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I grew up in Green Bay, WI and never really had a problem with the blacks there. Seemed like everyone did their own thing. Since I moved here my view on race has totally changed. There are allot of good black people so I'm not a racist. I would totally date a black woman if I met one I really hit it off with. Just drive down Fon Du Lac avenue a few times and you will see why there is a race issue. The other day I saw a black lady throw a full 32 oz McDons soda out the window of her crappy Lexus SUV. I have yet to see any other race do that. They are extremely rude and always trying to run you off the road. Also the service industry is horrible here. I went to Walgreens on MLK drive near Locust and I told the checkout lady to have a nice day and she blew me off. She also mumbled my total etc. Then as I'm walking out I hear her all chipper to the black man behind me.
I'm sure someone will call me racist but black people in Milwaukee just tend to be more "ghetto" than most other places. In a recent news article, some young black boy stole a black womans car at gunpoint because "he had a gun and didnt feel like he needed to drive." He then preceded to shoot her 4 times. We live in america where ANYONE can make it but it seems like someone is telling the black community in Milwaukee that they CANT make it and that they should just give up. For those trying to blame the republicans... Change needs to come from within.
Stop painting an entire group of people with one brush stroke just because we share a complexion. We are not a monolithic community. This assumption irks my soul about the train of thought in Milwaukee.
Black = ghetto, hands down.
I am assuming you mean SOME black people in the Milwaukee metro area that you have come in contact with appear to have "ghetto" tendencies.
Also the service industry is horrible here. I went to Walgreens on MLK drive near Locust and I told the checkout lady to have a nice day and she blew me off. She also mumbled my total etc.
Maybe she could sense that you were a racist jerk?
I was just in tiny white Peshtigo this weekend, and at a gas station, the girl said not a single word of English through a couple "hellos" from us and 2 separate transactions. Just "muh." "Uh." No eye contact, nothing. Finally told her off, because she was openly hostile for no reason (had never seen her before/been in that station in years), but yes, you can get bad customer service anywhere, from any race. You can have the whole rainbow of experiences from a black, white, Asian, whatever, individual.
I grew up in Green Bay, WI and never really had a problem with the blacks there. Seemed like everyone did their own thing. Since I moved here my view on race has totally changed. There are allot of good black people so I'm not a racist. I would totally date a black woman if I met one I really hit it off with. Just drive down Fon Du Lac avenue a few times and you will see why there is a race issue. The other day I saw a black lady throw a full 32 oz McDons soda out the window of her crappy Lexus SUV. I have yet to see any other race do that. They are extremely rude and always trying to run you off the road. Also the service industry is horrible here. I went to Walgreens on MLK drive near Locust and I told the checkout lady to have a nice day and she blew me off. She also mumbled my total etc. Then as I'm walking out I hear her all chipper to the black man behind me.
I'm sure someone will call me racist but black people in Milwaukee just tend to be more "ghetto" than most other places. In a recent news article, some young black boy stole a black womans car at gunpoint because "he had a gun and didnt feel like he needed to drive." He then preceded to shoot her 4 times. We live in america where ANYONE can make it but it seems like someone is telling the black community in Milwaukee that they CANT make it and that they should just give up. For those trying to blame the republicans... Change needs to come from within.
Yeah... all 20 of them.
The rest of your comment is full of the sheltered NE Wisconsin mentality I've been referring to. Welcome to life in an actual city, where not everything is as perfect as your hometown despite all the methy, trailer trashiness that exists there... which calls into question why you're able to tolerate one and not the other if you're totally not racist, as you claim.
If you think anyone is trying to "have a perfect integrated everyone walking hand-in-hand picture," then I really don't think you get it.
Milwaukee's violent crime rate is 1 in 100, or a 99% chance that you WON'T become a victim of violent crime in Milwaukee in any given year. Add to it, most of that crime happens in the same handful of neighborhoods west of the freeway that suburbanites would never go to anyway.
And yet, how often do we hear suburbanites say they don't go to Milwaukee... not even downtown... because they don't feel "safe?" Why do you suppose that is?
Personally, I think having to see large numbers of black and brown people out and about makes a lot more white suburbanites think of crime than we're willing to admit... and that's not okay.
That's what it sounds like to me--everyone integrated and happy about it. Forget the freedom of choice that maybe you don't want to hang around people that aren't into the same things as you--no matter what their race, religion, creed, or culture.
