Blacks & Whites in the Midwest = Widest Gap of Any Two Racial Groups in the US

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Apr 25, 2002
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#1
This is off topic, but when I saw that "Don't Come to the D" post and how that blew up, I figured this was OK b/c most of you all are from the Midwest, some of you all are black, and all of you all atleast have an interest in black people in the midwest (if you are on a midwest rap music message board).

I just finished up a Senior Project at school that is trying to quantify how well racial groups are off relative to the white population in all 277 metro areas of the US. I created an index equally weighing several variables (income ratios, poverty ratios, suburbanization ratios, segregation indexes, HS segree ratios, college degree ratios and unemployment ratios). So by ratio, I mean if the median black income in KC is $30,000 and the median white income in KC is $50,000, then the ratio for KC will be 0.60 (the midwest city of Milwaukee actually has the nation's widest gap, with a ratio of 0.49).

So after equally weighing each of these 7 variables and calculating the overall Separation Value for each racial group in each city, I aggregated the results at the Regional Level. Bear in mind this is only for the 277 metro areas in the US, so very remote rural areas i.e. Indian reservations are not a part of this study. The results are as follows, the higher the number, the wider the separation between those two racial groups in those 7 variables:

1) Black - White : Midwest (60.11 separation value)
2) Hispanic - White : East (56.60 separation value)
3) Black - White : East (55.20)
4) Black - White : South (50.39)
5) Hispanic - White : West (49.22)
6) Native American - White : East (47.88)
7) Hispanic - White : Midwest (43.56)
8) Black - White : West (43.45)
9) Hispanic - White : South (42.01)
10) Native American - White : Midwest (42.01)
11) Native American - White : West (40.98)
12) Native American - Whtie : South (32.69)
13) Asian - White : West (15.67)
14) Asian - White : East (13.90)
15) Asian - White : South (7.14)
16) Asian - White : Midwest (-1.39) meaning Asians actually have it better than whites in the Midwest

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN???? IT MEANS THAT NOBODY DESERVES TO RAP ABOUT BEING ON THE BOTTOM AS MUCH AS BROTHERS IN THE MIDWEST
 
Mar 29, 2005
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#2
I see what you have done and I like that you expressed the numbers in an educational matter, however...making excuses based on the color of your skin is problem number one. Go out there and make it in the world. Just because you begin in an unfortunate situation does not mean you and your family needs to be stuck in it for generation upon generation. The numbers you have given are interesting, but that is it. Go out there and make it no matter what skin color you are!
 

dawun

Sicc OG
Oct 10, 2002
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#3
good research, i can tell you from livin in the midwest and now the south, white people in the midwest KC area especially are some of the most closed minded people and stereotypical people. Their views on blacks and hispanics are fucked. I thought when i came down south it would be worse, but their are more black people and mexicans, hispanics all over not just in the big cities like the midwest, but in small and mid sized communities in rural areas as well. white and black people live amongst eachother with little racial tension, its like they are used to eachother, they don't think any different of another race, now there still seems to be some sepration between groups, but they are willing to share their space with other races for the most. every once in a while there will be some racial incident, but considering how often paths cross everyday down here, it is at a smaller ratio, then if it was in the midwest. I don't care for the attitiude of most white people in the midwest. they look down on everybody and think they are an elite class.
 
Apr 25, 2002
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#4
DABullsDABears said:
I see what you have done and I like that you expressed the numbers in an educational matter, however...making excuses based on the color of your skin is problem number one. Go out there and make it in the world. Just because you begin in an unfortunate situation does not mean you and your family needs to be stuck in it for generation upon generation. The numbers you have given are interesting, but that is it. Go out there and make it no matter what skin color you are!
You have expressed those thoughts well, and I hope you haven't misinterpreted what I did. All I am saying is that of any two groups, the people beginning in the MOST "unfortuante situation" are black people in the midwest.

I'm not saying that you can or cannot make it, or how to make it. I'm just saying which group of people in what region got the farthest to go to make it.
 
