Jennings said he was going to vote as he always does, because the issues affecting him are just too significant not to.

“I support voting and I’m voting because I care about social events that are happening right now,” he said. “I’m a black man on a limited income, so I really have to pay attention to what’s going on.”

Milwaukee is 37% white, the 7^th Aldermanic District on the north side of the city is 93% non-white; the people, like Cedric Jennings, who are affected most by segregation care about and will vote on a specific set of issues in November.

Where Jennings was sitting, near the Sherman Park neighborhood, is 86% black and the median household income is $18,333 per year. The U.S. poverty line for a family of four is $25,100.

Just a few blocks away from the stoop which Jennings sits on, is the house where LaResha Love grew up. Love, 19, is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She says she has a new perspective living in the city of Menomonie, Wisconsin which is 91% white, according to the U.S. Census. After 18 years of living in the 53206 ZIP code, Menomonie and UW-Stout can be uncomfortable for her. 

“In my dorm there is a white male who is super passionate about the NRA and has a confederate flag on his wall,” Love said.

She told the student that the confederate flag represents racism and slavery.

“Support whatever you want to, but you don’t think this is not wrong in any way?” she said. “I’m uncomfortable to walk on my floor.”

Love says that she would be more comfortable living in 53206, a neighborhood with some of the highest crime rates in Milwaukee, than her dormitory at UW-Stout.

Some see the segregation in areas like 53206 as a reason for the overwhelming majority of black people who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, compared to the whites who voted for Trump.

Only 8 percent of African Americans voted for Trump in 2016, according to Pew Research. 

“He (Trump) doesn’t come out and say white people or black people but it’s there,” Jennings said.

Contributor: Michael Jung

The post One Porch, One Neighborhood in 53206 appeared first on Wisconsin Votes (or not): High Stakes for the 2018 Midterms.