Race relations in America

Milwaukee is a hot bed of nasty racial violence.Didn’t know that? Neither did I.This is just one of dozens of episodes of black mob violence in Milwaukee.Including the famous one that gave name to that great book: White Girl Bleed a Lot.

That statement was written by the Colin Flaherty, the author of White Girl Bleed a Lot.

I was living in Milwaukee on that fateful 4^th of July. In fact, I had originally planned on going to the fireworks show at Reservoir Park that night. For 12 years I lived a few blocks away. That is the park my children grew up in.

But my plans changed. My children did not want me to go out by myself and so my youngest daughter and I went down by the lakefront to watch the fireworks.

Thankfully, we went to a really out of the way spot, because the black on white violence wasn't limited to Reservoir Park that night.

I lived in Milwaukee for nearly 26 years. For the most part it wasn't too bad. What helped me for the first ¾ of the time was the fact that I was married to a black man and had 4 mixed race children.

But then Milwaukee changed.

I noticed the change in the late 90's. I was on a city bus, riding thru the central city, something I had done thousands of times.

Somebody threw a brick at the window I was sitting at. There was no doubt they aimed. Thankfully for me, the window was tempered so I and my young daughter did not get hurt.

I never rode the bus through the city again.

After that, race relations went into the toilet in Milwaukee. Milwaukee became more segregated than it had ever been.

I left Milwaukee in 2005.

In 2008 I decided to return to Milwaukee. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. My daughter who lives in a predominately black neighborhood wouldn't let me come visit her, because she feared for my safety.

My children wouldn't let me go anywhere except to and from work by myself. They are black and are fully aware of the attacks on whites that have become common in Milwaukee.

During the 3 years I lived there, I lived in fear. Never knowing if I would be jumped.

I have left Milwaukee for good now. Live in a predominately hispanic part of the country.  Except for visiting I will never go back. My children and grandchildren live there, yet I do not feel safe living in the same city as them, due to these racist thugs.

The race relations in this country makes me extremely angry and very sad. I have spent most of my life living with and among blacks.

I went through some hell in the 70's and early 80's from both sides, because of this choice. But I always believed that things would change, get better. That somehow the hell I was going through would be worth it in the end.

To be honest, things are a lot worse now than they were back then. In the 70's and 80's, I was accepted in the black community. They didn't immediately jump on me because I was white. Once they knew I was not prejudice, I was fully accepted and protected.

Obviously that is not the case now. I just spent a week at my daughter's house. She wouldn't let me out of the house.

We are heading for a breaking point here in the US. Either people like Al Sharpton are going to go out of their way to defuse the situation here or we are headed for a living hell of race wars.

There are a lot of us out here who will find ourselves in an uncomfortable middle.

Like myself, my children and my grandchildren.