Why is West Bend so racist? (Milwaukee, Madison: neighborhood, buying, to live)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

???? Speak English or learn how to type.

I prefer "scram" myself.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by vitcrosby

why can't be in america at least one place where could live just white people! if i and my friends don't understand foreign cultures where should we stay? at all earlier times america was white and it's a good reason that we still have any place to feel self comfortable. if you're mexican why don't you live in mexico or please take our habits. The same concerns the blacks. Hope there's more places to stay white. West Bend is cool.

This nation only became predominantly white because people from Europe came in and fought with the Native Americans and eventually killed many of them or put them on reservations.

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by vitcrosby

why can't be in america at least one place where could live just white people! if i and my friends don't understand foreign cultures where should we stay? at all earlier times america was white and it's a good reason that we still have any place to feel self comfortable. if you're mexican why don't you live in mexico or please take our habits. The same concerns the blacks. Hope there's more places to stay white. West Bend is cool.

Wow! Native American tribes were already living here for thousands of years before white people ever stumbled upon the continent of North America. Slaves were brought over here from Africa long before Germans (who form the largest ancestry group in the US) or other Europeans began immigrating here in large numbers.

P.S. I hope a tree falls on your trailer tonight while your sleeping.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Wow! Native American tribes were already living here for thousands of years before white people ever stumbled upon the continent of North America. Slaves were brought over here from Africa long before Germans (who form the largest ancestry group in the US) or other Europeans began immigrating here in large numbers.

P.S. I hope a tree falls on your trailer tonight while your sleeping.

Exactly. If people do not want blacks in this country, or anywhere, they can blame the colonists who brought them here. That is why I am in this nation. I am here because my ancestors were brought here from Africa. The statement regarding Native Americans being here first is true.

[Milwaukee, WI]

Let me break this down. Its nothing to do with blacks chasing white women. It's a fact that West Bend is off the beaten path, they don't get out much and see what's happening in the world. Their main source of information is from the media: tv, radio, newspaper. It's true, minorities commit crime at a higher rate than caucasians, but people therefore mistakenly associate all minorities with the crime, child care scams, etc., that they saw on the ten o clock news last night.

Minorities threaten the good housekeeping magazine lifestyle they've always envisioned for themselves. To preserve "their America," the world with no crime or poverty, out of fear they try to intimidate minorities to stay away (Jessica13 is latino and says they give her dirty looks so she will never live there-a win for the racists).

You'll often hear conservative commentators use the term "In My America.." when speaking, and I can say as a white person that this is code for "White America". Racism is alive and well in America it just is denied and the kkk rallies you never see anymore have been substituted with am talk radio where a racist can get all the latest rants on border fences, government funded health care, and affirmative action they could ever need.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee, WI

Let me break this down. Its nothing to do with blacks chasing white women. It's a fact that West Bend is off the beaten path, they don't get out much and see what's happening in the world. Their main source of information is from the media: tv, radio, newspaper. It's true, minorities commit crime at a higher rate than caucasians, but people therefore mistakenly associate all minorities with the crime, child care scams, etc., that they saw on the ten o clock news last night.

Minorities threaten the good housekeeping magazine lifestyle they've always envisioned for themselves. To preserve "their America," the world with no crime or poverty, out of fear they try to intimidate minorities to stay away (Jessica13 is latino and says they give her dirty looks so she will never live there-a win for the racists).

You'll often hear conservative commentators use the term "In My America.." when speaking, and I can say as a white person that this is code for "White America". Racism is alive and well in America it just is denied and the kkk rallies you never see anymore have been substituted with am talk radio where a racist can get all the latest rants on border fences, government funded health care, and affirmative action they could ever need.

Sounds about right, and it sounds like something Tim Wise would say. Many people at the least would prefer that people who look like me not move into their neighborhoods.

[Chelito23]

Just to throw out a question....

Is West Bend really that racist or are these just a few isolated incidents? There are red necks, racism and ignorance everywhere, even in inner-city Milwaukee. Racism works both ways.

I think many areas in Wisconsin get a bad rap because of the lack of diversity, but that doesn't necessarily mean the state or certain areas are "racist".

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Just to throw out a question....

Is West Bend really that racist or are these just a few isolated incidents? There are red necks, racism and ignorance everywhere, even in inner-city Milwaukee. Racism works both ways.

I think many areas in Wisconsin get a bad rap because of the lack of diversity, but that doesn't necessarily mean the state or certain areas are "racist".

They may or may not be isolated incidents, but what I notice in the Milwaukee metro area is that the largest portion of the suburban black population lives in Brown Deer and Glendale. Very few blacks anywhere else outside of Milwaukee with the exception of Racine.

[Chelito23]

Yeah, Milwaukee is very segregated, but it is self-segretation. It isn't like Blacks are forced to live in Brown Deer or Glendale. I might want to live there too if I were Black, just to be in a community where I saw more people that I could relate to. It makes sense, and with Milwauekee's suburbs being so white-bread, I think most Blacks prefer to cluster and not be the "one" Black family on the block....

But that isn't only true in Milwaukee. Many cities have suburbs that have higher concentrations of Blacks. I think Milwaukee and Wisconsin get a bad rap for a lack of diversity, which isn't the state's fault or due to racism per se, it is more because of the state's geographical location-far from the south and historically there weren't many jobs that attracted Blacks to the state outside of Milwaukee.

Maybe one of the reasons for segregation overall is that the black community, when compared to the entrie metro population, is relatively small? That would be my guess. The same thing happens in Madison where the black population is REALLY small, like 5% of the city. So you have "diverse pockets" (not even whole neighborhoods) where Blacks or minorities congregate...I think this is common inmany small to medium sized cities in the Midwest where there historicaly has been a low minority population.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Yeah, Milwaukee is very segregated, but it is self-segretation. It isn't like Blacks are forced to live in Brown Deer or Glendale. I might want to live there too if I were Black, just to be in a community where I saw more people that I could relate to. It makes sense, and with Milwauekee's suburbs being so white-bread, I think most Blacks prefer to cluster and not be the "one" Black family on the block....

But that isn't only true in Milwaukee. Many cities have suburbs that have higher concentrations of Blacks. I think Milwaukee and Wisconsin get a bad rap for a lack of diversity, which isn't the state's fault or due to racism per se, it is more because of the state's geographical location-far from the south and historically there weren't many jobs that attracted Blacks to the state outside of Milwaukee.

Maybe one of the reasons for segregation overall is that the black community, when compared to the entrie metro population, is relatively small? That would be my guess. The same thing happens in Madison where the black population is REALLY small, like 5% of the city. So you have "diverse pockets" (not even whole neighborhoods) where Blacks or minorities congregate...I think this is common inmany small to medium sized cities in the Midwest where there historicaly has been a low minority population.

I don't think the lack of diversity is a coincidence per se. Wisconsin wasn't a slave state, so for that reason, few, if any African-Americans were living there in the first place. Around the 1890's, at the low point of "race relations", many places all over the USA turned into "sundown towns", meaning at sundown, non-white people had to be gone. This included Wisconsin in such places as Greenfield, West Allis, West Bend, and even larger towns that were possibly sundown towns like Appleton. Some places just had few opportunities for African-Americans, so many moved to larger cities like Milwaukee and Racine. Sundown ordinances are illegal now, but places like Appleton and the Fox River areas have very few Africans-Americans living there compared to Milwaukee. Some might argue the lack of factories. There are paper mills up there. The lack of jobs, or rural surroundings were not the only reasons in many cases. Many cases, places had lack of diversity by design and on purpose. That is an ugly part of American history few people would want to admit.