The People of the Protest: In Their Own Words

Tuesday’s protest of thousands in Milwaukee might have been the biggest one yet.

Throughout the day, the hottest day in Milwaukee so far in 2020, it was peaceful. It was loud. And it was mobile, traversing more than four miles in three hours after the march started in Humboldt Park at 1 p.m. and reached the Third Ward by 4 o’clock.

We asked marchers why they were there,
What they think will happen next,
And what they hope the protests will achieve.

Alice Young

What “White Silence Is Violence” means to me is that wrong is wrong regardless of the color of your skin. If you can see that this black man [George Floyd] was killed needlessly and had done nothing wrong, you should be disturbed too. That’s a life.

 

White silence doesn’t mean someone who sympathizes with us but just stays at home. It’s the white people who turn a blind eye.

 

You don’t feel no sympathy for this life?

 

The other day on social media, I saw someone say “Oh another one gone.” Did they mean another man? Another life? Another God-fearing child?

 

No, they meant just another black man.

Andy Lira

There’s a lot of police brutality going on, especially toward black people. This has been going on for two centuries. It’s about time something changes.

 

There’s plenty that has to happen.

 

The cops that do these things, they have to punish them.

 

To begin with, they need to do something about the cops beating people. I feel like they need better training.

Gabriella Castillo

Normal citizens, if you did something, your record is public. With cops, nobody knows.

 

Our track record is online. Why isn’t theirs?

 

We need a policy for people with track records. They need an excessive brutality policy, something for someone with a lot of complaints.

Olivia Gonzalez

Other voices need to be heard. It’s not my story to tell.

 

I have rooted white privilege because of the community I grew up in, which is 88% white, even though I am Hispanic.

 

I can use my privilege to augment other people’s stories.

Jack Geisler

Thanks to my daughters, I’ve grown up a bit. 

I used to look at these situations where police had questionable actions and tended to side with police automatically.

 

But my youngest daughter is a social worker. She’s been on me for a long time. This George Floyd thing was beyond the pale.

 

I used to say, “Let the courts play it out.” That’s how the justice system works. But there’s no trial needed on this one.

 

In large part, I’m here to protect my daughters. My ultimate goal would be to stop the endless violence that seems to be perpetual. But I guess that’s what endless means.

Tori George

When I was in fifth grade, someone made a joke “We can’t play hide and seek with you. We can’t find you in the dark.” Someone else said that “When God made black people, he left you all out in the sun too long.”

 

That sticks with me.

 

It’s still relevant. There’s still people who think like that, somehow. I never got an apology for anything.

 

We want it (racism) to be over. It’s been going on for too long.

 

These protests can help people understand.

Joe

Because this matters.

 

I was a refugee from Cuba during the proxy war between Russia and the U.S.

 

I watched the 1968 riots in Milwaukee from my window. This does seem similar.

 

There was a lot of turmoil in the ’60s; you had the Vietnam War.

 

Now, I hope there’s monumental changes in this country. I want the entire system to change: a more open society, more inclusiveness, free health care, everything Bernie Sanders was talking about.

 

We need to vote all of Congress and the Senate voted out, except maybe Bernie Sanders.

 

The old guard has to go. There should be term limits, a peaceful revolution in this country.

 

The average American has lost their voice in Washington.

 

This state needs to be turned over [with] more representation. I’m tired of old white men and old white women telling us how to live our lives.