Well this is a good look for Milwaukee...

[Eldon]

True examples from this year alone:

- my kid can't walk from Amtrak to campus alone in broad daylight.  He needs university transportation.

- a shooting victim drives from Southside and stops his car on 16th when he realized help was available at MUPD but no all campus alert was sent. My precious was in grave danger!

- my kid's Service Learning forces her to take a bus through an emerging neighborhood.

- and one for you Chi. Some mom instructed her Frosh to take LIMO from McCormick to Jimmy John's because that parking lot is too dangerous.  My instructions to jsglow jr, punch that kid in the nose if he tries to get on Glowmobile.

Just a taste.

Well, in fairness, one does have to turn a corner to get from McCormick to Jimmy Johns.  Can you see around corners?  It's probably better safe than sorry.  On a related note, MU should change the doors on the LIMOs so that they are completely see-through. 

[mu03eng]

I can attest that none of this is exaggerated in the least.  And they aren't even the most ridiculous complaints of these outrageous helicopter parents, but the best ones aren't racial and I don't want pull this thread off-topic.

I'm going to talk to my friends in the admissions office.....we have to be able to screen these students/parents somehow right?  Or at least make an emphasis that says you are going to a school that is not in a bubble.

Damn Barrington rich people.

[mu_hilltopper]

Here is the main reason I think it was racial profiling:  John Henson thought so. 

Well, there you go then.  The guy who knew two of 20 facts: he wasn't being buzzed in, and the cops were called; he makes that determination.  Let the official record of racial profiling reflect that John Henson believes this.

I'd love to see a followup interview him now, with the preface of the police report.  Maybe he sticks to his platform, but boy, it'd sure be disappointing if he said "oh.  They were told to call the police if my Tahoe showed up? "

But if you want to use hyperbole instead of acknowledging that this bit of ugliness exists in your little town, go right ahead.

Indeed, this is painful for my village.  We're a nice community, really.  Well educated, and a destination for relocated global executives, so our small diversity is mostly of other highly educated folks.     If you think there are racial 'ugliness' differences between my village and Fox Point, Mequon, Brookfield, Waukesha, Cedarburg, and just about every suburban area in the country .. you're fooling yourself.  We just have a name that can be cleverly contorted into a racist taunt, White Folks Bay.

Wherever you live is just one jeweler's phone call away, one red Tahoe away, one set of odd circumstances away from being called racist. 

[jsglow]

I'm going to talk to my friends in the admissions office.....we have to be able to screen these students/parents somehow right?  Or at least make an emphasis that says you are going to a school that is not in a bubble.

Damn Barrington rich people.

03, it's a theme I discuss frequently with the power brokers at MU.  See, back in my day the culture was more kids like Chitown. Sure, it was more MKE focused but the kids are the same. That has shifted in 35 years and in many ways it's not for the better.

[Benny B]

I'm going to go slightly off topic.  Both chick and I serve on the MU Parents Board.  It infuriates me to no end when we hear Frosh parents from Barrington (or pick your favorite Lilly white burb) complaining that 'unsavoury' black people are at the 16th Street bus stop. You mean the ones on the way home from work at the McCormick cafeteria?  Trust me.  We hear it all the time.

Interesting... in Naperville, Barrington is used as the quintessential example of a "lilly white burb" where all the whities fear minorities.  Everywhere else in the Chicago MSA, Naperville is that example.

Sucks to be you, Barrington.  That's like Pete Rose calling you out for gambling.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I just edited.  Chiatown, not kidding.

Yea, I've gotten some bad ones. The worst I can remember was getting a call at Raynor going to Abbotsford. The worst part was that I was on the north side of the street so they already walked half the distance. Needless to say I gave them a nice tour of campus.

[GGGG]

Well, there you go then.  The guy who knew two of 20 facts: he wasn't being buzzed in, and the cops were called; he makes that determination.  Let the official record of racial profiling reflect that John Henson believes this.

I'd love to see a followup interview him now, with the preface of the police report.  Maybe he sticks to his platform, but boy, it'd sure be disappointing if he said "oh.  They were told to call the police if my Tahoe showed up? "

Yeah I guess the alleged victim has no clue whatsoever.  As opposed to you, you know, a guy who's met the owner a few times.

And Henson did give a follow up interview.  He said the owner apologized, and was sincere, and acknowledged it wasn't handled appropriately.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/store-owner-sincere-in-his-apology-bucks-john-henson-says-after-racial-profiling-incident-b99600060z-334712911.html

"He knew that shouldn't have happened. He's had some prior incidents, but it still doesn't make it right for them to do what they did. It's a real issue, but right now I want to focus on the game tonight (vs. Minnesota) and there will be time to talk about it later. I am going to do some things to raise awareness of situations like that and go from there."

