Brookfield Passes 'Whitewashed' Black History Month Resolution

CITY OF BROOKFIELD, WI— The Common Council voted 12-2 Tuesday to approve a Black History Month resolution revised by Mayor Steve Ponto.

The mayor said the original version was "negative" in tone, but students and an alderman who drafted the original expressed disappointment in the revised resolution.

Aldermen Mike Hallquist, who helped draft the original, and Rick Owen voted against Ponto's revised version. Hallquist accused the mayor of trying to "whitewash" history.

The Legislative and Licensing Committee earlier Tuesday unanimously recommended approval of Ponto's revised resolution.

Brookfield students drafted the original resolution, which included language about the achievements and accomplishments of Black Americans while also recognizing the systemic challenges of racism past and present.

Below is the original resolution.

Students from Brookfield East High School and Brookfield Central High School worked with Hallquist and Shane Arnold, a board member of Mentor Greater Milwaukee, to craft the city's first resolution celebrating Black History Month.

Langston Ford and Jose Zapien Guerra from Brookfield East and Cynthia Lu, Rayanna Hassan and Jana Gharia from Brookfield Central authored the resolution.

Ponto commended the students for the care and research put into the project.

"I think it is appropriate and important to recognize and celebrate the wide range of achievements of Black Americans," Ponto said.

Ponto added that all city proclamations adopted while he has been mayor and while he was alderman have been positive in tone. He told the council that parts of the resolution drafted by the students had "negative comments."

"If they are writing a book, that is fine to include the negative things. But when you are putting the City of Brookfield on the line, I think it should be a positive document," Ponto said.

The mayor presented an alternative resolution that he said accomplished three things.

• It is positive in tone.
• Proclaims the month of February as Black History Month in Brookfield.
• Thanks and recognizes the students for their interest in government and their efforts.

Below is the mayor's new proclamation.

Mayor's Proclamation (1) by Karen Pilarski on Scribd

Jana Gharia, a Brookfield Central High School student, sent Patch a response to the meeting.

"We wrote and proposed a resolution that was thoroughly researched, thought out, and detailed. We wrote our resolution based on the facts. The fact that in the history of this country Black Americans have been mistreated, misrepresented, and discriminated against. They called our resolution 'negative' and continuously made comments on the tone of our resolution. Sometimes history isn’t pretty and our resolution was outlining the harsh reality. Our resolution was not negative; it was mostly positive it was looking to the past to take steps forward.

"Some members of the council took our words as personal attacks, but that is not what it was. It was saying just because you have done something does not mean there is not more to do. One comment was that all the other resolutions in Brookfield have been positive whereas they thought ours was not. There was a resolution passed last month regarding National Migratory Bird Day and that was not all 'positive.' One person even spoke on how this just opens the door for so many other resolutions and they spoke as if that was a bad thing. It is a good thing!!

"Recognizing important weeks, months, people is a positive thing. There was also a comment about how this could turn the council to be political and how rather than focusing on things like this their job is to deal with issues like water. The fact is human rights are not political. Understanding history is not political. Recognizing the discrimination Black Americans face is not political. The fact is the 'positive' spin of our resolution was not our resolution. It was a watered down version that came far from what ours said. I am disappointed. I am disappointed that the city I have lived in for the past 16 years has failed not only me but our community."

'Deeply disappointed'

Hallquist told Patch that he was "deeply disappointed" in the council and Ponto. Hallquist said instead of engaging the students, Ponto wrote his own proclamation and presented it as a "surprise" during the legislative and licensing committee session.

"This prevented the public from reading the resolution and alderpersons from hearing the community's input on the matter," he told Patch.

Hallquist accused the mayor and council of choosing to "whitewash history" by not including the challenges and struggles faced by the Black community in Brookfield.

"The proclamation passed contained no single recognition of hardship, past or present, faced by the Black community, and decidedly glossed over decades of well-understood and researched public policy," he said in a statement.

Hallquist responded to statements regarding the "negative tone" of the submitted resolution. He said there is no positive spin to racism.

"As public officials, now more than ever, our job is not to revise history or put a ‘positive’ spin on centuries of suffering by the Black community. Real leaders tell the truth, no matter how uncomfortable that may make themselves or their community feel," he said.

Hallquist invited the mayor and council members to work with students and other community leaders for next year's proclamation.

"Brookfield cannot claim to be an accepting community if its leaders cannot understand the historical and contemporary existence of racism. Instead of taking a small step forward, this City and a majority of its leaders have demonstrated they are woefully out-of-touch with the direction this community is headed," the statement said.

Hallquist's full statement is included below.