Being Black in Wisconsin

I have a response to this article from the website fusion.net posted below.  But, before you read the article, I have to questions the author's credentials.  She is apparently from Wisconsin, growing up in Milwaukee.  I lived and worked in the city for 7 years in the 1990's (she was probably born in the 90's - ugh!).  Before that, I grew up in northern Wisconsin, in a very Mayberry atmosphere.  I did not learn about race until college.  I was social friends with the one black kid in our high school, it never occurred to me he was much different from me until I met him again in college.  He was with some of his 'brothers' and did not even acknowledge knowing me.  Then, when I lived and worked in Milwaukee I learned about segregation and racism in some very real ways.  The company I worked for employed up to a hundred twenty {mostly} blacks in entry level temporary jobs.  Many of these people were on probation and had ankle bracelets.  We employed so many of them in one location the parole office opened an office inside the same complex, so that our workers could check in on their breaks & lunch.  I could regale you with story after story of those years, some good, some not so much.

I suspect this girl's experience with race, racism and segregation is purely from the journalistic perspective.  I can assure you if she grew up in Milwaukee she probably lived in Whitefish (aka, white-folks) Bay.  Segregation is real in Milwaukee, or at least when I was there.  Blacks lived mostly west of the Milwaukee River, south of Brown Deer Rd, North of I-94 and west to about I-45. 

Let's face it, she's young and naive to say the least.  Which is why it's a shame she is allowed to write this psychobabble with impunity.

POLICING THE DAIRYLAND
It isn’t easy being black in the Badger State

by Cristina Costantini

Here are some excerpts with my comments added:

Every year, my home state is rated one of the best states to grow up — if you’re white. But it’s one of the worst if you’re black.  

[This is, of course, untrue outside of Milwaukee & Madison. I doubt blacks in Green Bay, the Chippewa Valley, or LaCrosse would agree with this statement.]

When Wisconsin’s leaders talk about racial inequalities, they often point to longstanding segregation, chronic poverty, a failing public school system, and high black unemployment. But America’s Dairyland is plagued by another factor few Wisconsinites like talking about: very high and very unequal arrest rates.

Wisconsin has the second-highest arrest rate for juveniles in the country, behind only Indiana. Black kids are almost four times as likely to be arrested as white kids in the state, and five times as likely to be arrested for disorderly conduct, curfew violations, or loitering. 

[Again, this is disingenuous. What comes first? Long standing segregation? Chronic Poverty? Failing Public Schools? High Black Unemployment? Or, the very high and unequal arrest rates? She has it backwards. They are arrested at a higher rate, because of those things. What is the commonality between these social problems? Think about it, I'll come back to it later....]

....

In a city where whites outnumber blacks more than 11 to 1, Madison made over 1000 arrests of black children between the ages of 10 and 17 in 2013. It’s unclear how many kids may have been arrested more than once, but only 3,247 black children of that age live in the city, according to the Census. 

[Maybe I was one of those "lucky" white kids who got arrested between the age of 10-17.  Or, maybe I was just breaking the law.  Multiple times.  My point is, there were 1000 arrests out of 3,247 children.  Does that mean 1/3 of the kids were arrested?  No.  I was arrested 3 times from the age of 15-17.  Again, just lucky, I guess.  Actually, statistically speaking that was an almost nonexistent percentage compared to the amount of time I spent breaking laws.  But, I digress.  How many of the 100 arrests were the same bad apples?  My guess is a lot.]

Side note - They refer to a "big kid" named Christen Justice (really - Justice) who claims to have been wrongfully accused and then harassed. They even show a picture of him.  If you are from Wisconsin you'll note right away why this kid is being harassed.  For crying out loud, he's wearing a Hines Ward Pittsburgh Steelers jersey.  That alone makes him a target.  Just sayin'...  Put on a green and gold #12 jersey, make life simpler. 

She goes on describe how Madison is trying to change.  But, she misses the elephant in the room.

Remember I asked above what these places have in common?

So, what is the common denominator among ALL of these cities: Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, LA, Atlanta, Washington D.C., etc...?

Be honest, now. Research carefully before you answer.

That's right; they have been run by liberal democrats for generations. The blacks that live in these environments are the definition of insane (according to none other than Einstein himself): They do the same thing over and over again (i.e., vote for democrats) and they expect different results. Their great-great grandparents were likely Republicans, but FDR began that shift and LBJ cemented this unholy alliance between blacks and the democrat party. 

Their only hope is to learn the truth about the party they cannot seem to break free from. Hopefully, social media and the internet will allow those who have broken through to enlighten the rest that their hope for change from the democrat party never really existed. These un-kept promises aren't the fault of racist white Republicans, but of those city councilmen & women who sell them out every day for sweetheart deals that enrich themselves, those state district representatives who trade their future for campaign donations from teacher unions who keep them trapped in low performing schools by deigning school choice, their U.S. Congressmen who make sure the system is rigged to keep the underclass needy, so they can trade those "benefits" for votes from these same uneducated.

They are correct; the system is rigged against them. But, it is rigged by the people they are entrusting with their future - the democrat party. How many more decades will these people stay in abject poverty because they believe the lies? How many more young black men will go to prison where they will become radicalized against "The Man"? How many more young blacks will die on the streets of these cities because their own municipalities [run by democrats] will not allow their citizens their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms to protect themselves? How many more black families will be kept apart because the system their political party has created rewards women who bear children out of wedlock with more government benefits than those who are married?

People wonder why I hold the democrat party in great disdain. These are the reasons. I’ve witnessed it firsthand in both Milwaukee and Atlanta and it disgusts me. There will be no hope for the plight of blacks as long as the democrat party exists. Even worst for the blacks is that now their party is abandoning them for a more promising constituency: illegal immigrants. They will be even worse off and yet they stand beside these democrats and support them. 

 
The same goes for Jews. The democrats trade away the future of Israel and they continue their undying support of the same people.

It makes one wonder how all this is possible…?

Could it be due to the universities churning out liberals, making them conform to the leftist professors in order to get good grades?

Could be a leftist media, skewing every story with a leftist view point?

Could be that it is simply easier to be a liberal, where emotions and good intentions trump results because it makes people feel good?