Feb 10, 2006
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#5
I hate when people try to push this under the rug

DABullsDABears said:
I see what you have done and I like that you expressed the numbers in an educational matter, however...making excuses based on the color of your skin is problem number one. Go out there and make it in the world. Just because you begin in an unfortunate situation does not mean you and your family needs to be stuck in it for generation upon generation. The numbers you have given are interesting, but that is it. Go out there and make it no matter what skin color you are!
I dont see posting facts as making excuses.Alot of whites just like for black people to ignore these things because they (most whites) do.Wisconsin whites in particular are some of the most evil,sick,greedy,oppressive people on the face of the planet.Discrimination is rampant on everything from jobs,loans,justice system,etc.Its no wonder the average black person here has less than half of what the average white person does.White felons get jobs easier than brothers with no record and equal qualifications here.Blacks are also denied loans more often than whites even if the black person makes more money.We get much harsher sentences in the so called justice system.We are not treated as US citizens, we are punished because of our skin color.Thats wrong.No,I wont ignore or sugar coat it because you think I should.


White America is systematicaly keeping the masses of us in poverty.Purposely.While lying to the world regarding our conditions and holding up tokens as if they represent what most of us go through everyday.Dont believe it,come to my city and you will see it blatently.

This doesnt mean you should just sit on your ass and do nothing about it,only a fool would.It should motivate you to push even harder because you know the system is set up against you.But you shoudnt ignore it because it makes whites feel uncomfortable talking about it(and this is a fact I know from experience is true....the majority of so called non racist whites dont like to discuss,or even acknowledge,these facts which makes them apart of the problem).Its like a child being molested and keeping quiet because the molestor will get uncomfortable if the kid mentions it.
 
Mar 29, 2005
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I do not see posting facts as making excuses at all, but I have heard those facts used as excuses so many times throughout my life. I am a white person living in the midwest, but judge people by who they are without skin color as a factor at all. I also will not lie and say I do not see color I see people as black, white, etc. but do not judge based on that criteria.

As far as white america intentionally keeping an entire race of people in poverty I do not buy into that. I do agree African Americans are treated worse when it comes to the judicial system and employment, but that should not hold anyone back. Get hungry and outdo those who are trying to hold you down that is the best thing anyone can do regardless of their color. Also black people are not even near the most oppressed people in the country as the Native Americans who were here long before anyone else are put into unfertile dustbowl type areas (reservations), but even they can get out there and make something out of themselves. No matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion you are this is America the greatest country in the world. It offers the most opportunity in the world and all it takes is motivation and drive and anyone can succeed. That is all I am saying. Thank you for the facts they are interesting I was just throwing in my opinion.
 
Feb 10, 2006
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#8
DABullsDABears said:
I do not see posting facts as making excuses at all, but I have heard those facts used as excuses so many times throughout my life. I am a white person living in the midwest, but judge people by who they are without skin color as a factor at all. I also will not lie and say I do not see color I see people as black, white, etc. but do not judge based on that criteria.

As far as white america intentionally keeping an entire race of people in poverty I do not buy into that. I do agree African Americans are treated worse when it comes to the judicial system and employment, but that should not hold anyone back. Get hungry and outdo those who are trying to hold you down that is the best thing anyone can do regardless of their color. Also black people are not even near the most oppressed people in the country as the Native Americans who were here long before anyone else are put into unfertile dustbowl type areas (reservations), but even they can get out there and make something out of themselves. No matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion you are this is America the greatest country in the world. It offers the most opportunity in the world and all it takes is motivation and drive and anyone can succeed. That is all I am saying. Thank you for the facts they are interesting I was just throwing in my opinion.

Typical white American bullshit

If you didnt see posting facts as making excuses,then why was that word even used?

''Im not racist'' (if every white person who said this really wasnt racist,then America truely would be the land if the free with justice and liberty for all)

''such and such race has it worse''(as if that means we should ignore our own plight,or that it makes our situation any better becase some white guy thinks some other race they screwed over has it worse)

''yea the facts are true but people use it as an excuse(as if its not the discrimination that keeps blacks oppressed,but our realization that the discrimination exists that keeps us oppressed)''




Study shows how deeply black men face discrimination in hiring
Last Updated: Oct. 8, 2003
Opportunities



Tannette Johnson-Elie
E-MAIL

Yet another study finds that racial discrimination is alive and well in the hiring process, and it's keeping black men in metro Milwaukee on the unemployment rolls.