Why? Because it's their choice. They don't want to try to understand, and that's their choice. Sure, it's ignorant on some levels, but imo so is everyone that goes to a 10min oil change place to get their oil changed. Is everyone ignorant and stupid because they don't know that the oil drain plug and filter have torque specs that the 99% of the time the dealership doesn't even follow, and this can lead to catastrophic engine failure if the drain plug or filter leaks? I'm not going to make that statement or push my belief on everyone else--it's people's choice to live how they want to. Ignorance is bliss for some.
Why is that not okay? Because it's a stereotype? Check this out--I'm brown and I associate darker skin with crime. Why? Not because of some sort of ingrained racial upbringing, but because of life experience--getting cars damaged by Mexicans, physical confrontations with black people, and other assorted encounters. True that there's no reason to paint everyone with a broad brush, but there's also no reason to put myself in those type of situations again just to be labelled 'open-minded'. Forget that. My personal safety and that of my family come first. Why is it that crime increases in neighborhoods that are non-white? I don't know why, but it's a statistical fact and I don't want to be a statistic. I think the 'suburban whites' you refer to may be thinking the same way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoomkay
I am assuming you mean SOME black people in the Milwaukee metro area that you have come in contact with appear to have "ghetto" tendencies.
That's what I was assuming as well. That's too blanket of a statement to be taken at face value.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheese plate
Maybe she could sense that you were a racist jerk?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MKEastsider
...where not everything is as perfect as your hometown despite all the methy, trailer trashiness that exists there... which calls into question why you're able to tolerate one and not the other if you're totally not racist, as you claim.
Wow. In a thread preaching tolerance, the judgements fly.
It's this type of mentality that is the foundation of prejudice, which in turn is the foundation for racism. Just keep that in mind.
The rest of your comment is full of the sheltered NE Wisconsin mentality I've been referring to. Welcome to life in an actual city, where not everything is as perfect as your hometown despite all the methy, trailer trashiness that exists there... which calls into question why you're able to tolerate one and not the other if you're totally not racist, as you claim.
You are just as predjudiced vs people from outside the city of Milwaukee as you claim they are vs the city. It's really quite ridiculous.
When I lived in Green Bay, my next door neighbor was black. I went to hip hop (Thursday) nights at the Main Stage, where black dudes battled, and we were the only white guys in the joint. I used to go to Nick Barnett's bar, which was where a lot of GB blacks hung out.
Now, the town of GB wasn't too kind to Nick's club (busted it until it wasn't worth keeping it open anymore) or hip hop night (bouncer was shot one night, town closed the bar). But hell, they were just as bad regarding white kids trying to have club and basement shows (busted heads to the point of hospitalization just for having a show). Regardless, there is in fact a black community, and a Hmong community, and a tight/historical Mexican community in Green Bay. I don't think people who live on the near east side or other mixed neighborhoods are particularly "sheltered" when it comes to people of color. You, however, seem pretty sheltered when it comes to actual knowledge of anywhere 15 minutes outside Milwaukee city hall.
Also, most GB blacks are from Milwaukee or Chicago and carry themselves in a similar way. I don't think MKE blacks are in any way "more ghetto" than GB blacks. Then again, if "manbearpig" actually did grow up in GB and hasn't been there in decades, the composition of the city has changed quite a bit since then.
Wow. In a thread preaching tolerance, the judgements fly.
It's this type of mentality that is the foundation of prejudice, which in turn is the foundation for racism. Just keep that in mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheese plate
You are just as predjudiced vs people from outside the city of Milwaukee as you claim they are vs the city. It's really quite ridiculous.
When I lived in Green Bay, my next door neighbor was black. I went to hip hop (Thursday) nights at the Main Stage, where black dudes battled, and we were the only white guys in the joint. I used to go to Nick Barnett's bar, which was where a lot of GB blacks hung out.
Now, the town of GB wasn't too kind to Nick's club (busted it until it wasn't worth keeping it open anymore) or hip hop night (bouncer was shot one night, town closed the bar). But hell, they were just as bad regarding white kids trying to have club and basement shows (busted heads to the point of hospitalization just for having a show). Regardless, there is in fact a black community, and a Hmong community, and a tight/historical Mexican community in Green Bay. I don't think people who live on the near east side or other mixed neighborhoods are particularly "sheltered" when it comes to people of color. You, however, seem pretty sheltered when it comes to actual knowledge of anywhere 15 minutes outside Milwaukee city hall.