Indeed, this is painful for my village.  We're a nice community, really.  Well educated, and a destination for relocated global executives, so our small diversity is mostly of other highly educated folks.     If you think there are racial 'ugliness' differences between my village and Fox Point, Mequon, Brookfield, Waukesha, Cedarburg, and just about every suburban area in the country .. you're fooling yourself.  We just have a name that can be cleverly contorted into a racist taunt, White Folks Bay.

Whitefish Bay is a great town.  And obviously this can happen in all sorts of places.  You just seem to be going out of your way to make excuses for what seems VERY obvious.

Wherever you live is just one jeweler's phone call away, one red Tahoe away, one set of odd circumstances away from being called racist. 

Don't BE racist, and you won't be CALLED racist.

[Benny B]

Don't BE racist, and you won't be CALLED racist.

My impression is that the owner was not present when the events actually occurred.  Am I mistaken?


I agree that an owner/manager/supervisor needs to take responsibility for those under their employ, but I'm not sure you can blanket-label someone based on their employees' conduct.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

My impression is that the owner was not present when the events actually occurred.  Am I mistaken?


I agree that an owner/manager/supervisor needs to take responsibility for those under their employ, but I'm not sure you can blanket-label someone based on their employees' conduct.

I agree with this. From what I read the owner wasn't there. So to blanket him in with his employees probably isn't accurate.

[GGGG]

I wasn't calling the owner racist.  I was calling the actions by his employees racist. 

[Benny B]

I wasn't calling the owner racist.  I was calling the actions by his employees racist.

Not to split hairs here (even though I will), but why are you qualifying only the "actions of his employees" as racist?  Is it possible for non-racist people to act racist, or did you attend an anti-libel/slander seminar this morning?

[GGGG]

Not to split hairs here (even though I will), but why are you qualifying only the "actions of his employees" as racist?  Is it possible for non-racist people to act racist, or did you attend an anti-libel/slander seminar this morning?

I think pretty much everyone has at one time or another "acted racist."  That isn't an indicator of if they are generally a racist person.

It seems in this case the people "racially profiled" John Henson.  Does that mean they are "racist?"  Maybe.  Maybe not.

[warriorchick]

Interesting... in Naperville, Barrington is used as the quintessential example of a "lilly white burb" where all the whities fear minorities.  Everywhere else in the Chicago MSA, Naperville is that example.

Sucks to be you, Barrington.  That's like Pete Rose calling you out for gambling.

Do you think we live in Naperville? Actually, we live in a much more diverse community; the most expensive house will run you in the mid-five figures (nicer neighborhood than ours), and we have a decent amount of Section 8 housing. 

Our kids went to a public high school that was less than 50% white.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Interesting... in Naperville, Barrington is used as the quintessential example of a "lilly white burb" where all the whities fear minorities.  Everywhere else in the Chicago MSA, Naperville is that example.

Sucks to be you, Barrington.  That's like Pete Rose calling you out for gambling.

Growing up on the Northside of the city, we would always give that distinct honor to Northbrook, Winnetka and Maine South HS.

[mu03eng]

Growing up on the Northside of the city, we would always give that distinct honor to Northbrook, Winnetka and Maine South HS.

To be fair we lived 20 minutes from Barrington so we weren't exactly living in a slummy and diverse neighborhood, but if we got tired of picking on Barrington, Naperville was always the next go to, especially anyone who went to New Trier.  Buffalo Grove and Stevenson got a little wrath from us too

[jsglow]

Do you think we live in Naperville? Actually, we live in a much more diverse community; the most expensive house will run you in the mid-five figures (nicer neighborhood than ours), and we have a decent amount of Section 8 housing. 

Our kids went to a public high school that was less than 50% white.

Opps. Despite being a great accountant....... mid 6 figures.

[jsglow]

Interesting... in Naperville, Barrington is used as the quintessential example of a "lilly white burb" where all the whities fear minorities.  Everywhere else in the Chicago MSA, Naperville is that example.

Sucks to be you, Barrington.  That's like Pete Rose calling you out for gambling.

Funny.  I almost went with Naperville!

[mu03eng]

I think pretty much everyone has at one time or another "acted racist."  That isn't an indicator of if they are generally a racist person.

It seems in this case the people "racially profiled" John Henson.  Does that mean they are "racist?"  Maybe.  Maybe not.

I don't think we can conclude if anyone IS racist in this event and I don't think we can conclude that anyone was ACTING racist in this event.  Clearly, all parties were acting on biases and without 100% of the facts(invariably no one has all the facts at the time of an event).  The employees at the store clearly failed to take into account how their actions could be perceived....is that because they are racist or because they lacked perspective....dunno, we don't have enough evidence.

