RANKS AS CONSISTENTLY POORLY
ACROSS THE BOARD ON INDICATORS
OF BLACK COMMUNICATION COMMUNITY, AS DOES
MILWAUKEE.
THAT QUOTE FROM THE CENTER FOR
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OUT OF
UW-MILWAUKEE, WHICH COMPARED
BLACK COMMUNITIES IN THE
NATION'S 50 LARGEST METRO AREAS.
THIS REPORT COMES AT A TIME OF
NATIONAL RECKONING ABOUT RACIAL
INJUSTICE, WHEN DATA CAN DRIVE
CHANGE.
FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER
AND PROFESSOR EMERITUS MARC
LEVINE JOINED US LATE THIS WEEK
FROM MILWAUKEE.
PROFESSOR LEVINE, THANK YOU VERY
MUCH FOR JOINING US.
>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> WELL, SO EVERY METRIC YOU
LOOKED AT SAW MILWAUKEE REALLY
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PACK FOR
BLACK PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING,
INCLUDING THESE: STILL THE
NATION'S MOST SEGREGATED CITY.
BLACK POVERTY THE HIGHEST AMONG
50 METROS.
WORST RACIAL DISPARITY OF WORKER
EARNINGS.
MOST BLACK SCHOOL CHILDREN IN
HYPER SEGREGATED SCHOOLS.
AND THIRD NATIONALLY FOR PRISON
INCARCERATION RATES FOR BLACK
MEN.
YOU SAY THAT MILWAUKEE, QUOTE,
REPRESENTS THE ARCHETYPE OF
MODERN DAY METROPOLITAN RACIAL
APARTHEID AND INEQUALITY.
AND YET WHY DO WE NEED YET
ANOTHER STUDY TELLING US THIS?
>> I THINK THE UTILITY OF DOING
A STUDY LIKE THIS IS TO GET THE
FULL SCOPE OF THE EXTENT OF
RACIAL INEQUALITY IN MILWAUKEE
AND INDEED ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
THE BENCHMARK WHERE WE STAND.
TO SEE ALSO WHETHER THINGS HAVE
GOTTEN BETTER IN CERTAIN AREAS.
SO WHAT THIS STUDY DID WHAT NOT
ONLY BENCHMARK MILWAUKEE AGAINST
THE LARGEST 50 METROPOLITAN
AREAS IN THE COUNTRY ON A WHOLE
SERIES OF INDICATORS, AS YOU
MENTIONED, OF RACIAL INEQUALITY,
BUT ALSO TO SEE HOW THINGS HAVE
EVOLVED ON MANY OF THOSE
INDICATORS OVER THE PAST 40 AND
50 YEARS, WHEREVER WE COULD GET
THE DATA TO LOOK AT THAT.
AND I THINK THE MOST DISTRESSING
AND THE DEVASTATING PART OF THE
STUDY WAS NOT ONLY TO SEE HOW
CONSISTENTLY ACROSS THE BOARD
MILWAUKEE RANKED TOWARD THE
BOTTOM, EITHER LAST OR NEXT TO
LAST ON A SLEW OF INDICATORS AND
IN THE BOTTOM TEN ON VIRTUALLY
ALL OF THEM, BUT ON HOW MANY OF
THOSE INDICATORS THINGS ARE DEM
DEMONSTRATABLY WORST THAN THEY
WERE 40 YEARS AGO.
HOUSEHOLD INCOME, SORT OF A KEY
METRIC ON THE WELL-BEING OF THE
COMMUNITY.
BLACK HOUSEHOLD INCOME, MEDIAN
INCOME, THAT IS, FROM THE MIDDLE
OF THE DISTRIBUTION, FOR BLACK
HOUSEHOLDS IN MILWAUKEE HAS
FALLEN BY 30% WHEN WE ADJUST FOR
INFLATION OVER THE LAST 40
YEARS, SINCE 1979.
THAT'S THE LARGEST DECREASE IN
THE COUNTRY.
BUT MORE TO THE POINT, JUST
LOOKING AT IT WITHOUT EVEN
LOOKING IN COMPARATIVE TERMS,
JUST LOOKING AT A BLACK
HOUSEHOLD AND SAY YOU'RE 30%
POORER THAN YOU WERE 40 YEARS
AGO AND YOU WEREN'T ALL THAT
RICH 0 YEARS
RICH 40 YEARS AGO.
THAT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY
STATEMENT AND THESE OTHER
INDICATORS FEED OFF OF THAT BAD
RESULT.
>> IN FACT, THAT'S WHAT I WAS
GOING TO ASK YOU.
ALL OF THE OTHER INDICATORS AND
METRICS THAT YOU MEASURED FEED
INTO THAT INCOME DISPARITY.
>> I THINK SO.
I THINK THAT'S THE KEY ISSUE,
THAT WE'VE GOT THE MOST
IMPOVERISHED AFRICAN-AMERICAN
COMMUNITY IN THE COUNTRY AND
IT'S A COMMUNITY THAT HAS BECOME
INCREASINGLY IMPOVERISHED.
