I wish Zilber the best but it is hard to see how money is going to do anything to aid the central city. Over the last half century countless millions have been dumped into the area and its problems are worse than ever. The same story is found in most other major American urban centers (with a few notable exceptions). How many billions in welfare, charitable programs and "investment" have been poured into predominantly black neighborhoods? If money was the answer, Milwaukee’s North Avenue would be Rodeo Drive.

Most blacks have tuned out white America. They say it’s not "our" problem. Indeed, it is hard to see what impact any white person (with the possible exception of the mayor or police chief) can have in the central city of Milwaukee. Most of the problems are societal. The family structure has been destroyed with teenage girls having babies with teenage fathers who end up playing no roles in the lives of their kids. Marriage is an endangered institution. Thousands of black kids join gangs and become criminals long before they are adults. In the midst of it all, the black church is largely abandoning its responsibility for moral guidance and is instead becoming the epicenter of the blame game. (Barack Obama is right; a lot of pastors talk like Jeremiah Wright.)

In the meantime, only a handful of black leaders move away from racial demagoguery to challenge their communities. Bill Cosby is one of them. In a recent speech at an Atlanta high school, Cosby ripped the apathy that grips many blacks when it comes to the devastation in their own communities:

"The mother’s on crack cocaine. Pass the salt. That girl’s baby has no father. Pass the salt. Oh, he shot him in the head? Pass the salt. We look at failure, and we’re like, ‘Pass the salt.’" So said Cosby before going on to blast other blacks who tell him to stop speaking of these things. "That’s crazy," he said. "There are black people who have to walk around this dirty laundry."

In Milwaukee, there is no equivalent of Cosby. Here we have Junior McGee. The leading black newspaper columnist is terrified of confronting black sociopathy. The only Milwaukee black leader ever heard to confront problems of criminality and family instability is Sheriff David Clarke, and his comments are often criticized.

How is Joe Zilber’s $50 million going to be spent? On more basketball courts? Social workers? Condom giveaways? One Milwaukee version of Bill Cosby right now would do more good than a billion dollars of urban aid. This is not to disparage Zilber’s generosity. He’s not spending his fortune on legacies to himself (like a few of our other aging zillionaires). It’s just hard to see how money can be a substitute for moral leadership.

They’re getting it right at Messmer and St. Joan Antida high schools. Some black parents are sticking it out and raising great families. But far too many are in unending cycles of personal destruction that cannot be fixed with white money. Even columns like mine are essentially pointless. The solution to black Milwaukee’s problem must come from black Milwaukee.

* * *

A lot of politicians are posing for press release holy pictures in the wake of the terrible auto crash caused by former surgeon Mark Benson, the guy who plowed his vehicle into the back of a car driven by a much-admired school official and some kids. Most of the proposed "solutions" wouldn’t have addressed Benson’s situation.

Some want to make third-time drunken driving a felony. That may or may not be a good idea but it wouldn’t have made a difference with Benson. He was nailed for his third "driving while blasted" ticket over a year ago. Felony or not, he would have been free on bail until his trial. Even Benson’s latest incident - the horrifying one - wouldn’t be covered by drunken driving laws. He was high on pills, not booze.

Other proposals focus on taking cars away from OWI convictees. That’s silly. There may be nothing easier to obtain in our society than another car. Some headline-grabbers want to permanently strip driver’s licenses. Benson didn’t have a valid license when he caused the latest crash nor do most driving scofflaws. The same people suddenly talking tough about Benson are the ones who also say we should stop filling jails with "non-violent" offenders and need to find alternatives for incarcerating chronic drug users.

Mark Benson is a guy who had it all and destroyed his life by worshipping the liquor and pill bottles. To try to find a solution in the law to prevent such self-destructive behavior is likely an exercise in futility.

(Mark Belling is the host of a daily WISN radio talk show. His column runs Wednesdays in The Freeman.)