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I would say as soon as you cross the Ozaukee county line you're going to get "looks" all the way to Manitowoc or Green Bay.
Very few people of color once you get north of Milwaukee.
RM
Eh, in central Wisconsin you're more likely to get people awkwardly calling you "brother" and bending over backward to mention that they voted for Obama even if they did not.
Eh, in central Wisconsin you're more likely to get people awkwardly calling you "brother" and bending over backward to mention that they voted for Obama even if they did not.
Yeah, we live north of Milwaukee and it's pretty diverse here.
From my experience, race relations don't seem too bad in general either. You might hear of stuff in the news, but not so much day-to-day while out-and-about.
When we lived in Milwaukee, we did notice more issues it seemed. More animosity, much more politicized.
If they'd deescalate the politics, they'd probably progress more. Politics is just a wedge that keeps the fires burning.
Having said that, I do think Milwaukee's issues are a tad bit overblown. There's a decent amount of integration in many parts of it.
I'm just going to add to understand where some of these thoughts from some people are from. I am a forty something African American, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal, but sure as hell is NOT a racist Trump supporter or one of these making dumb comments about blacks. Now that is out the way, here is some perspective:
Milwaukee IS segregated. Segregation in part allows racism to brew as you will have people from different walks to have different opinions and not discuss their differences and come to a respectable compromise. Milwaukee has a healthy African American population, but most of us live on the North side(north of Wisconsin Ave). Inner city, like most I have seen, is sometimes rough. Surrounding areas like Wauwatosa, Menomonee Falls, Bayview, Port Washington are fine. Brookfield, Oak Creek, Waukesha are like some have said, more fluent white and thus a class thing there.
I had been here for almost all my years and to be honest, I plan to relocate away as African Americans that are here, I agree have a certain type of job and support system to perhaps help them. Milwaukee is cold winters, lacks great jobs. Milwaukee is a strong Democratic city, but the state is very purple, but the Republicans control the senate and courts in the state, with a "healthy" group of red leaning radio stations that spew their "helpful" thoughts. It's very blue collar, Milwaukee. For your situation, I would reconsider coming to Milwaukee or just visit and drive around. I'm a huge Bucks fan, most my family is there(here as of this writing) but being black here is not a great thing IMHO. There are more limitations, jobs, entertainment, great homes(unless you like detached garages or luxury downtown apartments). Milwaukee does have a great museum, Fiserv Forum home of the world champs(Go Bucks). It's not all bad, but I lean towards Chicago if you have to be in the Midwest, even with it's problems. Good luck to you.
According to that article and youtube vids I have seen, Milwaukee is a horrible place for blacks. I am bisexual and black so i look for places to visit or move to where i will be comfortable. Is racism really that big of a deal there? Do you know anyone black that likes it there?
Racism is not a problem here for safely. The problem is that all the ethnic groups have left the central city and the poorest of blacks have come in from Mississippi and Alabama.
THEN all the factories closed. This left the poorest of blacks with less educational drive in a city with no jobs for unskilled labor.
SO there is class prejudice mostly. If you stay classy you'll be fine. If you like to slum, it's not a good city.
Part of the problem is brain drain--a huge problem in Wisconsin in general. People with marketable skills tend to leave. That's one reason Milwaukee does not have a large black middle-class (they move away). Conservative republicans tend to scare away educated and affluent people from out of state, and educated and affluent (liberal) people move away. The Republican party is now the party of lower-middle class whites and many middle class whites simply don't want to associate with such people. That's one reason people from Waukesha, once thought to be an "affluent" suburb, have thick Wisconsin accents while their neighbors in Wauwatosa and Whitefish Bay sound like professionals.
Part of the problem is brain drain--a huge problem in Wisconsin in general. People with marketable skills tend to leave. That's one reason Milwaukee does not have a large black middle-class (they move away). Conservative republicans tend to scare away educated and affluent people from out of state, and educated and affluent (liberal) people move away. The Republican party is now the party of lower-middle class whites and many middle class whites simply don't want to associate with such people. That's one reason people from Waukesha, once thought to be an "affluent" suburb, have thick Wisconsin accents while their neighbors in Wauwatosa and Whitefish Bay sound like professionals.
Then please explain Milwaukee's racism problem pre-"brain drain". If anything, it's improving these days.
