Why is West Bend so racist? (Milwaukee, Fond du Lac: school, living, statistics)

[tjschmi]

I'm African-American. I lived in Milwaukee till 2000 where I moved to West Bend for 3 months. A lot of people called me the n word and were very rude to me. Then I moved to Fond du Lac, where I still live, and with a big black pop, it was more nicer to me. Does anyone else agree that West Bend is that way?

[Milwaukee City]

never saw what your talking about, I used to work in wb and had black friends that moved up there from milwaukee and they loved it. I didn't know fdl had black people. Maybe just your own exp. but I don't think wb is even close to racist maybe mercer wi but that like 5hrs north.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by tjschmi

I'm African-American. I lived in Milwaukee till 2000 where I moved to West Bend for 3 months. A lot of people called me the n word and were very rude to me. Then I moved to Fond du Lac, where I still live, and with a big black pop, it was more nicer to me. Does anyone else agree that West Bend is that way?

I didn't even think Fond du Lac had a large black population, at least according to the statistics I have been given.

[ministers]

I've have heard about West Bend being racist. I went to school with a couple of girls from West Bend and they were really cool, so maybe you just were around a group of bad apples. I remember my dad went to this diner in West Bend and he said a interracial couple walked in and people were really starring and acting rude towards them. I guess this can happen anywhere, but that is just my personal experience about West Bend.

[Dnug]

I think that has alot to do with how you carry yourself. I know a couple black people that get along fine in West Bend. I just think some people automatically categorize black people in WB due to its proximity to Milwaukee and the persona that blacks carry there. Just my 2 cents.

[jessica13]

I completley agree West Bend is racist. I am mexican and I get the looks when I visit stores. Even though I work in West Bend, I will never live there because it is racist.

[karfar]

I think it's agreed that if you live anywhere outside of a big city & you are not "the norm", you'll be looked at. Of course, you need to take it upon yourself to break thru those barriers, be friendly, listen, etc. I'm not saying that you weren't, that's just my observation. It's too bad that you were called that word though, that is the worst of the worst.

[mjohnny123]

I don't call them racist anymore, and black men have to live with it. White men are so threatened by black men, and it all has to do with their women. Once you go black you never go back. Believe it. Black people first settled Clinton, Fon du Lac, Pleasant View and twenty other towns all around Wisconsin all the way near the Canadian border. They were tappers and at the time the immigrants from Europe had not started to flood this country. Remenber for the first 150 years, it was only Africans and English living here.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by mjohnny123

I don't call them racist anymore, and black men have to live with it. White men are so threatened by black men, and it all has to do with their women. Once you go black you never go back. Believe it. Black people first settled Clinton, Fon du Lac, Pleasant View and twenty other towns all around Wisconsin all the way near the Canadian border. They were tappers and at the time the immigrants from Europe had not started to flood this country. Remenber for the first 150 years, it was only Africans and English living here.

Why do few people know this?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Why do few people know this?

How about because it's not particularly accurate. That's not to say there were no AAs in Wisconsin during the fur trade era, but they were not a substantial portion of the population. It wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that AAs in Wisconsin numbered more than the hundreds. Not to mention there were more than "Africans and English," there were also Indians and French. In fact some parts of Wisconsin were primarily French-speaking well into the 19th century, the historical remnant of which is many Wisconsin cities, towns and geographical features still have French names. Milwaukee even still celebrates Bastille Day.