🚀 go-pugleaf

hootnholler <nospam@goaway.com> wrote in message
news:tOvta.2212$JE3.194161@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
> Ya know, I think I'll dumb this down, so y'all in the pointy hats can
> understand...
>
> I have to rant about something that is getting under my skin.  What is the
> general attitude with racism in Milwaukee and surrounding areas?  This is
a
> sincere question... I lived in Michigan for a good part of my life (where
> the KKK has a headquarters, mind you, much less the militia...) and just
> don't get why there is such a hatred towards others here that there is
> missing there.  Yes, racism did exist in Michigan, it's not a eutopia, but
> it's more 'subdued'.  I remember the first thing that struck me as odd
when
> I moved to Milwaukee, when you hold a door open for another person, in
> Michigan, it's a thank you.  Here, you get the look of 'what do you
want!'??
> Wow, I thought common courtesy was a good thing...
>
> Now, before you try to answer, I'll give you some background on myself...
I
> am caucasian, I am middle class and live in a good neighborhood right in
the
> jungle (Milwaukee).  I have 3 children that attend MPS and a brother that
> lives by Booth and North.  I work in the trades, so have quite a few
friends
> that are of different backgrounds (read, african american, latino, asian,
> etc....)  I also have a lot of family that live outside in the 'burbs and
> have lived in Waukesha and West Allis.  I see and feel the hatred, but I
> still don't get what anybody did to me or my family to warrant such
hatred.
> I was born and raised in Milwaukee for the first 10 years of my life, and
> attended Sherman Park elementary and then Townsend street school, so I
won't
> buy the 'I got this anger in school bit...'.  At Townsend, I was one of 3
> white kids in a class of minorities.  Then, we moved to the U.P., where
> there is very rarely a minority for 100's of miles.  Still, not quite the
> racism attitude up there that there is here.  Then, moved to lower
Michigan
> (MSU) and lived by people from Egypt, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Zaire and a
few
> other areas, and still didn't see the racism there.  Now, I move to
> Milwaukee, where opportunity is pretty good and rampant racism.
>
> To be fair, I have asked quite a few of my friends from above on their
take
> of the racism.  Simply,  they don't get it, but they feel angry whenever
> they cross the road and automatic car door locks are hit.  That strikes me
> pretty well, imagine feeling like you are a criminal, for your looks, not
> for your deeds.  To be fair, the person that told me this was one of the
> best neighbors I ever had, African American, God fearing and worked his
butt
> off for him and his family.  Another person I knew had done 20 years for
> bank robbery, did his time, and was trying to keep a job for his family.
I
> asked him why, and he said it was due to not having anything.  Plus, he
> tried the straight and narrow, but figured since I'm being judged
> beforehand, what the hell?  Why not knock off a bank?  Today, he's running
a
> youth center for people in his neighborhood to try and keep them from
doing
> the same mistakes he did.
>
> Lastly, my bro that lives on Booth, he shaves his head during the summer.
> He was walking to the store one day, and a group of elderly gentlemen were
> having a beer on their porch.  As he walked by, they called him a
skinhead,
> etc... and he got pretty irate.  After a few minutes of being berated, he
> walked up to the porch, looked the biggest offender in the eye and said...
> 'I shave my head for the same damned reason you do, it's f***ing hot out
> here....'  After they got over their initial shock, they all had a good
> laugh and my brother ended up having a beer with some new friends in his
> neighborhood.  What's odd, I'm a large person with long hair, and look
> pretty 'redneck'.  I have met these people, and even with my looks, they
> accepted me due to my brother being their friend.  Hmm.. maybe I can learn
> something from that, look past the initial hatred and maybe I'll just find
> that there is some decent people out there... regardless of skin color and
> looks....
>
> Hoot

Consider this, that persons in this area recognize that there is nothing to
gain culturally or biologically from contact with Blacks. This attitude
toward Blacks is worldwide. Could it be that something genetically inherent
in most Europeans and Asians "tells" them to stay away from Blacks?

Dick
>
>