Milwaukee and Racine are the third and fourth worst American cities to live in if you’re black, according to a new report from 24/7 Wall Street.
“Lower incomes, educational attainment, and homeownership among black Americans, as well as higher poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and mortality all contribute to racial inequality in the United States,” the report says. “In some of America’s largest metro areas, discriminatory policy, racial bias, and a history of oppression have deepened such inequalities and widened the gap among black and white residents in a variety of socioeconomic measures.”
The report cites disparity in earnings between black and white household earnings in Racine. The median household income for whites is $62,368 while the median black household income of just $21,573 — just 35 cents for each dollar the median white household earns. It also notes that white unemployment in Racine is 4.8 percent while it’s 10.7 percent for blacks.
In Milwaukee/West Allils/Waukesha, the unemployment disparity is even higher — 3.3 percent for whites versus 12.4 percent for blacks.
The report also points to incarceration rates as a possible cause of some of the economic disparities.
“In Wisconsin, whites are incarcerated at a rate of 221 for every 100,000 residents each year, slightly below the national white incarceration rate,” the report says. “The black incarceration rate, meanwhile, is 2,542 for every 100,000 black residents, the fifth highest rate of any state.”
