Milwaukee should be a great city.

It should be a world-class city.

But it’s not.

The reasons for this dilemma are quite obvious, though you can’t say them publicly in 2023 America if you wish to be able to make public appearances without armed guards.

Milwaukee is 37 percent white and 40 percent black.

And the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission helps us understand why the city isn’t a great city. The authors of the review analyze every shooting and homicide to determine why it happened (completely dispelling the idea “gang violence” is to blame for the bloodshed), and they break each one down by race of victim and race of suspect as well.

Imagine if every major US city performed this service as Milwaukee does?

It’s not even a good city, and here’s why:

• 98.23 percent of known homicide suspects in 2023 Milwaukee were people of color (87.61 percent being black)
• 98.14 percent of known nonfatal shooting suspects in 2023 Milwaukee were people of color (88.82 percent being black)

In 2023 Milwaukee, there were 169 homicides and 825 nonfatal shootings.

The non-white community of Milwaukee was responsible for 98.23 percent of known homicide suspects and 98.14 percent of known nonfatal shooting suspects.

Imagine how much gun crime would happen in an all-white Milwaukee… virtually none. And remember: this is just a thought experiment. The majority of nonfatal shootings in 2023 Milwaukee don’t even have suspects… how high do you think the percentage of non-white suspects would be if the clearance rate was just a little higher?

Do you understand why Milwaukee isn’t a great city?

Do you understand why Milwaukee isn’t a world-class city?