Now he’s facing years in jail
Black alderman fought Depression-level poverty in Milwaukee
By
Bryan G. Pfeifer
Milwaukee, Wis.
Published Oct 18, 2008 7:26 AM
Former Milwaukee City Alderman Michael McGee Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced
on Oct. 24. An all-white jury in August convicted him in federal court of nine
corruption charges. McGee, an African American, faces six-and-a-half to 10
years on these federal counts; a state trial begins Dec. 1 on yet more
charges.
U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert on Oct. 10 denied McGee’s request to
delay the sentencing and grant him an additional 20 days to respond to a
pre-sentence report.
McGee and his many supporters, almost all from the Black community, who
witnessed the federal trial, say that he was entrapped, that prosecution
witnesses contradicted themselves during the trial, and that the prosecution
was allowed to enter fabricated evidence and attempt to pit Arab witnesses
against Black ones.
McGee’s supporters have submitted to the sentencing court numerous
letters that describe his strong support of poor and working people,
particularly of youth, during his terms as Sixth District alderman from April
2004 to 2008. McGee fought police brutality, questioned the rapid
gentrification of working-class neighborhoods, wrote a letter to Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez inquiring about heating oil assistance for poor
Milwaukeeans, fought to broaden affirmative action in contract bidding and city
hiring policies, fought massive tax breaks for corporations in the city, and
supported political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, among other progressive
activities. (For background, search for Michael McGee at workers.org.)
Many questions surround this case, but the central one is: Why are the state
and federal governments willing to spend hundreds of thousands, if not
millions, of dollars railroading McGee and locking him up, possibly for
years?
Why McGee has wide community support
McGee has been moved to various jails since his arrest on May 28, 2007. He has
been denied bail, had his jail phones tapped by local police agencies and the
FBI, been subject to racist depictions in the corporate media, and worse. Other
white politicians facing similar charges over the past few years have been
released on bail and served minor jail or prison terms, if any time at all.
McGee’s progressive activities have received virtually no coverage in the
corporate media, although he has been a community activist for decades. Nor has
the media investigated the social conditions in Milwaukee that have led to his
widespread support in the Black community. It is impossible to analyze
McGee’s case without putting it into a social, political and economic
context—exactly what is lacking in the racist corporate media.
McGee was one of the very few politicians to actively participate in
alleviating the semi-apartheid conditions that exist in Milwaukee, the most
segregated city in the United States.
Consider these facts about Milwaukee:
• One in every four residents lives below the poverty level,
according to federal statistics. For Black Milwaukee, semi-apartheid conditions
are the norm and have gotten even worse in recent years with the dismantling of
Aid for Dependent Children and welfare, as well as the introduction of charter
schools.
• Infant mortality for Black babies is 21 per 1,000 live
births—more than four times the rate for whites. (Wisconsin Department of
Health and Family Services and the Black Health Coalition of Milwaukee)
• Although Blacks comprise only 5 percent of Wisconsin’s total
population of 5 million, they make up more than 50 percent of the prison
population. The number of Black and Latina women in prison in the state has
skyrocketed since the early 1990s. (The Sentencing Project)
• Unemployment in metro Milwaukee among African-American males ages
16 to 64 increased to 51.1 percent last year from 46.8 percent in 2006. This is
probably the highest jobless rate Black men here have ever suffered, according
to a just-released report by The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for
Economic Development. Milwaukee has the biggest gap between Black and white
joblessness in the U.S. In the past, many Black Milwaukeeans had union jobs at
manufacturing plants in the city. But the majority of living-wage jobs are now
in the suburbs and there is inadequate public transportation to get there from
the city. Many Black people in Milwaukee are ready and willing to work but
don’t have vehicles, due to institutionally racist factors such as racial
profiling and the court system.
• Police brutality and murder have been an ongoing fact of life for
Black and Latin@ people in Milwaukee. City police and other repressive local,
state and federal agencies, often with paramilitary units, occupy whole
sections of the Black community. Since 1990 at least 50 Black men have been
shot dead by Milwaukee city police. Even after the highly publicized Frank Jude
Jr. case—a struggle against naked police brutality that McGee
spearheaded—the police feel free to act with virtual impunity.
McGee was attempting to combat these conditions, often in alliance with
progressive community organizations.
McGee supporters say that if he has given grounds for suspicion, it is
grassroots representatives of the Black community in his district who should
have the right to pass judgment, not the enemies of the people.
The government is spending huge sums on legally lynching McGee. Why
aren’t these funds going to alleviate these horrendous social conditions?
Aren’t the real criminals the bankers and bosses responsible for these
conditions, not those like McGee who fight them? Shouldn’t the rulers be
the ones on trial for all the death, misery, destitution and destruction they
cause on a daily basis? Shouldn’t they be made to pay reparations?
The government and the ruling class behind it are using McGee’s
case—and rabid racism—to strengthen the repressive apparatus
against all poor and working people. They are trying to deflect anger away from
the rapidly disintegrating capitalist system, the real enemy of poor and
working people.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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