BY CLAYBORN BENSON, FOUNDER, WISCONSIN BLACK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
As we think about this country’s 250 years of democracy, we must acknowledge the levels of democracy that exist in our country. As an American, the notion of democracy brings me joy, but the reality is quite different. Particularly in Milwaukee, still too few African Americans are getting a good education, efforts to disenfranchise our voting rights continue, and grocery stores are able to pull out of our neighborhood in the dark of night, creating food deserts in our community in violation of the Fair Housing Act. That is not democracy.
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My thoughts on democracy echo those of Frederick Douglass in 1852.
“I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. The Fourth of July is yours, not mine.”
The blame for this disparity is broad. African Americans must share in this, but the bar is set high. We must fight for this; no savior is coming to our door. We must look within ourselves and our community to overcome the many inequities that continue to exist. If we want change, it must start with us.