It has nothing to do with politics or the level of education, it's all about culture.
That's it.
Also, making fun of people's accents is akin to some form of better-than-thou 'ism'. Surely there's a name for that.
As a 36-year-old gay black male probably most suited to answer this question, I think a lot of the racially inflammatory answers against black people in this very thread nicely addressed your question.
As a black male who has never drank, never done drugs, never smoked, disease-free, my own car, my own apartment, bachelor's and associate degree, great job where I can work wherever I want and whenever I want, I am a very rare case. I credit my parents for my opportunities, brought up in the hood during Jim Crow and who had to work twice as hard as their counterparts to make it. I would probably have moved by now but I am one of the special cases who has landed a great job where there's a lot of freedom, able to work whenever and wherever I want.
If you manage to lead a relatively middle-class lifestyle, keep to yourself like me, stay within the more liberal metropolitan, it's an all right place to live I guess. I left Milwaukee and went to a rural place called Dundee where my white ex-boyfriend's family had a cabin. When we went back to the car, my ex told me a white man walked up to him and randomly questioned him on why I was there. According to my ex, he got the third degree on "What is that he here? Why is he doing here?"
Over on the East Side of Milwaukee, I thought I came across the sweetest old white woman. However, when I left and came back the white gas station clerk informed me that the white woman was talking about me like a dog behind my back, questioning him on what I was doing on their side of town and why are people like me there. A lot of Southern whites have trashed Northern whites to me personally, stating that at least Southern whites say things to your face if they have a problem with you racially, and that Northern whites say things behind your back and are insidious, subtly breaking you down and sabotaging you when they have the issue. The more I've lived here, the more I see that this is true. Much of the way, whites will break you down out here is subtle and insidious.
My friends and family have reported experiencing great amounts of racism in places like Green Bay and other various patches of Wisconsin outside of our cage in Milwaukee where we belong I guess. The rest of the state is made for white people to venture and adventure to, not blacks apparently.
Don't expect to find a relationship with anyone here. Although I am gay, I have made a point of trying to build a relationship with someone out of state pretty much for my entire time here. The gay clubs and bars are horrible to blacks out here. I have heard numerous accounts of anti-black racism at La Cage. I won't even visit there any longer. The gay community is pretty limited. And I know that just in general, there is the problem of hookup and fwb culture in the gay community, but that problem is ten times worse on blacks where we're treated as science experiment for the bbc, something to try out a few times if you've never tried before. Know your worth like me and do not allow anyone to reduce you to hookups and fwbs as I never have.
Sadly, drugs, smoking and crime catch up with a lot of blacks out here because it's all around very depressing if you don't have a lot of inner strength. Most of my black friends and family have all relocated out of Wisconsin, exhausted of the racism and winters out here. I have mainly worked in HR and recruitment roles, in which I can make a different in the black community. I remember taking a young 19-year-old black man up to Nordstroms for an interview and the way the white woman looked at him like he was beneath her had appalled me. He was darker skinned and from the hood. You could tell she was a Karen.
I've had a million interviews and have a lot of credentials and one thing I've noticed is no white man has ever hired me for a job before. My dad, who is a medical engineer, and interestingly enough said no white man has ever hired him either. Only racial minorities and white females have been the ones to have ever hired me and I've lived here all my life. The only time white males have come close to offering me a job opportunity is when they are recruiters and have stakes in getting money benefits for recruiting someone.
Again, it's slim pickings out here if you're gay. They have blacks struggling with a lot of problems and then they have the whites who its best to avoid as they like to use you for hookups and fwbs.
Milwaukee is home to me and I have made my apartment so swanky and nice so my goal is to relocate a beautiful Middle-Eastern man to me and live beautiful life here for 5 years or so, then maybe transfer as I don't want to leave my company. If all goes according to plan, I'd like to probably relocate to Arizona in 5 years with a man that I meet soon.
As a southerner finding myself living in Wisconsin, I tend to agree that the relationship between whites and blacks can be quite different up here.
As a 36-year-old gay black male probably most suited to answer this question, I think a lot of the racially inflammatory answers against black people in this very thread nicely addressed your question.
