PERSPECTIVE ON RACE RELATIONS : A Revolt by the Underclass? : America must promote social and economic equality now; otherwise inner-city militias could become reality.

In recent months, Michael McGee, a black alderman in Milwaukee, has stated that he will establish a Black Panther Community Militia that will take violent action to defend the African-American community against further decline, if its social and economic conditions are not improved by 1995.

His threat of violence has stimulated divergent responses in Milwaukee’s black and white communities. McGee’s demand has been condemned by the mayor, the county executive, the majority of Milwaukee’s white citizens and a few blacks.

Yet Milwaukee’s overall black community, and its civic, religious and political leaders, while cautioning against violence, have strongly endorsed McGee’s call for greater attention to and resolution of the devastating social and economic problems confronting African-Americans in Milwaukee. These social and economic realities constitute a “geography of despair” and are replicated in major cities from Los Angeles to Miami and in all other urban centers in the United States. Although these depressing realities have been largely stimulated by structural changes in the national and global economies, their negative impacts have been borne disproportionately by African-Americans, Latinos, new Asian immigrants, Native Americans and increasing numbers of dislocated white Americans.

Moreover, the emerging view of African-American members of this disenfranchised and dispossessed group, widely labeled as the underclass, is that racism is at the core of their inability to get a piece of the good life. And based on their historical experience in the United States, they are strongly resistant to the view that the origin of their declining standard of living is not related to race.

In 1968, the Kerner Commission concluded that the nation was moving toward the permanent establishment of two communities--one black, one white, separate and unequal. On the 20th anniversary of the report’s publication, it was found that not only had conditions for blacks worsened but that they were further complicated by issues of class.

Our nation, perhaps unintentionally, is withholding the American dream from a large portion of its people, and they are becoming increasingly angry and restless. Traits of this underclass include a high rate of long-term welfare “dependency, family disruptions, teen pregnancy and a low rate of employment, especially for males.

In addition, members of the underclass have a world view and a value system that differ sharply from the mainstream, but that make sense in light of their hard experience. With its ranks swelling faster than any other social-class group and its growing social and economic isolation, our inattentiveness to its urgent needs spells trouble. In Milwaukee, McGee has brought the status of the underclass into sharp focus and gives eloquent and discomfitting voice to their intense despair.

The average black citizen has witnessed the plight of the underclass firsthand and understands McGee’s deep frustration. But the white community has generally chosen to focus on McGee’s tactics rather than solutions to the problems. Meanwhile, social conditions continue to deteriorate for black Milwaukeeans and other urban citizens of color throughout America.

To combat these problems, we must take steps aimed at improving the life chances of members of the underclass, targeting those most in need: adults with low skills and limited work history and youth who are teen parents or school drop-outs. And a strategic plan for allocating resources to alleviate social ills associated with concentrated poverty must be set in place. The post-industrial society of the 21st Century will require new types of program networks to address the complex needs of our urban underclass.

It is imperative that we come together to make our urban communities better places for all of our citizens so that our increasingly pluralistic nation survives and prospers. If we do nothing, we could find ourselves unwillingly fueling the creation of urban militias across America. We must seize the opportunity to promote social and economic equity, now.