Wisconsin’s Most Vulnerable Re
By Catoya Roberts
Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in the country. The systematic racism and biases placed on the Black and Brown people in this community are never-ending. I have often heard people say that Wisconsin is a southern state placed in the north. The disparities and racism show this to be true. What happened with this week’s primary election is a perfect example of all this.
In the midst of a global health crisis, the Republicans and the State Supreme Court forced people to break the Safer at Home Ordinance to vote in-person. Monday afternoon around 1 pm CT, Gov. Tony Evers (D) made an executive order for the election to be postponed until June. The leaders of the Republican party had an emergency meeting to appeal the executive order, and in a 5 – 4 decision, the Supreme Court stated the election would still go on. On the morning of the election, the Supreme Court met virtually to discuss their decision, while expecting people to go and vote in person.
The City of Milwaukee normally has 180 polling sites throughout the city. For Tuesday’s election, only five sites were open. Five! Further, what usually takes people about five minutes became more than an hour-long wait. Election officials made hand sanitizer available, but is that enough when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated we should all be wearing masks? There were long lines of people trying to maintain a six-foot distance from one another but the high school gyms serving as polling sites are not that big, and it is clear that there is only so much that can be done.
Rev. Brisco a leader in Milwaukee spoke out about Tuesday’s election. He said, “Today I bore witness to the most heartless and immoral act committed against the citizens of this state in my life. In the midst of a global pandemic with the state under a mandate to remain indoors in order to stop the spread of the virus, the state Supreme Court overturned the governor’s order to delay the election thereby putting thousands in harm’s way, risking life for power and political control.”
Our Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes also made a comment stating “People died fighting for the right to vote, and now people might die if they vote. Today’s election in Wisconsin is far from free and fair—politicians are silencing the voices of Wisconsinites, especially Black and Brown communities, or putting us in harm’s way for their own partisan gain.
As of Monday, April 6, 45 Milwaukee residents died from COVID-19 and 33 of them were Black. Blacks make up around 38 percent of the population in Milwaukee and around 6 percent of the state of Wisconsin. And now, 73 percent of the deaths in Milwaukee from COVID-19 have consisted of Black people. With numbers like these, why would anyone think it is okay to put the Black people of Milwaukee at risk?
At Advancement Project National Office, we have been working across the country in Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida to tackle voter suppression and racial disparities. This fight is a long-standing one and we are in it for the long haul. Across the country, people are taking advantage of COVID-19 to create more barriers for Black, Brown and poor people. We are working to ensure that people’s basic human rights are given to them.
All of the public health officials in the state of Wisconsin asked for this election to be postponed or at least for it to be an absentee ballot election. The fact that lawmakers continued to go on with the election, speaks volumes to how they feel about the health or well-being of the people in Wisconsin. Over the last couple of days, news outlets have been reporting on the spike in COVID-19 cases as well as deaths during this week.
One thing for sure is that the Black and Brown folks in the City of Milwaukee are resilient. Despite everything being thrown at them, they are showing up to vote and willing to risk their health in the process. The people in Milwaukee know that this is an important election for our state, and they are getting out there and going to vote. After standing in long lines, people were turned away, told they were either at the wrong polling location or they requested an absentee ballot and their name is not on the roll.
We have seen time and time again Black and Brown communities being used as the sacrificial lamb. When will this end? In the state of Wisconsin, we want free and fair Elections for all people.
Catoya Roberts is a Milwaukee resident and Formation National Network Coordinator for Advancement Project National Office, a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization.