The Leader

Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Features/News

Diversity. "The political and social policy of encouraging tolerance for people of different backgrounds." Does this sound like Milwaukee to you?

In a 2002 Jet Magazine article, the Milwaukee metropolitan area was documented as being the most segregated in the United States. Milwaukee's white population makes up 43.6 percent of the total residents while the black population makes up 39.5 percent according to the 2000 census. The Hispanic population comes in at a far third making up only 14.9 percent of the population.

To put that in perspective, these percentages are out of the 602,782 residents in Milwaukee according to the 2006 census. With such a small disparity between the numbers of the white and black population, having a poorly integrated system in Milwaukee would be detrimental to the success of the city. In 2003, a group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin conducted a more detailed research and found that Milwaukee should be ranked as the 43rd most integrated city in the U.S. What do you think?

With white collar, white workers making their homes in the suburbs surrounding Milwaukee for the last few decades, these suburbs pose as the greatest obstacle to the integration of minorities into the mainstream. Several groups can draw on similar backgrounds and ethnicities to relate to one another (38 percent report having a German ancestry, with Polish and Irish both having 12.7 percent and 10 percent traced ancestries, respectively). However, many others have quite a different time relating to the native Milwaukeeans due to the 39.5 percent in report having African-American ancestries.

Looking more specifically at Milwaukee, we at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee enjoy the most diverse campus in the UW-university system. Out of the 29,265 students in the fall 2008 semester at UWM, 1,934 are reportedly African-American, 1,093 are Latino/a, and 593 are Southeaster Asian-American. The white student group still makes up the most, with 23,044 students.

Considering the progress Milwaukee has made in desegregation, these numbers really jump out. They do, however, pale in comparison to what they could be. Another staggering statistic is the 43 percent black male unemployment rate in 2007.

In the end, statistics can only tell so much. Every individual who lives in Milwaukee that goes to UWM, or visits on the weekend might have a different view of Milwaukee and its diversity.

One African-American student at UWM says, "There is diversity at UWM, but it really just depends on what classes you are taking to actually see it."
When we asked a Caucasian UWM student about his take on the diversity at his school, he replied, "Before coming to this school, I attended a private school where there was a lack of diversity, so to be at UWM now is a far different, pleasant experience."

From the perspective of a UWM student, it is first and foremost the role of the student population to create a comfortable, welcoming environment, something that UWM seems to be well on the way of accomplishing.

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