Actually, I attended Lombardi Middle School in Green Bay and finished my last two years of high school at Green Bay Southwest. I also still have family there, including my mother, who has lived in Green Bay for the past 20 years.
Was I being unnecessarily brutal on Green Bay? Perhaps. But that's only because I've experienced the town first hand and resent how quickly GB natives are to s#it on MKE knowing damn well they have no shortage of their own problems and no room to talk.
That's what it sounds like to me--everyone integrated and happy about it.
And, again, I reiterate... you either don't comprehend, or simply do not get it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SamirD
Forget the freedom of choice that maybe you don't want to hang around people that aren't into the same things as you--no matter what their race, religion, creed, or culture.
Why? Because it's their choice. They don't want to try to understand, and that's their choice. Sure, it's ignorant on some levels, but imo so is everyone that goes to a 10min oil change place to get their oil changed. Is everyone ignorant and stupid because they don't know that the oil drain plug and filter have torque specs that the 99% of the time the dealership doesn't even follow, and this can lead to catastrophic engine failure if the drain plug or filter leaks? I'm not going to make that statement or push my belief on everyone else--it's people's choice to live how they want to. Ignorance is bliss for some.
Why is that not okay? Because it's a stereotype? Check this out--I'm brown and I associate darker skin with crime. Why? Not because of some sort of ingrained racial upbringing, but because of life experience--getting cars damaged by Mexicans, physical confrontations with black people, and other assorted encounters. True that there's no reason to paint everyone with a broad brush, but there's also no reason to put myself in those type of situations again just to be labelled 'open-minded'. Forget that. My personal safety and that of my family come first. Why is it that crime increases in neighborhoods that are non-white? I don't know why, but it's a statistical fact and I don't want to be a statistic. I think the 'suburban whites' you refer to may be thinking the same way.
That's what I was assuming as well. That's too blanket of a statement to be taken at face value.
I can accept that no one is perfect...we all have our prejudices. I can even accept that some choose to be ignorant, and lead sheltered and insular lives.
However, YOUR ignorance and YOUR prejudices are YOUR problem and no one elses. Should you try to make them a problem for other people... as white suburbanites frequently do... that's where I take issue.
I, personally, don't particularly care for "ghetto" people. But I also like the cool, creative, and non-conformist atmospheres you can usually only find in bigger cities. So instead of moving to some stuffy suburb or middle of nowhere backwater, I do what any reasonable human being should do and learn how to navigate that cultural difference when I do have to face it... which usually amounts to little more than treating them as respectfully as I would anyone else.
And you know what? That's lead to me having some pretty interesting interactions that I never would have had otherwise, and I've actually learned a thing or two from them.
Not sure why this is so hard for people to understand.
I'm not sure why people think all the convenience and amenities that come with city living wouldn't have some price tags, be it actual costs or crime/attitude/whatever. You weigh everything and make a choice. We all do. But once someone is living somewhere, they do everything they can to self-justify. People who live in Riverwest laugh at all the "hicks" and "idiots" who live "nowhere." How could anyone live where there's nothing to do? People in the sticks laugh at the "idiots" who have to watch out for crime around every corner. How could they live like that, when there are nice little towns all over the state they could choose to live in for cheaper with an actual yard?
The deal is, there are attractive features and not-so-attractive features to literally everywhere you could choose to live. Nothing is a slam dunk. I like all the stuff I can do in Milwaukee. I like that there's an air of creativity. I don't like the grime. Or the crime. Or everyone packed together like sardines. I just don't understand why everyone has to paint everything with such a broad brush. Why can't some of you admit that crime is a concern and a hassle - it's a negative in terms of Milwaukee or any large city. And why can't others admit that walking a couple blocks to a diner that's open 24/7 when you can't sleep at 4AM is pretty sweet? Or walking down the road to a block parties that actually have good bands from all over the world? Or eating Mexican food...prepared by Mexicans? Or coming into contact with people from around the world, of different ethnicities, every day and learning from it? Take advantage of what you have, wherever that may be; appreciate it. But don't be blind to reality.
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