The silence breaks: Accountability at last for those who make Milwaukee life unlivable
“It’s not all of them, but it’s always them,” is something I hear constantly. This means that every time you hear about some sort of antisocial behavior, the perpetrator is almost always a black person acting like a fool.
My kids aren’t doing that, and I cannot imagine under what circumstances they would, given they know the consequences my wife and I would impose as parents. I talk to my children, especially my son, about being situationally aware and leaving a scene well before anything bad develops.
Similarly, I teach at Milwaukee Lutheran Middle & High School, where 97 percent of the student body is inner-city, economically disadvantaged black kids. The entire staff, from the principal, the teachers and the counselors to the people in the lunch kitchen are constantly talking to our students about following a more Christ-like life, making better choices. We teach them that grown, mature people don’t fly off the handle at the slightest provocation or resort to violence or other foolishness.
Our school is not immune from these problems, but I personally believe that constant messaging does make a difference with most of our students. I spent over 22 years as a litigator, with a number of those years being a prosecutor or in criminal defense. I believe this experience in the criminal justice system provides me with insight into how people are motivated to make the decisions that wind them up in the system.
