Wisconsin taxpayers on the hook for infrastructure costs if Foxconn reneges on its obligations to Racine
Three years after committing to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, Foxconn has fallen short on those promises. Now, the company has three years to deliver on another commitment: to begin paying back Racine County...
How the Wisconsin GOP systematically transformed the election system into a Jim Crow-style institution
“We used to be like the gold standard of voting,” said one advocate. Changes in the past decade — and now a pandemic — have added hurdles to voting. Melody McCurtis and Danell Cross start their day early on a recent sunny Sunday morning, going door to door...
Families left to grieve: How politics destroyed lives and keeps Wisconsin’s pandemic response paralyzed
Courts and the Republican-controlled Legislature limited the powers of the Democratic governor. Partisan messaging led many residents to spurn masks and distancing. Harper Marten donned a mask, gown, gloves, face shield and booties for a July 10 visit with her father,...
Resentment in rural communities over COVID-19 shutdowns collides with escalating infection rates
By Lauren Hughes, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; and Roberto Silva, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado Denver As COVID-19 spreads...
Controversial “thin blue line” flag replaces America’s “Stars and Stripes” at Trump rally in Waukesha
Flags matter. They are the tangible symbol of a people united for a cause. That Trump replaced the American flag with the Thin Blue Line flag as the centerpiece of his rally is a rejection of the nation itself in favor of his role as the leader of the alt-right. And...
Trump pushes COVID-19 conspiracies at Waukesha “Superspreader” event as Wisconsin sees deadliest week
Thousands of people gathered during a deadly pandemic at a Trump campaign rally in Waukesha on October 24, where the president again dismissed the seriousness of a coronavirus that has already claimed 220,000 American lives. The president’s rally at Stein’s Aircraft...
A Sundown Town: Wauwatosa Justice Rally highlights violent role of law enforcement in protests
Wauwatosa protesters and residents gathered in Hart Park on Thursday, October 15 for a rally for justice for police shooting victim Alvin Cole, organized by Team Roc, the social justice arm of rapper Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. The rally took place just a few blocks from the...
Reinforcing racial oppression: The lasting trauma Black families face after police encounters
By Deadric T. Williams, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Tennessee; Armon Perry, Professor of Social Work, University of Louisville “The flaw with ‘comply or die’ argument about confrontations with law enforcement is that Black men can...
Wide Awakes: How a Lincoln-era youth movement to safeguard democracy inspired anti-Trump protests
In 1860, on the brink of civil war, caped young men with lanterns sought to safeguard democracy. Now, in a nation divided once more, the group has returned to the light. On 21 September, a tweeted image of an eyeball, with the words “WIDE AWAKE,” accompanied an urgent...
A History of Racism: Understanding how White Americans used lynchings to control Black people
The City of Milwaukee has one documented case of a lynching, involving George Marshall Clark in 1861. For the following 14 years until 1875, eight lynchings took place in Wisconsin. Historians have devoted in-depth analysis to the lynchings that took place in the...
American Rage: Political anger boosts election campaigns but sabotages democracy
By Steven Webster, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Indiana University As the 2020 presidential election draws near, one thing is clear: America is an angry nation. From protests over persistent racial injustice to white nationalist counter-protests, anger is...
Republican’s “ballot security” has historically relied on armed poll watchers and white vigilantism
By Mark Krasovic, Associate Professor of History and American Studies, Rutgers University Newark Even after segregation and Jim Crow voting laws came to a formal end in the south, modern politicians remained susceptible to the temptations of racist dog-whistles as a...
