Milwaukee+Race+Riots+Research

Subject Milwaukee: Race Riots Interview subject: Irmgard Taylor (My Grandma)  To understand what happened 1966-1968 it's important to understand a bit of what was happening before that period in Milwaukee. The Inner Core/Inner City had been suffering for a while and its problems had been growing since the 1920s. The depression hit it hard and the economic boom WWII brought didn't reach the Inner Core. The inner city was home to different ethnicities. The inner city was home to Italian, German, and Polish, but that was starting to change; soon enough it was primarily African American. The African Americans expanded into the North and West side, which was highly populated with Germans; the mix was like oil and water. The African Americans living accommodations were squalor and their culture foreign which spawned prejudice, even though the other minorities had been in the situation they still remained prejudice to the black community. In 1963, the SDC (Social Development Commission) became important in assisting underprivileged and under developed areas. There were however, contradictions between the program's ideas and members. The last straw was a comment from Sausage-maker Fred Lins of the North Side his comment was about poor blacks. He said the following, "an IQ of nothing" and looked "so much alike that you can't identify the ones that committed the crime." The CORE (Congress On Racial Equality) staged a sit in on August 28th 1963 in the Milwaukee court house, picket lines, a phone in, and the occupation of the mayor's office. Fred Lins resigned at the end of the year. The Civil rights movement had arrived. That same year a group called MUSIC (Milwaukeeans United for School Integration Committee) got involved with segregated schools. They staged boycotts of MPS schools; 10% of the enrolled students stayed away from their assigned schools. This group brought out a major civil rights leader in Milwaukee, known as Father Groppi. He had joined MUSIC, and was arrested for the first time. Before the year ended he had become the adviser for NAACP Youth Group. He lead the group in civil rights protests. The fact that Groppi was a white priest leading young black boys in protest got him media attention, and his temper, emotion, and difficulty to compromise with also got him attention. He wasn't apposed to violent protest which was different, in fact he once said in an interview, "If black people tore down this city it would simply be dynamic revolution." 1966 Groppi and the NAACP chose their first target the Eagles club which had a Caucasian only rule. Their picketing on the headquarters proved futile, so they protested in front of Judge Robert Cannon's house. It was crowed levels reached 2000, and the National Guard had to get involved. The only thing gained was publicity and not even that much. Groppi lead another march on the homes of the city alderman for an open house ordinance. On July 30th 1967 at about midnight a riot broke out. A group of young African Americans assembled on third street. Things got out of hand bricks, rocks, and bottles shattered windows and pelted cars. Two homes were set on fire; in a shoot out; a 76 year old woman was killed, a 24 year old officer was killed; others were wounded, and one blinded. 300 people were arrested for reasons ranging from curfew violation to murder. Nothing like this had happened in Milwaukee since 1886. As a result Mayor Maier swiftly regained control with a earlier curfew for 8 days, by closing down the city for a day, and on August 5th he revealed his 39 point plan. All but four of which consisted of county, state, or federal help. Not many were happy with this clamp down, but Maier wasn't looking for friends; he was looking for an answer to the growing racial tension in Milwaukee. By sticking to his guns and making swift and strait forward decisions, he enhanced his reputation. This wasn't however the end. Father Groppi and the NAACP resumed its marches over open housing and they would meet many who opposed them. When they marched from the north side to the south side of Milwaukee. There they were greeted with effigies and 5000 whites; a scuffle broke out and as a result Maier banned all night assemblies. After a march on the city hall, the mayors office was damaged; the waters ahead looked stormy. Gurda, John. //The Making of Milwaukee//. First. Brookfield: Burton & Mayer, Inc., 1999. Print. : NA, NA. "THE RIOTS OF 1967 IN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN." //http://ww2.madonna.edu//. Thursday, March 29, 2001. UWM. 31 May 2009 []. 
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