The study offers this fictional scenario:

A young, white, male high school graduate with a felony conviction applies in person for entry level jobs as a driver, a dishwasher, a laborer, warehouse worker and production worker that are advertised in the newspaper and admits to employers that he served 18 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to sell.



A young black man with similar education, work history and style of presentation, but with no criminal record, applies for the same jobs.

Who do you think is more likely to be called back?

If you picked the white man with the felony conviction, you guessed right.

This study offers evidence that discrimination remains a major factor in the economic lives of black men, and highlights the fear and misunderstanding of black males that permeate the local job market.

Devah Pager, a sociologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., sent equally matched pairs of testers - two black and two white - to apply for low-skilled jobs at 350 places of employment in the Milwaukee area and found that white ex-offenders were more likely to be called back for an interview than black applicants who had no criminal record.

Students test employers
In this detailed study, bright, articulate, college students posed as job applicants. Even though the results were strikingly close, black men without criminal records were called back only 14% of the time, while whites with criminal records were called back 17% of the time.

The study, titled "The Mark of a Criminal Record," was conducted in Milwaukee between June and December 2001, and the results were released last month.

"It shows there's a great deal of work that has to be done in the education of employers and working on attitudes," says Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. "This type of racial disparity in employment practices really impacts us as a region. It impacts our work force, and it really impacts how the inner-city moves forward."

Pager chose Milwaukee for her experiment because it is representative of most large metropolitan areas in its size, racial demographics and industrial base, she says.

The study's findings would surprise few African-Americans in this city, who know from experience that this kind of discrimination exists in the job market. Research shows that white Americans, however, have been led to think that direct, racial discrimination of this nature has become less of a problem in our society.

It was even surprising to Pager, a young white woman.

"I expected that there would be an effect of race. I thought the effect of a criminal record would swamp other effects," Pager says. "That assumption was clearly wrong. It really suggests that stereotypes and assumptions about black males are very much a factor in hiring decisions."

Facing tougher odds
The study demonstrates the increased odds black male ex-offenders face in finding employment and successfully reintegrating into the economic mainstream, says Lenard Wells, chairman of the Milwaukee Parole Commission and a former Milwaukee police officer.

"It's as if there's a concerted effort to keep black men from getting employment, to keep them oppressed," says Wells, former president of the League of Martin, an organization of black Milwaukee police officers.

"We say we want to reintegrate individuals into the community. We say that we want to do something about unemployment in the black community, yet we want to pretend that it's a criminal record that prevents blacks from getting jobs. It's blatant, undisputed, racism," he says.

Combine the effects of race and a criminal record, and the problem becomes worse. For instance, only 5% of black men with criminal records received callbacks from employers, the study found.

White men without criminal records fared the best in the Milwaukee-area job market, with 34% receiving callbacks from employers.

Keep in mind that it's illegal to discriminate against applicants with criminal records unless the circumstances of the crime correspond closely to the requirements of the job, says Phoebe Weaver Williams, an associate professor of law at Marquette University who specializes in employment discrimination.

"What's frustrating is that, after so many years of having laws in place, the laws haven't corrected the problem," Weaver Williams says.

Clearly, the study's findings demonstrate that a criminal record closes doors on employment.

Still, employers are averse to taking risks on black applicants, whom they perceive to have criminal tendencies, the study says. For example, black testers were more likely to be asked by employers whether they had any convictions, yet none of the white testers were asked about their criminal histories up front.

Image problems
A couple of factors that work against young black men is their portrayal in the media as gangsters, thugs and rappers on the fringes of society, and the fact that more black men are going to prison than college, according to a report by the U.S. Justice Department.

The sad reality is that the majority of those inmates will be released back into communities where they have little opportunity to obtain legitimate work. Research shows that one of the factors for recidivism is employment.

Black felons face a hostile job market in Milwaukee, says Wendell Hruska, associate director of Project Return, a Milwaukee agency that helps felons and people convicted of misdemeanors find employment.

