Blog #5

Milwaukee has been called one of the most segregated cities in the nation and the “Selma of the North” because of its extreme divisions based on race. I am from California so I was really surprised when I got here to see so many divisions. I had never really thought about race and schooling at this point. When I was preparing for going to my service learning I went to Windlake Elementary, I asked a person who is from Milwaukee about directions on how to get there and about the busses since it has been a while since I used a bus (in California there is virtually no public transportation). She said to be careful since that part of town was the “Mexican ghetto”. This remark really surprised me, I haven’t really seen race this divided in California. A lot probably has to do with my upbringing as being very inclusive and diverse with many of our family friends being of different races and my girlfriend being Cambodian.

The second shocker that I faced was the forum on housing for my action hour paper. I never realized how segregated this city is and how the policies of the city and unwritten rules affect people of color that live in Milwaukee. The Fair Housing Council of Wisconsin played a few phone calls with blatant racism where the realtor specifically said that a African American person could not purchase a home. I could not believe that racism like this could still exist in our society.

These racial divisions probably have a large effect on how the students at Windlake view their community. I think that many of them feel trapped by where they live and their race. This is why the school encourages them to think about college from such an early age and to set their goals high. In Warriors don’t Cry Melba felt a lot of desperation from how she was born.  Other students like her must have had so many high goals that they wanted to achieve but had no real way of getting there because of their race. I have always thought that it isn’t fair to categorize people on something that they can’t control and to give everyone a chance to prove themselves. As a nation we need to focus on making sure that everyone feels comfortable at school and has an equal opportunity to succeed.