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Attacks on teaching Systemic Racism mirror the shrieking fear tactics used by Joe McCarthy

“Because he’s weak. And don’t ask me to get inside the mind of a liberal, progressive, socialist, Marxist like President Biden.” – Ron Johnson, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin “Johnson means them all as epithets rather than ideological descriptors. You can see that in that he doesn’t know the differences between them.” – Kennan Ferguson, UW-Milwaukee political science professor Lately Republican lawmakers and those opposed to the teaching of systemic racism have gone on the warpath using the word “Marxist” to make their points. They are attacking the principle of systemic racism by attacking the concept known as Critical Race...

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Textbook White Fragility: Wisconsin legislators seek to prevent historical truths from being taught in school

A century ago, African American citizens of the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had their community decimated within the span of eighteen hours. Spurred by a rumor of alleged sexual assault of a white female by a Black teenager in an elevator, the Black neighborhood was under siege by a mob of whites fueled by jealousy and hate. Hours of unending gunfire, arson, looting, and physical violence emerged; while simultaneous dropping of turpentine bombs served as a horrific crescendo. Among the ashes lay the bodies of Black men, women, and children who had been killed by a deputized white...

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Waukesha Republican seeks deployment of National Guard troops to occupy Milwaukee’s Black community

A Waukesha County Republican said that armed troops patrolling the streets of Milwaukee is necessary for residents to feel like they don’t live in a “warzone-like setting.” State Representative Joe Sanfelippo (R–New Berlin), concerned about recent increases in violent crime in the state’s largest city, said in a news release on June 15 that despite his frequent attempts to introduce solutions he considers sensible — like making it easier to revoke parole or send children to detention facilities — Milwaukee is becoming too dangerous. Sanfelippo called on Governor Tony Evers to activate the Wisconsin National Guard to patrol Milwaukee...

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New Federal Holiday: Congress to formally recognize Juneteenth as the nation’s “second” Independence Day

The Senate unanimously approved a bill on June 15 that would make Juneteenth, or June 19th, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The bill would lead to Juneteenth becoming the 12th federal holiday. It is expected to easily pass the House, which would send it to President Joe Biden for his signature. Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. Confederate soldiers surrendered in April 1865, but word did not reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Galveston,...

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Wisconsin’s response to the pandemic foreshadows the national battle against vaccine hesitancy

The fight against the coronavirus hit a milestone in the United States when the Biden administration announcing more than half of adult Americans are now fully vaccinated. But big issues remain and perhaps few states illustrate the struggles ahead better than Wisconsin. Vaccination rates in Wisconsin vary widely between rural and urban areas and political, religious and racial divides – a pattern that mirrors the divide across the nation. The state is almost evenly divided, with 47% of its population vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the Wisconsin department of health. That...

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A world of disinformation: How countries used COVID-19 as an excuse to crackdown on press freedom

By Sara Torsner, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield; and Jackie Harrison, Professor of Public Communication, Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield A government’s fear of scrutiny and criticism often determines how repressive it is toward the press. The greater the fear, the greater the loss of press freedom. Of course governments dislike appearing afraid, so they hide their fear under the cover of “a reasonable excuse”. Such an excuse is often related to protecting national security or the public interest. Even better is the cover of a national emergency....

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