"Discrimination is very much a problem. That's what we've been hearing from our clients," Hruska says. "A lot of people get discouraged. Unfortunately, many of them give up. You really can't blame people when you've been out there for months putting in applications and you hear nothing back."

This research helps us measure the degree of discrimination that exists in the hiring process.

But the question remains: How do we attack a problem that so affects the economic lives of black men in Milwaukee, where many employers still make hiring decisions colored by fear and misunderstanding?
 
Feb 10, 2006
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#9
DABullsDABears said:
I see what you have done and I like that you expressed the numbers in an educational matter, however...making excuses based on the color of your skin is problem number one


no,problem #1 is whites racist,greedy,discriminatory,evil ways,as it has always been for people of color in the USA
 
Feb 10, 2006
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DABullsDABears said:
As far as white america intentionally keeping an entire race of people in poverty I do not buy into that

Nah,white people have changed.After hundreds of years of oppressing us,they have stopped.Now it just so happens we want to oppress ourselves!


I guess we like the fact that we are thought of as so low in society,that even criminals of the white race get more job opportunties than us when we do everything we are ''supposed to do'' (go to school,work,dont break the law)


I guess we like the fact that whites are much,much more likely then us to get loans even when we do make more money than them(which is rare since the average white has over twice as much as the average black,at least in wisconsin)

To you these might just be random facts,but these are real barriers,real truths, that effect the lives of black people everyday.
 
Feb 10, 2006
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DABullsDABears said:
. I do agree African Americans are treated worse when it comes to the judicial system and employment, but that should not hold anyone back

But it does hold people back.It creates a barrier that makes it much more difficult for blacks to succeed.Much the same way a strainer will hold rice in it when you dump it in.A few grains may make it through,but the majority will remain in the strainer.

These are not ''excuses'' they are solid facts.Whites favorite words when racism is even mentioned are ''excuses'' ''bitching'' complaining'' ''whining'' etc.

Nobody here has said thats its impossible for Blacks to make it.So we dont need your ''america is great anybody can make it'' speeches.They serve to sugar coat racism and to downplay its effects on Black people.A black man that makes it in America makes it in spite of this country,not because of it.


Most whites dont like to hear about this real shit because it messes up thier fairy tale ''America is so great'' crap.

Now I await the typical ''if things are so bad why dont you leave'' arguement.As if me realizing the truth is the same as being hopeless.Or that because I wont pretend that everything is great in Amerikkka,then I shouldnt live where I was born and raised.

lol

white folks are a trip.So wrong yet they think they are so right.
 
Sep 16, 2002
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#12
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12154123/

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are about 5 million black men in America between the ages of 20 and 39. The new books, and an earlier one from Harvard, find them losing ground in mainstream American society, despite advances made by black women, presumably part of the same socioeconomic experience.

This vexing problem, caused by a variety of social ills, is equally vexing when scholars consider what causes it.

Among the studies' findings:

Rates of imprisonment for young black men escalated throughout the 1990s and continued climbing well into the current decade. About 16 percent of black men in their twenties who were not college students were either in jail or in prison.
African Americans are seven times more likely to go to prison or jail than whites.
Almost 60 percent of black male high school dropouts in their early thirties have spent time in prison.
The percentage of young jobless black men continues to increase, part of a trend that generally hasn't abated in decades. In 2000, about 65 percent of black male high-school dropouts had no jobs, either because they couldn't find work or because they were in jail. By 2004, the studies found that number had grown to 72 percent. The numbers for young black men were higher than for whites and Hispanics similarly affected.
Making matters worse, a forthcoming book, which includes a study of nearly 1,500 private employers in New York City, found that black job applicants with no criminal records weren't any more likely to get a job than white applicants who were just out of prison.

Persistence of imbalance
“A lot of people are skeptical that African Americans still face discrimination in the job market. But even in a diverse city like New York, the evidence of discrimination is unmistakable,” said Devah Pager, a Princeton sociology professor, in announcing “Punishment and Inequality in America,” to be published in June.

It amazes me that in 2006, white people are still in denial of this.
 
Apr 25, 2002
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#13
I didn't want this to turn out like this, you all are making it way way bigger than I intended.

