Madison Common Council is majority minority

Posted on April 8, 2021 by David Blaska

Got melanin?

Vote for me because I am (pick one): ☑️ Black, ☑️ Hispanic, ☑️ Queer, ☑️ Transgender, ☑️ Disabled. But if you pitched your candidacy that your are 🔲 White you would be called a racist. You would, in fact, be racist. The Werkes longs for the day when our politics returns to who is ☑️ Best Qualified and aligns with your values.

Ruben_MamoulianAt least one of the candidates for Madison alder actually pitched her candidacy on her skin color! In his ill-fated campaign for Madison school board in 2019, Blaska blamed his lack of melanin on poor parenting. 

Only two of the 13 incumbents seeking re-election lost on April 6 — and it wasn’t their ideology, necessarily. Two political opposites: pro-cop Paul Skidmore on the moderate right and cop-basher Rebecca Kemble on the hard, stalinist left. The most effective defender and the worst enemy of police, respectively. Stranger yet, the woman who beat pro-cop Skidmore is Defund the Police. The man who beat Kemble supports the police. You can’t tell the Werkes that those districts overnight stood their politics on their heads. Something else was at play. The two defeated incumbents were both white; the winning challengers, both black. 

Scratch the average Madison voter and they will attempt to allay their guilty white privilege by voting race.

Of the 20 Madison alders, 12 are now what unofficially are considered People of Color — black, hispanic, or middle eastern. I.E., 60% of the Common Council is minority race in a city that is 75% non-hispanic white.

(They are Barbara Harrington-McKinney, Brian Benford, Nasra Wehelie, Julianna Bennett, Nikki Conklin, Yanette Figueroa Cole, Arvina Martin, Syed Abbas, Sheri Carter, Jael Currie, Charles Myadze and Christian Albouras.)

That’s up from 8 on the previous council. 

(As long as we are doing identity politics: half are women, the other half … well, let’s not jump to conclusions. Gosh, we are cheeky monkeys today!)

Two organizations specifically sought to elect People of Color. Adelante Madison (Gloria Reyes, president; Juan Jose Lopez, veep) hispanics. The other is Blacks for Political and Social Action of Dane County.

“DAAANG!!,” says Kaleem Caire on social media. 

“MADISON STOOD UP! Now, let’s show what leading for Equity & Inclusion really means! I am screaming and crying over here!”

[Mr. Caire continues] Many of us who grew up here, and have families that go back multiple generations, never thought this was possible in Madison. We rarely if ever saw a reflection of ourselves in significant leadership roles when we were young. As a result, many of us tolerated a second class status, limited inclusion (if at all), or we moved away to seek opportunities and inclusion elsewhere. …

It is important for our children to see achievements and progress like this — that we (people of color) can work hard, win elections and gain support here.

Madison also has a black chief of police, a black sheriff, a black district attorney, and a black superintendent of public schools.

We get the role model thing, we really do. But there is a qualitative difference between an alder who bashes the police and one who supports public safety through enlightened policing. Between a school board member who sides with the teachers union and their bennies and one who puts students first. In other words, policy matters. Are Nikki Conklin and Charles Myadze two peas in the same political pod? Both are black; both beat incumbents — Skidmore and Kemble, respectively. But Conklin is Progressive Dane anti-cop, Myadze is a pro-police mainstream Democrat.

Ald. Sheri Carter
Brandi Grayson

The best illustration is in the south side’s 14th District. Both candidates were (and remain) black. Common Council president Sheri Carter, a pro-police ally of Skidmore, turned back BLM cop basher Brandi Grayson, 65-35%. (The cop-bashing candidates listed here.) That minority-majority district does not take policing’s role in neighborhood safety for granted. It rejected Grayson’s slur that Carter was not black enough. (BTW: the Werkes has discontinued capitalizing races.)

