The Battle For Milwaukee

Via a Huffington Post article written by  Michael B. Sauter and Thomas C. Frohlich, we are referred to a report from 24/7 Wall Street which ranked the largest 100 cities in the country based on how well the cities are being run.

Image courtesy of
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee did not do very well at all, coming in as the tenth worst ran city in the nation:

10. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
> Population: 599,000 (28th largest)
> Credit rating: Aa2, stable
> Violent crime per 100,000: 1,294 (10th highest)
>; 2012 Unemployment rate: 10.1% (27th highest)

Milwaukee struggles with poverty and high crime rates. Last year, a typical household made just over $34,000, and nearly 30% of people lived beneath the poverty line, considerably worse than the country’s figures. There were nearly 1,300 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2012, more than three times the national rate of 387 violent crimes per 100,000 people. The city’s socioeconomic problems were among the reasons Moody’s assigned Milwaukee a Aa2 rating. The agency also expressed management-related concerns, specifically highlighting the city’s debt burden and the complexity of its debt financing.

Unsurprisingly, people like the race baiters at White Wisconsin used this to take jabs at Mayor Tom Barrett.  Lefties are turning around and trying to put the blame on Scott Walker and the Teapublican legislature.

But to lay this at the feet of any one individual is terribly naive and ignorant.  This has been happening for generations and has a root that is deeper on the right than on the left, although it is very pervasive on both sides.

The problems listed in the report has a lot to do with the ongoing racism in this city and this state.

In April 2013, Milwaukee was found to be the most segregated area of the nation.  I pointed out at that time that the segregation was happening on more than just a geographical level.

For decades, Milwaukee school children have been getting set apart by having a large portion of their education funding diverted to support the education privatizers and profiteers, even though these private schools have been repeatedly been shown to be worse than public education.  Not only has the problem never been corrected, in recent years, the siphoning of funds has been greater, making it even more difficult for children to get a good education.

Milwaukee is also segregated electorally.  First there is Scot Walker and the Teapublican legislature reinstating Jim Crow laws and poll taxes, making it harder for many minorities to vote.  Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele furthered the problem by diminishing the representative government the county once enjoyed.  At least locally, it's now harder to vote and you have less of a voice even when you do vote.

Speaking of losing one's voice, let us not forget the bias in the media.  Radio station aimed at a black audience can't stay on the air while WTMJ teams up with the Koch-funded Club for Growth to keep spewing their race baiting.

Along the same line, a gas station in Washington County can make the news in Milwaukee, but the escalated wave of crime in the city itself barely gets mentioned.  It's as if the corporate media wants people to believe that the money from a exurban gas station is more important than the life of a young black man in the inner city.  Oh, wait, that's exactly what they are doing.

Milwaukee's segregation is also economical.  Abele fights any and all efforts to have a minimum wage come to Milwaukee.  Mayor Tom Barrett went against the will of the people and squashed the law requiring paid sick time for workers in the city.  On top of that, there are the Teapublicans that are looking for any chance they get to cut people off of unemployment, food stamps and Badger Care.

And when one considers the other constant issues of segregation, like how a black man has a one in three chance of being incarcerated, it's not surprising that things are going to hell in a handbasket.

All of this ingrained racism, segregation and oppression is really brought home in a blog post written by a former Milwaukeean who eloquently speaks of her experiences here:

I am fully aware that what plagues my family and so many people in Milwaukee is a combination of poor public policy, mass segregation, over incarceration and an even poorer education system. I chose to move away from Milwaukee not the work. I choose to focus my energy and adult working life on public policies where zip code doesn’t dictate destiny, where parental income doesn’t so easily transfer, where schoolhouses can be an oasis of hope.

I left my burden somewhere on the sidewalk cracks of Hadley Street on the north side of Milwaukee just as I would in the torn up rubble of the Cabrini Green housing projects in Chicago. I’ll never get Milwaukee tattooed on my chest. I probably will never be able to vacation with my family members in some incredible safari resort in Kenya and many of them will likely never board a plane to see what life is like for their cousin, sister, friend in Brooklyn. And while I continue to mourn that Huxatble dream of going back ‘home’ to a place that is safe, supportive, and where people understand me, I’ve learned that the best I could do is be safe, supportive, and understanding to them.

I learned from Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie that: stories matter. I learned that stories empower, humanize and can also repair broken dignity. But, as Ms. Adichie often says, this is just one story. It is just one story of Milwaukee and the memories I bury at the airport each and every time I board my plane back to my home where my friends, job and family await me on the East Coast. I will reminiscence about Milwaukee as my grandparents once did of Mississippi, as a place with much history but with no future for me.

Things can get better, but only when we start raising all of our boats and not those of a select few.  The majority of citizens in the City of Milwaukee are African American. It is utter foolishness to think that you can hold down the majority of the population and have any kind of success.

We need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. We need to allow people to take off for sick children without fear of losing their jobs or their homes.  We need to allow all people to have an equal voice and has an equal chance.  Most of all, we need to call out and condemn the racism that permeates almost every aspect and region of not only Milwaukee but all of Wisconsin.

