We all know about the disgusting invasion by the white supremacist kid (because that's what he is, a legal adult but just 18) in a Buffalo supermarket. This is an outrageous violation with clear racial portent. We shake our heads in near despair.
I've got another place with what should be similar reactions, but for different reasons: Milwaukee, where I live. But nobody's stating what's really going on, because we're too 'woke' to face it and besides, any mention of the reality will bring down accusations of racism. Maybe.
But somebody has to say it: Just a couple of miles from my residence, for a considerable amount of time but it's in acceleration now, black people are shooting other black people at staggering rates.
This is in tandem with a new emergence of black leadership in the city. The new mayor is black. The chief of police is black. The county sheriff is black. I do not envy them one whit. But, besides the clear problem, this must embarrass them considerably.
None of them are stating the obvious yet. Nobody's calling out their own race as the major perpetrators of unprecedented violence, one assault at a time, just east of the Milwaukee River. Shootings in the normally black neighborhoods of the northwest side have accelerated, too.
We have learned to compartmentalize those violent acts. Nobody else goes there who needs to do business in the city. Nobody else shops there, goes to the park, goes to church. Yes, that means de facto segregation that is thorough and unyielding. But safe is still the number one word in livability.
Water Street, though? Water Street used to be a thriving center of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs in the downtown Milwaukee area, just north of the entertainment district (PAC, etc.). It absolutely jumped on Friday nights. With some wisdom, the Milwaukee Bucks decided to build yet another major arena, the FiServ Forum, just north of the Bradley Center, which used to host the team. From Water Street,
it's a simple walk to the Forum.
Last year's team surged at just the right time and won the NBA championship, the first for such a small professional sports market in 50 years. The night of the clinching of the title, though, there were a few shots fired in what's become known as the Deer District, an open-air courtyard in front of the arena, which has clandestinely become a gathering place for those without the money to pay for the tickets one needs to actually see the team, which increase upon the challenge of the competition (if you've looked at the website).
Of course, this event served to spoil the celebration to a degree. And there had been shootings near there before that point. They seemed to be few and far between, though.
No more. Twenty people--twenty--were shot in the Deer District Friday night after the overflow throng watched the Bucks on the enormous TV screens brought out for that purpose. That no one, apparently, died is downright amazing. A nice place for an enthusiastic gathering of genuine sports fans, though, has become a dangerous snakepit.
Because black people have been shooting other black people here in increasing numbers. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it here. But I've yet to see reports of white people shooting black people on purpose, and/or the other way around. It's a very big stain on blacks' reputations and it's becoming a very big barrier to diversity in a city that needs it very badly.
You can't call it a hate crime. But it's loaded with all kinds of hate. And, perhaps, fantasy, about whether nothing can happen to someone who has a gun.
Somebody, preferably black, needs to step forward and admonish the perpetrators in an official way, someone with a little gravitas. Jesse Jackson's pretty old. Cory Booker? Kamala Harris? The present, local officeholders are hesitant for obvious reasons. Someone has to start this ball rolling.
I know this sounds horribly racist. I don't see it that way, though (and no, I didn't vote for Bob Donovan for mayor. OMG.). It's a hard look at the realism of the phenomenon. I'll say it again: Prove it to be otherwise, and I'll write an apology here. I don't relish the thought of this, nor have I been lying in wait for the opportunity. I kind of sound like Tucker Carlson, perish the thought, though I'm not a fan of 'replacement theory' and never will be.
But this is another way, too, in which lax gun laws come back to haunt. Constitutional libertarianism has a bottomless pit of accountability. Nobody needs, or seems, to be responsible for anything. Nothing can be prevented until it happens. In both big and small ways, it's way too late for Milwaukee. And those lax laws were passed by primarily white people in the state legislature, filled with brainwashed Republicans who simply don't care.
The Bucks play in Boston in a crucial seventh game to decide advancement this afternoon, and the team has called off the Deer District gathering. It would be well advised to close it until further notice.
Alex Lazry, owner of the Bucks, who's running a decent campaign for governor of the state, has an ad bragging about how 80% of the materials for the Forum were acquired within the U.S. I'll bet he'll remove that now. Attachment to what's gone down there has to be removed ASAP. He can't brag about that anymore.
If this isn't guaranteed to stop, people will, like me, shy away from that part of the city. Millions of dollars in business will drift away. The major local news organizations have not yet done any deep analysis of this blight on our city. They would be well advised to. Water Street has been a cash cow for decades. If it dries up, it will join other efforts to stimulate businesses and create another place to avoid, if it already hasn't.
I live in a part of the city where that stuff hasn't happened. Yet. But nothing's untouchable anywhere. Someone can simply get in a car, bring in a weapon, and open up somewhere nearby, much like the lout in Buffalo. I rue that day. In the meantime, I'm sorry to say, Water Street might as well be Russia.
Be well. Be careful. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment