Jim Stingl Doesn't Like Cruising

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl uses his suburban white-guy reasoning skills in his latest piece of tripe by claiming that the crackdown on cruising in Milwaukee is because the cruising of today (predominantly by black people) is different than the cruising of yesterday (predominantly by white folks).

For starters, six guns were recovered in last weekend's crackdown by the
cops.

[...]

Two weekends earlier, three young men were shot while cruising. Clearly,
cruising is not just an alternative to too few roller rinks and ice cream
socials for the kids.

Stingl might as well buy a billboard with his picture and the word "disconnected" in five foot letters under it, because suggesting that "roller rinks and ice cream socials" is the natural alternative to cruising just goes to show how little he knows about the lives of these kids.

Society as a whole has failed these youngsters in providing an outlet for their entertainment needs. Scott Walker has closed city pools. Mayfair has all but banished them from their hallowed halls of capitalism. God forbid a theater shows a movie that might be of some interest to them. After all, we wouldn't want North Shore Nancy frightened away from buying her 20th pair of Manolos just because a rapper expanded his career to the silver screen.

(That's right. Suburban white women like expensive shoes, too. Fortunately for them their husbands make enough money at the brokerage that they don't have to shoot one another for a pair. )

In the city of Milwaukee, being an African American means you're pretty much barred from enjoying the same things white people do. Now, that seems to include cruising. Sorry, Jim, if it's not the same cruising you, George Lucas and The Fonz all must have enjoyed, but times change.

Sorry your closed mind never will.

Added Thought: Apparently the fact that this cruising takes place in a bad part of town, or east of 125th as some like to think of it, is completely lost on Jim. Is it any surprise guns were found on some of these youngsters? Aren't the wing-nuts always talking about the value of having a gun in order to protect themselves? Oh...that's right. Blacks must be banned from that as well.