Painting by Winold Reiss - National Portrait Gallery - npg.si.edu
Langston Hughes portrait
Langston Hughes
2020 saw the largest percentage increase in homicides in American history. Murder was up nearly 37% in large and medium-size cities with a 95% rise in Milwaukee. At least 2,000 more Americans, most of them Black, were killed in 2020 than in 2019. In Milwaukee, some government officials and political leaders attribute the blame for violence to COVID isolation, the closing of schools and businesses. There is no documented proof for these assertions. When we face a crisis, it is human nature to want to blame something, somebody, some group, some statistic.
For many years, the central city’s infrastructure has been in decline. When living and economic conditions get worse, poverty, fear and lawlessness increase. Accusations fly, and words can incite and even lead to violence. But statistics do not account for the law-abiding residents who live in troubled neighborhoods and suffer through criminal activity, domestic violence and gang culture. Those voices rarely get heard. If you are white, suburban or rural, think about your own safe neighborhood. Then, put yourself in the neighborhood in the segregated zip code 53206. It is an aquarium atmosphere of confinement, even danger.
I’ve covered Milwaukee’s central city for a while, speaking with residents, people on the streets, beat cops, even drug dealers and gang members. Milwaukee newspapers, TV news and Public Radio consistently show support for Black Lives Matter but they rarely cover the daily lives of residents. The government representatives who serve these districts certainly show empathy yet still struggle to explain the bad conditions or where to attribute blame.
Making A Difference
Who is trying to make a difference? I can name a few, some I’ve gotten to know.
Since 1980, Victor Barnett has headed Running Rebels, which is dedicated to helping inner city youth grow into responsible adults. Last year, Running Rebels worked with 3,000 young people from seven Milwaukee Public Schools. The staff does preventive work, interventions, and on the ground community engagement.
Then, there is Vaun Mayes, perhaps the most well-known Black activist in the central city. In 2012, Mayes started Program the Parks to help teens in his area de-escalate their conflicts in Sherman Park. His organization, Community Task Force Milwaukee, now provides meals, activities, and guidance to teens growing up on the streets and often without direction. Mayes is often the first on the scene of those in need.
Tory Lowe is a one-man show, and his performance is about helping the victims of domestic violence. For over 10 years, Tory has been tireless in his task. He told me, “The inner city residents want safety, want a better education, want to live a good life. I handle maybe 80% of the victims’ families, try to help them.”
Why are these leaders making progress? Because they come from the central city, grew up there, cover the streets, understand the culture, and are highly respected by residents. They all agree on the underlying feeling of hopelessness that pervades some neighborhoods. Hopelessness leads to anger which can lead to violence.
Inherited Prejudices
Colum McCann, who writes about these issues in his literary fiction, said, “People ask why so much lawbreaking, crime, and dysfunction in the inner cities? Because of shame, anger, humiliation, frustration, loss of pride.” He could be talking about Milwaukee’s isolated Black people whose lives feel pinched and anxious.
In his seminal book, On the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau, the great 18th century French philosopher, wrote, “Prejudices are inherited and learned attitudes that make social norms seem normal.” Rousseau’s mission was to expose the unreconciled conflicts that make human life so difficult.
Which brings me to racism or systemic racism, the current phrase in the news. Systemic racism means the unfair practices, policies and procedures of institutions and corporations that produce inequitable outcomes for Black people. These include expressions of discrimination, stereotyping, or ignorance. Forging a coherent society out of people who are different in their origins is a large project. Yet America’s capacity for absorption is exceptional. How can we Americans assimilate into a range of standard values, behaviors, aspirations, ambitions? We cannot imagine the harm we are doing by not listening to one another. We have built walls in our minds. We build up guilt or disappointment that nothing ever happens, that humans are flawed and selfish. Is it possible to feel responsible for each other’s ethnic people?
To get past our implicit biases, we might try to speak openly about them. Talk to folks from different social, racial and ethnic groups. Uncomfortable conversations help address prejudices and even overcome fears. Here is a profound poem by the renowned Black writer Langston Hughes:
I live on a park bench
You, Park Avenue
Hell of a distance
Between us two.
For many white residents in suburbia and the downtown condos, may I suggest you sit down on the park bench now and then. At first, it may seem uncomfortable, but if you sit with discomfort, you are making progress.