And if our elected officials - regardless of what party they are in- refuse to make these things happen, we need new leaders who will.  The corporatization of our country has gone too far.  We need to start taking our city, our county, our state and our country back.

But as long as we keep electing politicians that are more worried about the corporate special interests and their money than the people they're supposed to be representing, don't expect things to get better.  They would rather play the same game of finger pointing every time one of these reports comes out instead of actually leading.

Report: Milwaukee Is The Most Racially Segregated Urban Area In America

This is nothing to be proud of:

Nationwide, blacks have been concentrated in the inner city, far away from where new jobs are created. Yet the case of Milwaukee is extreme: 90 percent of the metro area’s black population lives in the city. Making matters worse, suburban whites are notably hostile to building any form of public transit to connect city people to suburban jobs, further exacerbating segregation’s ill effects.

If you’re wondering if this can somehow, some way, be blamed on union-busting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the answer is yes. Walker took the lead in a campaign against public transit to connect the suburbs to the city during his time as county executive. He thought the funds would be better spent on highways.

“There is virulent opposition in these exurban counties to any kind of regional transit system, particularly a regional rail system. There have been proposals over the years, but they’re always DOA,” says Levine. “Governor Walker’s big issue as state representative and county executive was ‘Over my dead body light rail,’ and he fought with Milwaukee’s mayor over funds for regional rail. He very much represents that suburban and exurban base.”

Oh, and it keeps getting worse:

Milwaukee sticks out in another way: Civic boosters have mounted a major campaign to deny the city’s segregation. In 2002, a group of job training researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, released a study contending that nationally recognized measures of segregation are “racially biased” and, using a new measure, argued that Milwaukee was actually the tenth most integrated of the largest 50 cities.

While people everywhere — especially whites — find it hard to talk about race, the methodological contortions undertaken in Milwaukee are striking.

“It’s not really controversial in Milwaukee. No one seriously doubts we’re a highly segregated place. It’s only controversial because this work, which has never been published, never been peer reviewed, and isn’t taken seriously by any academic experts, purported to show something that some local political leaders wanted to tout in order to make Milwaukee look better,” says Levine. “These non-faculty contract researchers got a grant from a local foundation whose president said, ‘I don’t think Milwaukee is really as segregated as all these studies have shown. Can you run some numbers that show that?’”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered the findings extensively, despite their lack of academic rigor.

“Milwaukee ranks across the board as among the most segregated metropolises in the nation. It has among the highest rates of racial inequality across a whole range of indicators: black-white joblessness, black-white poverty and black-white ownership of businesses. There’s a bit of civic embarrassment and sensitivity to it,” says Levine.

And for the reading impaired, they have included this graphic showing just how segregated the Milwaukee area is:

To be fair though, Scott Walker didn't invent the segregation and underlying racism in Milwaukee.  He only enhanced it.

As mentioned in the article, Walker did indeed do his best to decimate the transit system, cutting it by more than 20% in his time as county executive, cutting off many people from jobs.  Of course, Walker also didn't want "those people" bothering the good folks in Brookfield and other suburbs.

Walker's separate and unequal approach was apparent in other areas as well.  Many years ago, lefty bloggers, including myself, showed the disparity in the way parks in the inner city were being neglected while suburban parks were in much better shape.

It should also be pointed out that it's just not Walker that is trying to keep segregation intact.  Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan is a good example of that. After an incident involving some black youths at State Fair, Donovan and fellow Alderman Joe Dudzik sent out a blatantly racist press release that blamed black people for everything but the clogs in their kitchen sinks.  Not done being an ass, Donovan also proposed a plan where black kids would be gathered up and locked away in boarding schools and orphanages.  The ultimate in segregation!


Don't look for the transit system in Milwaukee to get any better in the near future.  Walker, as governor, as made transit funding much more scarce by moving it out of the transportation fund.  Walker tried to justify this move by claiming that mass transit wasn't really transportation, but a social program like food stamps, energy assistance and Badger Care.

Locally, with the Milwaukee County Transit System on the verge of collapse, and with a long list of reasons why the community needs it, the current county executive, Chris Abele, would rather see a dedicated sales tax go to build a new arena instead of restoring and sustaining the transit system.  Why should thousands of blacks have access to transportation to jobs when he can have his own court side seat to watch Bucks games?

And that is not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars Abele is willing to spend on 44 story tall Bic Lighters and moving freeway ramps a few feet to make things easier for his fellow plutocrats. Then our dear elected leaders tell us that there is not enough money to fix the roads, provide decent education for our children or proper health care for our poor.  They have to make sure that the right people get what they want and the wrong people get to stay put.

Segregation was wrong then. It's even
more wrong now.

It's not only geographically that people are trying to keep Milwaukee segregated.  They are also attempting it politically as well, such as with AB 85/SB 95, the bill that would greatly reduce representative government in Milwaukee, effectively silencing the majority of minorities in Milwaukee County.  As one might hope, it is being met with fierce resistance from local civic leaders, community groups and political leaders.