IT I THINK HAD SOMEWHAT OF AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE 1990s WITH
THE GREAT ECONOMIC BOOM DURING
THAT ERA.
THE RECESSION OF 2010 WIPED ALL
THAT OUT.
AND, SADLY, SINCE THE RECESSION,
REAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME HAS
CONTINUED TO DECLINE FOR BLACKS
IN MILWAUKEE AND THE DATA THAT'S
IN THIS STUDY IS BEFORE THE
COVID DEPRESSION.
SO IMAGINE HOW BAD THINGS ARE
STARTING TO LOOK NOW IN 2020.
>> IT'S DEVASTATING, AS YOU SAY.
BUT WHAT IS YOUR KIND OF CLARION
CALL TO POLICYMAKERS.
INDEED, WISCONSIN REALLY AS A
WHOLE, AS TO WHAT SHOULD BE
DONE.
>> I THINK FOR MANY YEARS,
FRANKLY, AS YOU POINT OUT, THERE
HAVE BEEN STUDY AFTER STUDY, MY
CENTER, OTHER CENTERS HAVE DONE
MANY STUDIES ON THESE ISSUES.
BUT THERE HAS BEEN -- FOLKS
MIGHT DENY IT, BUT THERE HAS
BEEN A KIND OF DENIAL ABOUT THIS
IN POLICY-MAKING CIRCLES, EITHER
SAYING THE NUMBERS AREN'T THAT
BAD OR THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER
OR EVERY PLACE IS HAVING THESE
DIFFICULTIES.
THERE'S NOTHING UNIQUE ABOUT
HERE.
IN FACT, THERE ARE THINGS UNIQUE
ABOUT MILWAUKEE IN THE DEPTH OF
THESE PROBLEMS.
AND SO I THINK, I HOPE NOW THAT
WE'RE BEYOND THAT DENIAL, THAT
POLICYMAKERS UNDERSTAND THAT WE
NEED TO CHANGE THINGS, I THINK
THE MOBILIZATION OF THE BLACK
LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT HAS
CERTAINLY BROUGHT THOSE ISSUES
TO THE FOREFRONT AND I THINK WE
NEED TO THINK VERY CLEARLY ABOUT
I THINK I REFER TO IT IN THE
STUDY A PHRASE THAT I BORROWED
CALLED "REWRITING THE RACIAL
RULES OF THE COMMUNITY," THOSE
PUBLIC POLICIES THAT CONTINUE TO
PROMOTE RACIAL INJUSTICE IN THE
COMMUNITY.
AND THAT GOES BEYOND SIMPLY
THINGS THAT WE CAN ALL POINT TO,
ENDING DISCRIMINATION IN
HOUSING, ENDING DISCRIMINATION
IN EMPLOYMENT, IMPROVING,
OBVIOUSLY, POLICE PRACTICES.
BUT EVEN THE LARGER PICTURE OF WE DO ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT.
MY FRIENDS AT THE CENTER FOR
WISCONSIN STRATEGY HAVE TALKED
ABOUT THE STATE APPROACHING THE
LOW ROAD TO ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT.
THAT MEANS LOW WAGES.
IT MEANS NOT PARTICULARLY
HELPFUL POLICIES FOR WORKERS TO
ORGANIZE FOR BETTER WAGES.
AND THEN YOU SEE BLACK EARNINGS
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCALE, AS
THEY ARE TODAY, AND THAT
TRANSLATES THEN INTO LOW INCOMES
AND TRANSLATES INTO HIGH POVERTY
RATES.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO RETHINK
THAT LOW ROAD AS WELL IN THE
GENERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SENSE AND PURSUE WHAT FOLKS CALL
THE HIGH ROAD STRATEGY, WHICH
MEANS RAISING PEOPLE'S WAGES AND
CREATING BETTER JOBS.
>> WITH LESS THAN A MINUTE LEFT
HERE, AS YOU SAY, WITH THIS
BLACK LIVES MATTER MOBILIZATION,
IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME TO REWRITE
A BOLD SET OF THESE INCLUSIONARY
RULES?
IS THE TIME NOW?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
I REFER TO A LOT OF THESE TRENDS
IN THE STUDY AS HAVING BEEN A
STEALTH DEPRESSION IN BLACK
MILWAUKEE, SOMETHING THAT WAS
ALWAYS THERE, BUT IT WAS
STEALTH.
WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT.
I THINK IT'S PRETTY CLEAR EVEN
WITHOUT THIS STUDY, BUT I THINK
THIS STUDY MAKES IT CRYSTAL
CLEAR, THAT WE'RE NOW IN AN
UNSTEALTH DEPRESSION.
IT'S FRONT AND CENTER.
WE SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE.
AND I THINK, YES, WE NEED TO
EMBARK UPON BOLD DESEGREGATION
STRATEGIES, ANTIDISCRIMINATION
STRATEGIES AND PROMOTE GREATER
ECONOMIC EQUALITY BETWEEN RACIAL
GROUPS.
>> WE LEAVE IT THERE.
PROFESSOR MARC