In the cities, black folks are on the bottom, period. I don't want this to be a why they're on the bottom, I want this to be a WHERE they are on the bottom.

The answer is essentially EVERYWHERE, but what I'm trying to point out, is that they experience this stuff to VARYING DEGREES in different parts of the country, but to the GREATEST EXTENT in the MIDWEST.

THIS IS WHY I POSTED IT UP IN THE MIDWEST FORUM AND NOWHERE ELSE, B/C ALL YOU GUYS ARE FROM THE MIDWEST, YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE SOME IDEAS AS TO WHY THAT IS. I REALLY LIKED DAWUN'S POST, THAT IS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR.

Skrilla, thanks for posting, you were one of the people I wanted to see this.
 
Sep 16, 2002
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#14
xpanther206 said:
I didn't want this to turn out like this, you all are making it way way bigger than I intended.

In the cities, black folks are on the bottom, period. I don't want this to be a why they're on the bottom, I want this to be a WHERE they are on the bottom.

The answer is essentially EVERYWHERE, but what I'm trying to point out, is that they experience this stuff to VARYING DEGREES in different parts of the country, but to the GREATEST EXTENT in the MIDWEST.

THIS IS WHY I POSTED IT UP IN THE MIDWEST FORUM AND NOWHERE ELSE, B/C ALL YOU GUYS ARE FROM THE MIDWEST, YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE SOME IDEAS AS TO WHY THAT IS. I REALLY LIKED DAWUN'S POST, THAT IS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR.

Skrilla, thanks for posting, you were one of the people I wanted to see this.
I know why you were postin this. My post was just a response to DABullsDABears. I completely understand what you meant with the statistics and everything.
 
Jan 28, 2005
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DABullsDABears said:
Just because you begin in an unfortunate situation does not mean you and your family needs to be stuck in it for generation upon generation.

Real talk. Im white, and I've grown up poor as a motherfucker. Color dont matter though, I need to get my financial security straight. Imma be the first person in my family to go through college and earn a degree.



It also seems that it sucks I was not born Asian, ha ha.
 
Feb 10, 2006
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xpanther206 said:
, B/C ALL YOU GUYS ARE FROM THE MIDWEST, YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE SOME IDEAS AS TO WHY THAT IS. I


The main factor is rampant discrimination.Point blank.


I go in,try to get a job,build an economical base to move up-Im pre judged,thus I dont get the job

white guy does the same thing,he gets the job,and thus is able to work,have a steady pay check and build with

I go in to get a loan to buy a home-Im pre judged,thus I dont get the loan

white guy goes in,he gets the loan

and so on and so on
 
Apr 25, 2002
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loyalty7414 said:
The main factor is rampant discrimination.Point blank.


I go in,try to get a job,build an economical base to move up-Im pre judged,thus I dont get the job

white guy does the same thing,he gets the job,and thus is able to work,have a steady pay check and build with

I go in to get a loan to buy a home-Im pre judged,thus I dont get the loan

white guy goes in,he gets the loan

and so on and so on
Why more so in the Midwest than East Coast, West Coast, Dirty South etc???
 
Mar 29, 2005
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Loyalty - You are trying to turn this into me having racist feelings and thinking everyone has an even playing field. You are also acting like African Americans are the only group that is being discriminated against. This is not "typical white american bullshit" but you have blown up about how AA don't have this and that and white people are so evil...this sounds like excuses to me on how and why AA are not succeding as a race. And no I am not racist I just have a bais opinion towards stupid and/or lazy people as well as people who moan and groan but do not try to better their situation. There are poor people of every color in this country as well as discrimination against all people in the United States. Though it may not be equal it still happens, but it is what you do in response to it!

D Skrilla - I am not in denial at all, if you read my post you will see that I accept the fact that there is discrimination in the employment areas.

Once again this is the way the country is at this current point in time. Rehashing facts and figures of people in and out of prision and employment rates are not going to change anything. It is up to each and every person to mold what their future is going to be, the past should not matter.
 
Feb 8, 2006
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#20
whites out number blacks in the midwest. so you should have instead of comparing what race made the most money. is compare which race based on population suffers the most from poverty.
there are rich white people and poor white people. in your study. you seemed to have over looked that.