It should also be pointed out that Milwaukee is the home base for the Bradley Foundation.  The Bradley Foundation has been involved with similar acts by trying to infringe the rights of blacks to even vote.

I have heard some say that Milwaukee will never make the "big time" unless we have all sorts of new buildings, arenas for our sports teams and other cultural attractions.

I say that we could have all those and still not hit the big time until we address the inherent racism and sexism that is still all too prevalent in our community.

Special Education Vouchers - The Segregation Agenda is Alive and Well in WI

Why would Governor Walker feel compelled to place things like vouchers and charter school oversight boards in the budget when they failed to pass his republican majority legislature?

Luring special needs students out of the public schools to attend for-profit schools without accountability to actually provide services or educate these children, children who end up back in the public schools after the for-profit schools receive the taxpayer funds, is an outrageous ideology and unconstitutional. 

Taxpayers will be paying double to educate these targeted children, once for them to transfer to a for-profit school and twice when they return to public schools.

Unsuspecting parents will seek out an alternative for their children and fall victim to an elaborate scheme that funnels more tax funds into the hands of the for-profit schools without certified teachers, background checks or accountability are a means to segregate the children by wealth.

Public schools and our children’s educators have been demonized for the love of money. I know a lot of wonderful parochial schools who have the integrity to let these disillusioned parents know they cannot serve their children, but taxpayer funds deferring their dwindling donations covering tuition costs is too good to pass up. We shouldn't forget that our constitution also states no taxpayer funds can go to sectarian education.

The Wisconsin Constitution Article X, § 3 states: 

"The legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein; but the legislature by law may, for the purpose of religious instruction outside the district schools, authorize the release of students during regular school hours."

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in Vincent v. Voight, further elaborated on the constitution’s education article by detailing what is meant by a "sound basic education":

"An equal opportunity for a sound basic education is one that will equip students for their roles as citizens and enable them to succeed economically and personally. The legislature has articulated a standard for equal opportunity for a sound basic education in Wis. Stat. §§ 118.30(1g)(a) and 121.02(L) (1997-98) as the opportunity for students to be proficient in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history, and for them to receive instruction in the arts and music, vocational training, social sciences, health, physical education and foreign language, in accordance with their age and aptitude. 

An equal opportunity for a sound basic education acknowledges that students and districts are not fungible and takes into account districts with disproportionate numbers of disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills. So long as the legislature is providing sufficient resources so that school districts offer students the equal opportunity for a sound basic education as required by the constitution, the state school finance system will pass constitutional muster." 614 N.W.2d 388, 396 (2000). (Emphasis mine)

Scott Walker, and the extreme right republicans like Robin Vos et al, have underfunded the schools, like Milwaukee and Racine, moving to make this a reality for all public schools “with disproportionate numbers of disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills” and fail to “provide sufficient resources so that school districts offer students the equal opportunity for a sound basic education as required by the constitution”.

Robin Vos admits he is not an attorney and makes it clear what the plan is for the disabled students, the economically disadvantaged students and students with limited English language skills as he tries to sell the agenda to local school boards.

Politiscoop reported  last year on a conversation between Senator Ellis and Robin Vos: 

Ellis counters "Let me say this, I am a fan of the Milwaukee Parent Choice program, I am a fan of individuals who can't stand poverty to get the hell out of the public school system". 

It was this point that Vos says something about the Green Bay School District to which Ellis replies "I know, I mean we've got great school districts in the Fox Cities, the only one getting close to the margins is the Green Bay area. That's not even the Green Bay school district, its target schools because of the geographic disbursement you've got Preble out there that's got all the poor people. So when we are done with this bill, we modify it so that a segment of the school district may move into this program. Green Bay east is fine, west is fine, Preble is a sewer they've got the poverty possum. We need to not make it the entire school system, we need to make that Preble, that geographic quadrant and make it eligible like Milwaukee is for a voucher program." Vos replies "I'm okay with that". Ellis replies "So am I".

They convince the parents that vouchers are for the disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills when in reality they have no intentions to serve those children.

It is an elaborate scheme I will give them that much. So now we understand the reason for the removal of the income cap on vouchers and the refusal to have any accountability to actually educate the children. The wealthy children will be going to the private schools with the tax funds intended to provide an equal education to ALL children and those “poverty possums” won’t be turned away, until the 3^rd Friday counts are in and they get their taxpayer dollars.

It also states in our constitution: Transportation of school children. SECTION 23. [Ascreated April 1967] “Nothing in this constitution shall prohibit the legislature from providing for the safety and welfare of children by providing for the transportation of children to and from any parochial or private school or institution of learning.” [1965J.R. 46, 1967 J.R. 13, vote April 1967]

There goes the transportation budget again.

Again, I have no problem with charter schools, private schools, parochial schools or parental choice that are transparent and integral. The problem comes in when there is no accountability to the taxpayers let alone the parents or the children.

Why would we want to do this?