Photo credit: Benson Kua
Several events highlighted January’s constellation of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (which is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz) and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And, with Black History Month in the offing, they underscored exactly why we celebrate them.
As if to remind us, an Oak Creek Nazi, previously accused of vandalizing a Racine synagogue, was arrested as part of an FBI round up of domestic terrorists. In Baraboo, Wis., a lawsuit has been filed by an African American girl against the same school made infamous by a class photo showing boys making the straight-arm Nazi salute and flashing white power hand signs. The suit alleges the student suffered racist bullying over years with no intervention by school authorities.
Meanwhile, a Wisconsin conservative group’s lawsuit attempting to purge the state’s voter registration rolls ahead of the 2020 election cycle continued through the courts. Targeting more than 200,000 largely minority voters in Milwaukee and Madison, the idea is to suppress Democratic voter turnout.
Against this backdrop, a state assembly Republican tried to influence the process of selecting those to be feted during Black History Month. The action reprised last year’s exercise of blatant white privilege when Republicans deleted black athlete-activist Colin Kaepernick from a list of African Americans to be recognized as proposed by the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus. This time, the Republican suggested a slate comprised of mostly white personalities. What better way to celebrate Black History Month than by honoring white folks, right? And yes, it included Civil War-era abolitionists and individuals involved with the local Underground Railroad. However, it is not the purpose of Black History Month to laude white people for doing the right thing. Perhaps Wisconsin’s legislators should create a separate month recognizing local human rights activists of whatever hue. Of course, the danger therein is that they might put former Republican Sen. Joe McCarthy at the top the list.
Party of White Privilege?
One wonders whether such oblivious tone-deafness is strategic or just so rooted in the Republican psyche that it doesn’t occur to them to curb their white privilege, if only for a month. Still, given the state of the national discourse these days, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a party that sees moral equivalence between fascism and anti-fascism should be caught stoking the coals of racism under the guise of being helpful. It appears the GOP wishes to uphold Wisconsin’s reputation for being the nation’s most segregated state, especially in an election year when constituents are watching.
Both minority voter suppression and the idea of dictating who is worthy of recognition during Black History Month are the latest ploys by Wisconsin Republicans to remind our populations of color that white people are still in control and intend to remain so.
Meanwhile, there was a sign of hope: A proposed bill requiring the teaching of Holocaust and genocide history in the state’s middle and high schools is being circulated for lawmakers’ signatures. That might help.
Actually, within the LGBTQ community, such education is necessary as well. This year (of all years), save for Diverse & Resilient, our local institutions ignored both MLK and Holocaust Memorial Days. As MLK once said, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” That quote and the 2020 Holocaust Memorial Day’s theme, “Stand Together,” should remind us of our common cause.
