addressing these issues of racial disparity on NewsHours Facebook page and on Twitter, @NewsHour. You can watch the PBS NewsHour Democratic Primary Debate in partnership with Facebook, 9 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 11, on PBS and here on our live stream. A report from UCLA finds that K-12 schools in Wisconsin suspend black high school students at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country and has the second-highest disparity in suspension rates between white and black students. Milwaukee, the states biggest city, suspends black high school students at a rate nearly double the national average. While many Rust Belt cities Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, etc. have similar histories of African-American struggles, Milwaukee has some of the same problems but not the same profile, mainly because it isnt well known for its large black population at all. But blacks make up 40 percent of the city and, for many who grew up there (like me), none of this data is surprising. Milwaukee is a vibrant city known for its breweries and ethnic festivals and can be a great place to live unless youre black. Statistically, it is one of the worst places in the country for African-Americans to reside. Heres a breakdown of how and why being black in Brew City carries a heavy burden. Education Suspensions are just the beginning. The state also has the largest achievement gap between black and white students in the country, and ranks last in reading comprehension tests among black fourth-graders. Milwaukee has the most black students in the state and is the biggest contributor to Wisconsins achievement gap. Its public school system has been plagued by federal and state funding cuts and a 20-year-old school choice program that diverts public tax dollars to private schools through vouchers. With 4-out-of-5 black children in Wisconsin living in poverty, an inadequate education can set up the most vulnerable students for failure. Incarceration Over the past decade, many states have transitioned to policies that favor rehabilitation over incarceration. Wisconsin, on the other hand, has actually invested more in public and private prisons over the last 20 years. The state budget now allots more funding for corrections than it does for higher education. Wisconsin also incarcerates the most black men in the country, and in Milwaukee County, more than half of all black men in their 30s and 40s have served time. In the 53206 Zip Code alone, 62 percent of all men have spent time in an adult correctional facility by age 34. A report from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee links the states massive black prison population to sentencing and policing policies that disproportionately affect African-Americans. The prison population in Wisconsin has more than tripled since 1990, fueled by increased government funding for drug enforcement (rather than treatment) and prison construction, three-strike rules, mandatory minimum sentence laws, truth-in-sentencing replacing judicial discretion in setting punishments, concentrated policing in minority communities, and state incarceration for minor probation and supervision violations. Segregation Milwaukee County is divided along racial and political lines, and the city is the most segregated in America. An old, racist joke among locals is that the citys 16th Street viaduct bridge is the longest structure in the world, linking Africa to Europe. Basically, black people lived on the citys north side, and whites lived on the south side. The same holds true today, although Hispanics are now the majority in the south, and Asian-Americans make up the citys west side. Whites have mostly moved to the suburbs. Theres a unique history behind Milwaukees segregation. In the late 19th century, Milwaukee was the most foreign city in the country, made up mostly of German, Polish and Irish migrants who came in search of jobs in the citys bustling manufacturing industry. Unlike the rest of the Midwest, Milwaukee was slow to attract African-Americans from the South during the Great Migration. Instead, most settled in Chicago, located just 90 miles south. As The New Republic explains, by the time blacks arrived in large numbers beginning in the 1960s, the economy had reached a stalemate, no longer the thriving industrial capital it once was, creating tension between the black and immigrant communities. This delayed arrival would prove highly consequential. Not long after a substantial African American community took shape, Milwaukees industrial base began to collapse and its manufacturing jobs disappeared. This left almost no time for the city to develop a black middle class or a leadership elite. Within short order, Milwaukee had some of the most glaring racial disparities in the country. Today, it has the second-highest black poverty rate in the United States, and the unemployment rate is nearly four times higher for blacks than for whites. The city had never been exactly welcoming to African Americansits tight-knit enclaves of Germans, Jews, and Poles had fiercely resisted housing and school integration. But the decline of the black ghetto so soon after many of its residents had arrived made it easier for white Milwaukeeans to write off the entire African American community, or to blame it for the citys troubles. White flight, like the Great Migration, came late to Milwaukee, but it came fast and fueled with resentment. Many local and state leaders have launched efforts to tackle Milwaukees racial disparities. But with few resources, and an educational and criminal justice system that is often stacked against them, many Milwaukeeans myself included move elsewhere for opportunities beyond the borders of Brew City. Poster Comment: A good explanation of Scot Walker's bigotry. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Willie Green (#0)
All this is run by who? Blacks. Who commits the crime in disproportion? Blacks. Who shits on education and discipline so teachers can teach? Blacks. When the black community elect criminals and then defend them even though they all know they are guilty what does one expect when they steal all the money and put unqualified people in charge as a payoff at twice the pay? The biggest enemy to the black community is blacks and always has been! Its time for the black community to look into the mirror of shame!!! Its time for blacks to stop blaming others for their deeds!!!
Does this guy look black to you? Furthermore, whites occupy the majority of Milwaukee's City Council
Who runs the black community? Demoncrats as always. Who runs the day to day business of blacks? Blacks. Blacks keep voting in POS crooks and somehow can't figure out why it gets worse?! Maybe if you elected someone who said they were not going to give you something but clean up the town the black community would get better. But that would mean more blacks being put in jail which means more disproportionate blacks in jail and a cry of racism. There is no way to win!! It all comes down to black's number one problem is and always will be themselves!
Thank you, Willie Green.
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