This is heartbreaking news. Apparently there was another mob incident last night, this one at the Wisconsin State Fair. Just like the beatings that took place in Riverwest after the 4th of July fireworks, a large group of black youths attacked white people in the Midway and outside the grounds. Racial taunts were allegedly used.
Why are bored young people with too much time on their hands choosing to engage in such harmful, deplorable behavior? Don't they realize it reinforces stereotypes?
In this area, where so many people mistakenly believe that downtown is dangerous and neighborhoods are hyper-segregated, incidents like this just lead people to think that all African-American youth are violent troublemakers.
This writer was at Mayfair Mall back in 2001 during the infamous so-called riot. It was anything but. A popular movie appealing largely to African-American viewers was sold out on a Friday night. People were hanging out in large groups near the theater lobby, making plans and figuring out what to do with their evening. Everyone was well-behaved.
By the next day the media was breathlessly reporting about a riot at Mayfair Mall, a riot that never took place. All it did was create huge (and unnecessary) headaches for the mall and make area residents believe that they would be beaten and robbed if they dared venture to a movie at Mayfair Mall.
Unfortunately, the Riverwest and State Fair incidents are not similar to the one at Mayfair. Beatings and abhorrent behavior did take place. Black youths did randomly attack white people. Racial slurs were used.
Talk radio will go crazy. People will write angry letters to Eugene Kane and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But can anything good come of this? There's obviously a serious problem in the community. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and community leads will step up and try to determine causes and solutions.
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