They were terrified by Brewers' surveys saying white fans would be reluctant to attend games at a stadium located downtown. There is a big difference between staying away from a theoretical stadium and staying away from a real one. A real stadium, especially one surrounded by restaurants, clubs, theaters and other entertainment attractions, has a lot more public appeal. No one ever mentioned race, of course. For all we know, people had a negative image of downtown because so many insurance agents were located there.
Racism clearly is a factor in what is happening to malls.
White suburban malls are thriving and expanding. There is even less to Milwaukee's downtown Grand Avenue Mall than meets the eye. Anyone walking through without looking closely may not realize that many shop windows are merely billboards, using vacant space to advertise the remaining businesses located elsewhere in the center. Of course, it could be argued that malls are a particularly shallow and artificial form of human achievement, making them a natural fit for suburban white cultures. That's why downtown department stores are disappearing all over the country at the same time the urban black middle class is growing.