Derrick Z. Jackson: Milwaukee’s invisible racial cage

[HereSince1628]

Last edited Sun Aug 21, 2016, 07:54 AM - Edit history (1)

...According to UWM’s Center for Economic Development, Milwaukee went from nearly 120,000 manufacturing jobs in 1963 to 27,000 in 2009. Some of the job loss was due to off-shoring, but thousands of others jobs followed white flight to the far suburbs. While Milwaukee lost 28,000 jobs from 1994 to 2009, Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties (known locally as the “WOW” counties) gained 56,000 jobs in office parks, light manufacturing, and retail.

Other rustbelt cities also struggled for years with job losses, of course. Milwaukee, however, became particularly tragic as poverty rates and levels of hyper-segregation soared to among the worst in America. Milwaukee’s woes are now in the national spotlight after the unrest that followed the fatal police shooting of a black man. But one cannot understand the roots of the joblessness, frustration, and anger until you understand how suburban politicians made it impossible for urban residents to find employment in the suburbs.

As many US cities fought congestion and downtown malaise with light-rail, commuter rail, and subway improvements, time stood still in Milwaukee. Efforts in the 1990s to connect Milwaukee to the new economy in the suburbs by light rail were derailed by WOW politicians and business opponents, often using racially coded language. One warned that rail would have a “dramatic effect on our neighborhoods and area residents.” Another spoke ominously of “strangers who are not only a threat to your property but to your children.” Conservative talk radio kept up a drumbeat of opposition. Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson said he wouldn’t spend a nickel of state money on light rail. In the face of all that, there was no chance that public transit could be viewed as an economic bridge-builder. To the contrary, the bridge was burned before it could be built.

Then, of course, there’s Scott Walker. As a state representative representing a Milwaukee suburb, he opposed light rail, calling it “the beast that never seems to die.” As the Milwaukee County executive, he oversaw cuts in local bus service. As governor, he famously rejected $810 million in high-speed rail money from the Obama administration and cut state aid to public transit...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2016/08/17/milwaukee-invisible-racial-cage/iUsRlE048xlEcrFJ6nvRvL/story.html

sorry forgot the link

[dembotoz]

1. jim crow is alive and well and living in beertown

[HereSince1628]

2. Yes, though, unfortunately, it's also alive in WI, well outside of Milwaukee.

[dembotoz]

3. plenty of shame to spread around

i live in a wow county

[cannabis_flower]

4. Sounds familiar

John Culberson has been fighting efforts to expand light rail in Houston. We have finally gotten 4 lines run, although he is still fighting to get rail from downtown to Southwest Houston.

[HereSince1628]

6. Back during and after WWII, Milwaukee suburbs had good interurban service

It mostly disappeared as the private automobile that accompanied suburban expansion became dominant in the 50's and 60's.

[heaven05]

5. insidious

don't these closet david dukes know that we know what's going on with their hate. They just don't care and see the poorAND minorites as expendable. Same thing going on where I live, all R&D and other work in the far suburbs and no public transportation for people lucky enough to be hired. It's a fucking shame we have all these racists in leadership positions voted in by a racist base that walks among us silently smirking inside knowing that they are trying to destroy "those people".

[HereSince1628]

7. One of the striking features of the Milwaukee metro area is limited public transportation

When you've lived elsewhere and come back to Milwaukee it really stands out.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. I bet it is grand

compared to the joke we call public transportation in DFW.

[AwakeAtLast]

8. That could be Indianapolis

Every time mass transit comes up as a way to combat increasing traffic, it does a slow death. My husband's commute time has doubled in three years.