Bucks President Peter Feigin Clarifies Comments on Milwaukee's Racial Issues

Last Wednesday, Milwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin called his team's city the "most segregated, racist place" he's been to in his life, per the Wisconsin State Journal's Dennis Punzel. But he praised the metropolis in a statement Tuesday, per Mary Spicuzza and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"Milwaukee is a terrific community with wonderful people, and I am proud to be a part of it," Feigin said. "I was addressing a question about the social, economic and geographic divides that exist and how we can help address them. It wasn't my intention to characterize the general community as overtly racist."

Feigin's comments about racial unrest and segregation in the city came when he was talking to the Rotary Club of Madison, according to Punzer. Feigin also said Milwaukee "is antiquated" and "in desperate need of repair."

In January, Lolly Bowean of the Chicago Tribune reported that demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution analyzed data that showed Milwaukee was the most segregated large city in the United States, just ahead of New York City and Chicago.

In response to Feigin's comments, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he wants to work with the Bucks organization to improve racial inequalities in the city, per Spicuzza and Gardner. Bucks co-owner Wes Edens also said his team is committed to helping the city improve.

Spicuzza and Gardner pointed out the Bucks owners agreed to pay workers at the team's arena at least $12 per hour next year and $15 per hour by 2023. They also agreed to protect those workers' rights to unionize and hire from the city's highest-poverty areas.

"The deal ... focuses on what are typically low-wage, service-sector jobs, such as [those in] food service, janitorial, maintenance and security," per Spicuzza and Gardner.

The Bucks open the 2016-17 season at home against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 26.