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Policy matters. I think Kaleem Caire knows that as well as anyone. We agree with his hope:

[that] this is a moment where all voices will be heard and where true nonpartisan legislative efforts … will take root. I also hope the well-being of children and families take center stage, and that business, government, and our social sector thrive, too.

What role SHOULD race play in elections?

About David Blaska

Madison WI
This entry was posted in Madison aldermanic elections 2021, Madison city government, Race, Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Madison Common Council is majority minority

  1. One eye says:
    April 8, 2021 at 11:10 am

    I think people genuinely hated Kemble. Skidmore became a victim of the district’s demographics.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Steve Witherspoon says:
    April 8, 2021 at 11:23 am

    What role SHOULD race play in elections?

    Absolutely None! It’s actually racist to take race into consideration.

    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character..” Martin Luther King Jr.

    This dream has been bastardized so badly in the 21st century that it in some instances it’s being completely ignored. Our society is in the process of completely shifting into the unethical abyss of identity politics and those identities now appear to be the core of all things socially motivated and a lot of things politically motivated. Identity politics are beginning to override everything else. Identity politics have divided our culture into tribes of self-centered bigoted groups of people that “feel” entitled simply because of their identity. These self-isolating identities are things like male, female, choice of gender, gay, straight, black, white, Latino, Asian, race, ethnicity, police, authority, victim-hood, conservative, liberal, progressive, socialist, the list goes on and on.

    What’s worse is that this particular dream is been ignored by a vast majority of the very tribe of people that King was fighting for, the black community. The 21st century black community has shifted to almost entirely being an identity group of people that want to be judged by the color of their skin and some demand to receive preferential treatment specifically because of their skin color. What we are seeing across the United States is unethical rationalizations demanding special treatment specifically because of the color of their skin regardless of the content of their character, their behavior, or their morals. This immoral behavior is becoming more and more socially acceptable within the sub-culture of the black community and it’s slowly destroying the character of growing black children and entire future generations are being set up for failure. This behavior is clearly a complete bastardization of King’s dream to “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character“.

    King wanted race to be completely removed from equality in opportunity and not have people prejudged based on the color of their skin or race. What we are seeing now is that if tribes of people don’t get what they want from others, like illogical equality in outcomes, they falsely claim that they’re being oppressed and publicly smear anyone that disagrees with them; it’s unquestionably bigotry, tribal discrimination, and in some cases open racism. There are people wearing clothing that says things like “Fuck White People” and “All White People Are Racist” and others making ridiculous claims that police are specifically trained to kill black students. To racists everything is about race.

    SOURCE: The 21st Century’s Bastardization of “I Have A Dream”

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  3. Balboa says:
    April 8, 2021 at 12:02 pm

    David, “Best Qualified and aligns with you values” Those assumptions are based upon racist ideology brought on by centuries of white supremacy.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Normwegian says:
      April 8, 2021 at 4:28 pm

      yup, that makes Ever’s choice of Barrett for Dane County Sheriff fit your ideology. Qualifications had little to do with Ever’s choice.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. georgessson says:
    April 8, 2021 at 5:53 pm

    Dave are ya sayin’, GASP, sumthin’ very un-PC here? Confirm please, so’s I can applaud…

    1. “Blaska blamed his lack of melanin on poor parenting.”

    2. “Something else was at play. The two defeated incumbents were both white; the winning challengers, both black.”

    3. “(As long as we are doing identity politics: half are women, the other half … well, let’s not jump to conclusions. Gosh, we are cheeky monkeys today!)”

    That said, I was VERY disappointed w/ Kaleem’s comments on social media. “Tolerated a second-class status.” Not so at all. For decades, even before LBJ, this community supported and anyone/everyone who worked and achieved. Yes, quietly -but otherwise wouldn’t it be be condescending. And… “Equity” as currently understood = Free Stuff.

    I know many folks of all political stances read your blog. I hope they pass along -we need less victimhood and hopelessness, (Caire !). The future is now, achievement & success await any & all.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. jimydandy says:
    April 9, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    Not black enough? Maybe too much American in her?

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