As a black male who has never drank, never done drugs, never smoked, disease-free, my own car, my own apartment, bachelor's and associate degree, great job where I can work wherever I want and whenever I want, I am a very rare case. I credit my parents for my opportunities, brought up in the hood during Jim Crow and who had to work twice as hard as their counterparts to make it. I would probably have moved by now but I am one of the special cases who has landed a great job where there's a lot of freedom, able to work whenever and wherever I want.
If you manage to lead a relatively middle-class lifestyle, keep to yourself like me, stay within the more liberal metropolitan, it's an all right place to live I guess. I left Milwaukee and went to a rural place called Dundee where my white ex-boyfriend's family had a cabin. When we went back to the car, my ex told me a white man walked up to him and randomly questioned him on why I was there. According to my ex, he got the third degree on "What is that he here? Why is he doing here?"
Over on the East Side of Milwaukee, I thought I came across the sweetest old white woman. However, when I left and came back the white gas station clerk informed me that the white woman was talking about me like a dog behind my back, questioning him on what I was doing on their side of town and why are people like me there. A lot of Southern whites have trashed Northern whites to me personally, stating that at least Southern whites say things to your face if they have a problem with you racially, and that Northern whites say things behind your back and are insidious, subtly breaking you down and sabotaging you when they have the issue. The more I've lived here, the more I see that this is true. Much of the way, whites will break you down out here is subtle and insidious.
My friends and family have reported experiencing great amounts of racism in places like Green Bay and other various patches of Wisconsin outside of our cage in Milwaukee where we belong I guess. The rest of the state is made for white people to venture and adventure to, not blacks apparently.
Don't expect to find a relationship with anyone here. Although I am gay, I have made a point of trying to build a relationship with someone out of state pretty much for my entire time here. The gay clubs and bars are horrible to blacks out here. I have heard numerous accounts of anti-black racism at La Cage. I won't even visit there any longer. The gay community is pretty limited. And I know that just in general, there is the problem of hookup and fwb culture in the gay community, but that problem is ten times worse on blacks where we're treated as science experiment for the bbc, something to try out a few times if you've never tried before. Know your worth like me and do not allow anyone to reduce you to hookups and fwbs as I never have.
Sadly, drugs, smoking and crime catch up with a lot of blacks out here because it's all around very depressing if you don't have a lot of inner strength. Most of my black friends and family have all relocated out of Wisconsin, exhausted of the racism and winters out here. I have mainly worked in HR and recruitment roles, in which I can make a different in the black community. I remember taking a young 19-year-old black man up to Nordstroms for an interview and the way the white woman looked at him like he was beneath her had appalled me. He was darker skinned and from the hood. You could tell she was a Karen.
I've had a million interviews and have a lot of credentials and one thing I've noticed is no white man has ever hired me for a job before. My dad, who is a medical engineer, and interestingly enough said no white man has ever hired him either. Only racial minorities and white females have been the ones to have ever hired me and I've lived here all my life. The only time white males have come close to offering me a job opportunity is when they are recruiters and have stakes in getting money benefits for recruiting someone.
Again, it's slim pickings out here if you're gay. They have blacks struggling with a lot of problems and then they have the whites who its best to avoid as they like to use you for hookups and fwbs.
Milwaukee is home to me and I have made my apartment so swanky and nice so my goal is to relocate a beautiful Middle-Eastern man to me and live beautiful life here for 5 years or so, then maybe transfer as I don't want to leave my company. If all goes according to plan, I'd like to probably relocate to Arizona in 5 years with a man that I meet soon.
Just try to understand that a lot of white people have had negative experiences their entire lives with black people.
Racism and poor behavior goes both ways ... with blacks more likely to physically act on their hate. Mind you, I'm talking the last few decades or so. White people are really trying ... some people aren't making it easy, though.
According to that article and youtube vids I have seen, Milwaukee is a horrible place for blacks. I am bisexual and black so i look for places to visit or move to where i will be comfortable. Is racism really that big of a deal there? Do you know anyone black that likes it there?
With the Dahmer netflix series bringing light back into those crimes and the issues with police in Milwaukee (and the safety of black, gay/bisexual people) it is easy to have an impression about Milwaukee.
There are issues, sure. But that was a single high profile incident 30 years ago. Every city has its risks regardless of race or sexual preference.
Milwaukee has some issues but is pretty safe if you know where to go, and if you find yourself in a rougher area, practice common sense.
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