Whether it is white teenagers beating a black man to death in Jackson, Miss., or a group of black teens attacking white people in West Allis, Wis. a (suburb of Milwaukee), the negative impact such incidents have on race relations is costly and enduring. And, when we as a society refuses, time and again, to take the necessary steps to address the root causes of such behavior, the negative impact will have lasting effects much longer than they need to be.
While we cannot place the brutality of the Jackson, Miss. murder in the parking lot of a convenience store, and the mob scene at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wis. in the same category (the former with irrefutable evidence of a hate crime occurring according to the Jackson District Attorney, and the later with one participant arrested and charged with robbery with the use of force with a hate crime penalty enhancer, according to the West Allis Police Department), the claim that both incidents are the result of racism is one that can certainly be made.
Whether it is prevailing racial tension or blatant racist acts, these incidents, and many similar ones occurring across the nation are symptomatic of systemic and long-standing conditions, practices, and beliefs that exist and impact or daily lives—often positively for some, very negatively for others.
But can we suspend our immediate and emotional reactions to racist acts long enough to try and come up with meaningful solutions? Admittedly, it can be very difficult. Perceptions, too often rule over reality.
Take the incident at the state fair grounds in West Allis where black youths randomly and wantonly, at the close of the evening’s activities, decided to menace and attack white patrons as they were trying to leave. For those under attack and for many who witnessed the two-minute mayhem, they saw the act as racially motivated and indeed a hate crime, whether all of the teens actions were racially motivated or not.
According to the West Allis police investigation, the incident actually began with a fight between two black youths in the group that was hanging around outside the fair grounds. In the midst, the mob mentally took over, and out of control youths began to attack white people and their cars.
While the West Allis police department has made several arrests, one teenager has been charged with attempted robbery and robbery with a hate crime penalty enhancer. The department says the investigation is ongoing. Irrespective of the final results, the prevailing perception among white victims and bystanders alike is that this was a racially-motivated act, and the harm has been done.
Thankfully, the mob scene did not result in any lives being taken. But, it should not have happened. “What can and should be done about it?” should be the question for all of Milwaukee, of which West Allis is a suburb. Furthermore, the black youth were residents of Milwaukee, not West Allis. It should also be noted that racial tensions have been heightened and this is just one of several such incidents to have occurred in the Milwaukee area this summer.
To arrive at and implement meaningful solutions, leaders and citizens alike must be willing to look deep and face some long-standing issues openly and honestly.
First, Milwaukee was just recently designated by the Census Bureau as the most segregated city in America. Yes, Milwaukee is in the number one position ahead of New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has acknowledged that the reason for this designation is rooted in the city’s economic and political history. “We’ve got housing policies, zoning policies, steering that occurs in real estate industry. Historically that offers, and I think there are still some people who don’t want to live with people who have different skin colors than theirs.” (Quote from WITI-TV, Fox6, Milwaukee)
The mayor went on to say that the long history of surrounding suburbs’ opposition to building affordable housing have confined blacks to living in the City of Milwaukee.
That is just for starters. Count the perennial high unemployment rate (often as high as 50 percent among black teens), the high school dropout rates, absentee fathers, and the problems further compound the issues.
But the conditions that feed the racial tension among blacks against whites in Milwaukee and its surrounding suburbs are not unlike the same conditions that plague many other major cities across America.
Racial tensions, racist acts among black and white teens are on the increase. It is very clear.
What is baffling is: Why in the world aren’t more of our leaders and citizens who are in positions of power trying to do something about it, to stop the growing tension, and random acts of violence? Some result in terror; others in murder.
What else will it take?