About Milwaukee

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by kbleeke

i read many people on this thread(that are probly white and from the suburbs) that just dont understand the other point of view and politics. brewtown12 knows both parts from being a succesful black and probaly works with suburbanites, but also probaly grew up in a poor neighborhood.
the other people have only seen the view from outside, in the suburbs.

Gee, that isn't generalizing / stereotyping, is it?

For your info, yes, I am white, but for 26+ of my 31 years have lived inMilwaukee on Milwaukee's northern sides (eg: not the east side).

Please...just because someone isn't buying the racist-causes-all woes propaganda doesn't automatically mean they live in Oconomowoc.

[Nuclear_Art]

Originally Posted by kbleeke

i read many people on this thread(that are probly white and from the suburbs) that just dont understand the other point of view and politics.

I don't know to whom you refer but I am a latino and nearly lifelong resident of Milwaukee. Although I did grow up in the suburb of West Allis I have lived in Riverwest for about 10 years and am now living on the East Side.

I work for the biggest EEO employer in the city which is the City and have worked most of that time directly on the streets of some very poor areas. I work with plenty of African Americans, mostly Nigerians and Ethiopians but they are good friends. I consider myself politically left-leaning and have voted the Socialist ticket in the past. I know there are problems although some sensationalist papers like the Milwaukee Journal tend to blow little stories out of proportion.

As far as knowing the black experience, no I am not exceptionally qualified although I have read Richard Wright's Native Son, Toni Morrison's Beloved, some James Baldwin and just finished with the Best Short Stories of Black Literature by many other greats. So I wouldn't say I'm ignorant. I'm not afraid of the inner city and go to some rough areas regularly.

I'm not going to continue arguing the points because while brewtown12 has some valid points, mostly he is expanding the debate instead of staying on topic and providing extremely poor studies to back up his opinions.

[brewtown12]

Originally Posted by Nuclear_Art

I'm not going to continue arguing the points because while brewtown12 has some valid points, mostly he is expanding the debate instead of staying on topic and providing extremely poor studies to back up his opinions.

How are the studies poor?

OK,if its not true that white felons are more likely to be hired than black men with no record and equal qualifications,show me studies that prove otherwise.


If these studies and facts I post are inaccurate,surely it will take more than your blind comments to debunk them.

Debunk away.Lets see some facts.

[brewtown12]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

In many facets, being a white male poses significant obstacles in the year 2007, not allowing for the benefits or opportunities afforded to females, minorities, etc. .

How so?Im really interested in your response.

[brewtown12]

And for every Ronnie, we get 10 brewtown12s with their victim mentalities, not considering any aspects of personal responsibility (high school drop out rates, single mother pregnancy rates, gangster mentalities leading to crime instead of education

When did I ever state that I dont consider any aspect of personal responsability.Blacks are not personally responsable for widespread racial discrimination in the labor market.If we want to fix a problem we must work on all its causes.What you advocate is to completely ignore widespread discrimination,doubt or flat out refuse to believe any studies that prove its existence,and just point the finger at blacks.Your standpoint is racist,ridiculous and it wont solve anything.

I laugh at the notion brewcity12 notes that white people think they understand black folks more than black folks themselves. Well, brewcity, I think it is fair to say then you are doing the same thing with white folks. Hypocrisy in its purest form.

Well,most blacks would agree in the city of Milwaukee that the labor market is very racist,even those of us that do have jobs.You,and alot of other whites,seem to find this hard to believe,even with America's long history of racism,current sky high unemployment rates for blacks,and studies (conducted by whites) that actually prove that what we blacks are saying is true.



According to you,the labor market is not racist,and blacks face the same obstacles that whites do,its 2007 and some sort of new age where everything is ok in Milwaukee.which is ridicoulsy false when a criminal of your race is more likely to gain employment than a law abiding 'citizen' of mines.That means that race is the single most important factor in jobs in Milwaukee.Most employers are looking for the best employee for the job-that also happens to be white.Unless youre talking about low wage/temp jobs.Visit any temporary service in Milwaukee and watch as over 90% of the people applying for these temp jobs just so happen to be black or latino,and the actual employees for the temp company just so happen to be overwhelmingly white.Also visit nearly any company and see minorities frequently filling the low paying or temp positions while the ''shirts'' and ''office workers'' happen to be-you guessed it-white.


Actually walk into all those law firms down town and see just where all of these black employees are in the company heiarchy.

As Bill Cosby would allude to, a victim's mentality is one of the worst you can have...

No,completely ignoring a blatent fact is one of the worst things a person can do.Blacks are victims of widespread discrimination.Realizing this has never crippled me in my lifes journey,Im quite successful.I think it would be downright foolish of me to ignore something I know for 100% to be a fact just because I happen to have beaten the odds and made it.That would mean that i dont give a **** about my people,like racists like you dont.I wont turn my back on my own kind because a few of us are doing good while the masses suffer,due largely in part to America's/Milwaukee's white supremacist system.

t's funny. I work in Downtown Milwaukee and today was outdoors enjoying a gorgeous 80 degree day in the heart of Downtown. Passed an inordinate amount of black folks dressed in business atire, going to and fro their jobs, looking as successful as any of us (probably moreso!). I would guess that instead of sitting in and contemplating how racism is holding them back, they instead did what the rest of us have to do - got educated, stayed out of trouble, worked hard, and fought for a job.

And I suppose you think those masses of black employees (what downtown where you in?)you passed live in your la la land where racism doesnt exist?no.Most of them,yes those same people you walked past, would agree that racial discrimination against blacks is alive,well and rampant.

But to further debate a guy (gal?) like this is moot...he's (she's) got the mind made up and nothing more will change it, preferring to dwell on the negative/the hateful, the fringes of society rather than where we truly are in 2007.

Where we truly are in 2007 is majority unemployment for black men,majority underemployment for the minority that are working,mass poverty for blacks,segragation,and 5% of this state(blacks) making up 45% of its prisons.Thats insane.

[joebob3]

It seems to me that there is a huge business advantage available for those who are willing to hire black workers. In the extremely hyper-competitive business world, businesses look for every possible advantage over their competitors. If you are able to pay black workers less money than whites for the same work, why would you ever hire whites? By hiring black workers you could kill your competition with your much lower labor costs. Therefore, the racism that occurs comes with a price to the person who is guilty of it. If you turn down a more qualified black job applicant in order to have a less qualified white applicant, then you pay the price of having a less qualified worker. If you pay a white worker more than you would a black worker for the same work, then you are losing money because of it. The same could be said of hiring women. Studies show that when you compare what women and men make, that equally qualified women make less money than men for the same work. If I could start a business and have my labor costs be a fraction of my competitor's simply by hiring only women and/or blacks, my competitor would either close, or he/she would have to hire more women and blacks in order to compete on price. If I am a customer and I can pay 75 cents on the dollar for a product, then I will. It's hard for me to believe that very many people care enough what the color/gender of the person is that makes and sells a product to pay 25% more in order to have that person be a white male.