It's Time to Fish or Cut Bait in America

Whether or not we finally see structural change on these important issues in America depends on the individual actions we take now.
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If all we do in support of efforts to reduce racial and economic injustice in America is attend a march or two, or put a Black Lives Matter sign on our lawn, then we may as well just say we are offering up our thoughts and prayers.

The time for thoughts and prayers is over.  What is needed are concrete actions to support structural change on a myriad of issues.  Here are some examples:

The public schools in Milwaukee are some of the most hyper segregated in the nation.  In response to the times and in a hope to revisit the issue, the Milwaukee Public School Board recently adopted a resolution supporting the call for renewed conversations on a regional approach to school desegregation.  If you live within the four county region of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties and your children or grandchildren attend a suburban – mostly white – relatively affluent school, then I hope you will actively support this call for an equitable and regional school strategy.  If you can’t see your way to working hard so that children of color can go to the same schools as your loved ones,  then I guess we can thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

A Tsunami of racial injustice is about to break over us and we are ill prepared for its aftermath.  In Milwaukee and across the United States, hundreds of thousands of renters – many of whom are people of color – will be kicked out of their homes as the moratoriums on evictions during the COVIC pandemic expire.  Already the Milwaukee daily newspaper is reporting a 26% increase in evictions in June, and it is only going to get worse.

The number of growing evictions shouldn’t be a surprise, given that we have over 40 million people unemployed across the county due to business closings in response to the COVID pandemic.  It is important to understand that single moms who are also women of color are most at risk of eviction, according to the Princeton University Eviction Lab.

Supporting another round of COVID Relief funding from the federal government and extending the ban on evictions while the pandemic wreaks havoc across the nation are direly needed to avert this crisis.  But make no mistake, these are band aid solutions meant only to stop the bleeding.  The structural solutions to these issues are an increase in the number of affordable housing units and an increase in income via raising the minimum wage and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  

If you live in a Milwaukee suburban community, are you willing to actively support the creation of affordable housing units in your community so more low income and low income people of color can live next to you and enjoy the same quality of life as do you and your family?  Are you willing to advocate for an increase in taxes on corporations and on the wealthy in order to raise the minimum wage and expand the EITC? 

You may feel like this essay is picking on suburban dwellers, and in a way I am.  As I see it, we live in one of the most racially and economically segregated regions in the nation and anyone who isn’t working for an equitable distribution of income and opportunity is contributing to the continuance of that segregation.

Consider these numbers.  In the four county region there are slightly less than 250,000 people living in poverty, representing about 16% of the metro population.  Of that quarter-million poor people, a full 72% are packed into the city of Milwaukee. 

What if those quarter-million people were equally distributed across the metro area? What would happen if 16% of the population in every community in the region were people living below poverty? 

If that were the case, Waukesha county would see an increase of 39,000 low income residents.  If you live in Waukesha county, are you willing to fund the creation of affordable housing enough to support 39,000 more low income people?  And are you willing to support thousands of low income (and low income children of color) attending your schools?  Are you willing to embrace low income families and invite them to compete with your children and loved ones for jobs in your local community? (Jobs they can’t access now because they live in Milwaukee and don’t have transportation to your community). And if you live in Washington or Ozaukee counties, are you willing to support thousands more low income and low income people of color in your community?

On the question of racial and economic segregation in America, it is time to fish or cut bait.  Either you want people of color living next to you or you don’t.  Either you want children of color in your kids’ schools or you don’t.  Either you want your taxes increased to support equitable distribution of income or you don’t.  And the list goes on.

Whether or not we finally see structural change on these important issues in America depends on the individual actions we take now.  It’s up to you.  Fish or cut bait.