At the Social Development Commission’s first Poverty Symposium in September 2007, the community identified three issues as the main drivers of poverty in Milwaukee: job opportunities, education and racism. As a result, the Social Development Commission (SDC) organized community partners into the Bridge of Hope Coalition and formed committees to address the three identified issues. In turn, the Bridge of Hope’s Antiracism Committee focused its efforts on the issue of black male joblessness.

The issue of black male joblessness is an acute problem for Milwaukee. According to Dr. Marc Levine at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, over 51% of black males are not employed in Milwaukee. Worse still, Milwaukee has the highest racial disparity in male joblessness in the nation. This disparity is an indicator that there are structural issues within Milwaukee’s economy—issues that are negatively impacting Milwaukee’s low-income black families.

To better understand why Milwaukee has a high rate of black male joblessness, the Antiracism Committee organized a public hearing to solicit comments from community members. SDC is the designated community action agency for Milwaukee County, which grants the agency a quasi-governmental status—empowering SDC to hold public hearings pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute. SDC called an open public hearing on June 18, 2009 at Heart Love Place Ministries. This document summarizes the information collected from that hearing.