RaceRelations' Blog

For all the progress America has made in race relations, there is still one area where black is black, and white is white: church on Sunday.

Tonight, in our continuing series on racial issues in Milwaukee, FOX 6's Joanne Williams takes a look at the most "segregated hour" in America.

 What are your thoughts?
 

Police officers these days go through weeks of training to get them prepared for what they will encounter on the streets. One of the most difficult parts of that training -- understanding and learning to deal with people different from themselves.

Police departments now require diversity training for new recruits. Those recruits are told to "erase that tape" that has been recorded in their life -- the tape that makes them react a certain way to certain people.

Do you think police officers are doing enough to understand the people for whom they work? If not, what do you think they could be doing better to be more effective in the community?

What's in a word? The way journalists talk about race seems to have evolved over the years. The days of calling an  African-American a Negro are long gone. If you heard that on the local news, you might get offended or even call the station.

However, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when being black was not bad. Now, that has been mostly replaced by African-American. But crime is the bread and butter of broadcast news.

Many times you hear criminal descriptions. Many of these characteristics you might see in the news may describe a large section of the population. Are we doing a service by putting these kinds of suspect identifiers on the air?

Journalists have come a long way from past reporting of African-American, Asian-American, and Latino-American issues. But do you think we've come far enough? Do you think journalism helps to perpetuate this nature of discrimination and segregation seen in Milwaukee?

Let's start the debate over journalism and race here.

A recent BET.com research project determined the three best and worst cities for Black Americans.  Here are the three best (in order): Charlotte, NC; Columbus, OH; and Washington, D.C.

 

However, the three worst cities is something that affects us locally. Here they are as rated by BET.com (in order from most worst): Cleveland, OH; Detroit, MI; and Milwaukee.

 

There we are in the third worst position. Over and over again we hear about Milwaukee's race relations woes. On the news, you hear about the violence in the inner city. You see blacks as suspects in crimes more so than as heroes in their community.

 

Is Milwaukee the third worst city for African Americans? Do you think this accurately represents the city of Milwaukee and its suburbs?

 

Let's start the discussion here and talk about your thoughts, comments, and experiences as we continue to look at race in the area.

 

It's the purple elephant in Milwaukee's skyline. The taboo topic that few feel comfortable talking about. The source of so much misunderstanding -- race relations in the Cream City.

FOX 6 is starting a series of stories on race -- what's working, what doesn't and what needs to change. And soon, we want to start a conversation about a topic that's sometimes hard to talk about.

What do you think needs to be done to improve what has long been Milwaukee's Achilles’ heel?