John was also acting on his biases when he made the post(I think it was good that he did because there is a teaching moment for a lot people here), his experiences in life led him to a conclusion that may or may not be true, but it is what he felt.

Both parties have an opportunity to make a positive outcome out of this, if nothing else teach people to put yourself in the other person's shoes.

I'm not directing this at anyone particular, I just don't think there is a right and a wrong here that we can argue over.  Let's get the facts and learn to avoid these situations in the future.

[4everwarriors]

I think this incident, while unfortunate, is being blown outta proportion and, understand, I am not excusin' the employees' behavior after Henson was identified as a member of the Bucks, and not a potential criminal. No one was injured or killed, as occurred last year at Innovative Optique, in Fox Point. There is a reason doors are locked and security measures taken. Chit happens and continues to happen everyday, hey?
Will it hurt S-K's business? I doubt it. Hittin' them in da pocketbook, doe, is one's best weapon. Like I said earlier, the joint lost a potential huge sale, cuz' the help got the willys. Really, nothin' more to see here. Personally, I don't care for the store or some of their other policies and have choosen to take my business to their competition.

[jsglow]

To be fair we lived 20 minutes from Barrington so we weren't exactly living in a slummy and diverse neighborhood, but if we got tired of picking on Barrington, Naperville was always the next go to, especially anyone who went to New Trier.  Buffalo Grove and Stevenson got a little wrath from us too

Really?  I always pegged you as a good cheesehead.

[reinko]

IMO the employees were prejudiced against JH, not necessarily racist.  I believe racist and prejudiced are not one in the same.  Words and actions are important.  Do these jewelry employees in their everyday life walk around committing consistent acts of hate against AA?  My guess is no.  In this insistence, did they use use race to prejudge JH and his friend and overreact?  It sounds like yes they did.

[mu03eng]

Really?  I always pegged you as a good cheesehead.

That was high school only.

My mom was from Wisconsin as was all of her family (my aunts, uncles, and cousins) and we moved all the time so I never became assimilated to any one place.  However we visited Wisconsin a lot so I guess I just picked it up....though I don't say pop or bubbler or sack or any of that crap.

[Pakuni]

IMO the employees were prejudiced against JH, not necessarily racist. I believe racist and prejudiced are not one in the same.  Words and actions are important.  Do these jewelry employees in their everyday life walk around committing consistent acts of hate against AA?  My guess is no.  In this insistence, did they use use race to prejudge JH and his friend and overreact?  It sounds like yes they did.

I'm not sure one needs to walk around committing consistent acts of hate as part of everyday life to be a racist. In fact, I don't think anyone has to commit any specific act to be a racist.
Racism is a belief system. Sometimes those beliefs turn to action, sometimes they don't.

[Henry Sugar]

Data for only the largest suburbs in Chicago, plus various cities mentioned in this thread. Generally, many of the smaller cities not listed here (such as Hinsdale, New Lenox, Libertyville, Geneva, St. Charles, Glenview) have higher percentages of white residents.

[MerrittsMustache]

I don't think we can conclude if anyone IS racist in this event and I don't think we can conclude that anyone was ACTING racist in this event.  Clearly, all parties were acting on biases and without 100% of the facts(invariably no one has all the facts at the time of an event).  The employees at the store clearly failed to take into account how their actions could be perceived....is that because they are racist or because they lacked perspective....dunno, we don't have enough evidence.

John was also acting on his biases when he made the post(I think it was good that he did because there is a teaching moment for a lot people here), his experiences in life led him to a conclusion that may or may not be true, but it is what he felt.

Both parties have an opportunity to make a positive outcome out of this, if nothing else teach people to put yourself in the other person's shoes.

I'm not directing this at anyone particular, I just don't think there is a right and a wrong here that we can argue over.  Let's get the facts and learn to avoid these situations in the future.

Well said.

From Henson's perspective...He went to buy a watch. The jewelry store wouldn't let him in and called the cops, who then asked him "irrelevant" (his wording) questions about how he got his car. Knowing nothing more than that, it sounds 100% like racial profiling and I don't blame him for feeling degraded and calling out the store at that time.

From the employee's perspective...A red Tahoe with (potentially stolen) dealer plates had parked outside the store on Friday. They contacted police and were told to call back if it returned. On Monday, a red Tahoe with (potentially stolen) dealer plates parked outside the store so they notified police. At that point, they were following security protocol.

After that is where it gets a little squirmy. Had ANY of the employees taken a minute to apologize to Henson, briefly explain the situation, apologize again, acknowledge that it looks very bad and apologize again, we likely wouldn't even know this had happened. Instead, an employee asked the cop to stay and THAT is where the primary issue arises for me.