August 14 Election: Crucial to Milwaukee’s Future

By Larry Miller

There are crucial elections occurring on August 14. Private school vouchers are a central issue facing the candidates. While the Republican Party stands firmly behind voucher privatization, too many Democrats stand with them.

I hear Democrats say this or that person is good on most issues, just not vouchers. We can no longer say that vouchers and privatization of public education is a secondary or side issue. Just as Republicans have abandoned any real demand for jobs in Milwaukee’s communities of color, so have too many Democrats. We have also seen both sides of the aisle silent on the discriminatory criminal justice and incarceration policies that mainly affect African-American men.

I determined my support on these issues; voucher school privatization, jobs for poor communities in Milwaukee and the fight to end the new Jim Crow policies of incarceration of black men under the guise of the “war on drugs.”

I give my support to Mandela Barnes and Nikiya Harris. They will be new voices in the state legislature not afraid to address these life-and-death issues.

An important determinant for me in these crucial elections has been the involvement of the American Federation for Children (AFC). This Michigan-based right-wing organization is pro-voucher and has the support of the Tea Party and the Koch brothers. The AFC actively opposes the election of Mandela Barnes and the Nikiya Harris, along with Sandy Pasch (another candidate I support.)

Opposition by the AFC is a clear indication of who to vote for on issues of school privatization, jobs for the black community, discriminatory criminal justice issues, healthcare and much more. There has been silence by some Democrats in response to the AFC’s opportunist falsehoods and fabrications.

Please vote August 14. Your vote matters.

In putting forward these endorsements, I in no way represent the MPS board of directors or any of its members, including MPS school Board President Michael Bonds who has maintained neutrality in these Senate and Assembly races.