With the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker last summer, Wisconsin’s political divisions have captivated the nation recently. But other divisions in Wisconsin merit far more attention. According to an analysis of the 2010 United States Census Bureau data by William H. Frey, a demographer and sociologist at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Milwaukee—the state’s largest city—is the most racially segregated major metropolitan area in the United States.
To some extent, Milwaukee is not unique in its segregation; a myriad of cities across the nation still face issues of de facto segregation, and Milwaukee is just marginally more segregated than the second most segregated metro area, New York City. But Milwaukee’s segregation is unique in at least one respect—its persistence.
In 1965, 90 percent of Milwaukee-area blacks lived in the inner city. Today, that figure remains steady at 90 percent, while whites—as in many metro areas—have flocked to suburban and exurban enclaves in droves.
As a member of the Midwestern Rust Belt, Milwaukee’s economy has struggled as manufacturing jobs have been lost to automation, outsourcing or elimination resulting from firms going out of business. In fact, Milwaukee has seen a 40 pecent drop in manufacturing jobs since 1970.
Consequently, Milwaukee’s middle class has been significantly narrowed, from 37 percent of the area’s population in 1970 to just 24 percent today. African-Americans have been particularly adversely affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs. In 1970, blacks and whites had similar rates of employment, but by 2012 there was a 32 percent gap in employment. As the manufacturing jobs that once kept working-class whites in the city have been eliminated, white residents have moved out of the city, exacerbating de facto segregation in the metropolitan area.
What will the confluence of Milwaukee’s segregation and its manufacturing decline mean for the future of the state’s largest city? The short answer: We can’t be certain. But as M.I.T. economist Daron Acemoglu and Harvard political scientist James A. Robinson noted in their book “Why Nations Fail,” exclusive economic institutions—like those in Milwaukee, where many blacks can’t find employment—have lower rates of economic growth and overall productivity. For instance, hypothetically alienating all men from the workplace—half the potential labor force—would mean capturing just half of the ideas, innovations and productivity possible. Similarly, Milwaukee’s economy loses when members of any demographic cohort are unemployed or haven’t been provided the tools to reach their full potential. What’s more, according to Acemoglu and Robinson, “Inclusive economic institutions lead to a more equitable distribution of resources than extractive institutions,” meaning a higher employment rate among African-Americans would likely lead to greater income equality among all cohorts and foster a stronger middle class.
To be sure, the solutions to Milwaukee’s segregation and economic challenges are beyond the purview of this column, and for that matter any single piece of public policy. But the factors contributing to Milwaukee’s segregation are manifold, and the solutions are, too. Strengthening efforts to integrate schools would be a step in the right direction. Mitigating poverty, especially in the inner city, would surely help. And making inner city volunteer work compulsory for high school graduation at urban and suburban high schools would help integrate the metropolitan area. Most important, policy makers must work to improve the perennially under-performing Milwaukee Public School System, which is imperative to spurring growth and, in turn, abating segregation.
The fact is that elected officials have failed to remedy Milwaukee’s deep-seated, long-lasting segregation problem for decades now and, as a result, de facto segregation in Milwaukee remains. Similarly, policy makers have failed to pay adequate attention to the city’s deficient economic development. America has made immense social and economic progress in past decades, but segregation and the decline of the middle class in Milwaukee illustrate the dire need for greater progress.
What do you think of income equality? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
