PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
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George Floyd’s legacy grows with children’s book, page 6.
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
October 20 - 26, 2022
Vol. 89
No. 12
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Phone: 612-827-4021
MPLS REALTORS RENOUNCE YEARS OF HOUSING DISCRIMINATION
St. Cloud’s first Black police chief retires He hopes to leave the city better than he found it
MGN MAR President Denise Mazone at the Oct. 12 press conference
By Cole Miska Contributing Writer Minneapolis Area Realtors (MAR) held a press conference Thursday, Oct. 13 to apologize for the organization’s history of racial discrimination in real estate sales. “Our apology and efforts to engage in policy change are overdue and are important steps for us because of the deep and lasting impact our actions have had on people of color in Minnesota, especially Black Minnesotans,” Denise Mazone, MAR’s first Black president, said in a press release. In its 135-year history, MAR engaged in redlining and ra-
Courtesy of Facebook/Minneapolis Area Realtors
cial covenants that prevented Black people from purchasing property in certain neighborhoods and did not initially allow Black realtors to join MAR. Jackie Berry, who is on the MAR board of directors and MAR’s inclusion committee, commented that these practices helped shape Minnesota into the state with the worst racial homeownership gap. About 75% of White people in Minnesota own their home, compared to only about 25% of Blacks, a figure that has fallen from 46% in the 1950s. ■ See MAR on page 5
St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson Courtesy of St. Cloud Police Dept. By Charles Hallman Contributing Writer
St. Cloud’s first Black chief. The MSR recently spoke with Anderson for an exit interview ahead Ten years ago, the MSR inter- of his retirement in November. viewed William Blair Anderson St. Cloud Police Chief Wilas he embarked on his then-new role as head of the St. Cloud Po- liam Blair Anderson will retire lice Department. On August, 27, in November after nearly 10 2012, Anderson was sworn in as ■ See Chief on page 5
Attacking voting rights
CONCLUSION OF A SERIES This is the fourth and last of MSR’s “Elections Under Attack” series that looks at threats to our elections growing out of the Big Lie that the former president won the 2020 election. Articles in the series look at each of these threats to demo- tion, ratified in 1870, says: “The right of citicratic elections in the United States, with an em- zens of the United States to vote shall not be phasis on Minnesota. denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previBy Mary Turck ous condition of servitude.” Contributing Writer For nearly a century, states in the South flouted the law, denying Black people the Attacks on voting rights began long before right to vote through poll taxes, literacy tests, the 2020 election, with moves by Congress intimidation and assassination. After church and the Supreme Court to gut the 1965 Voting bombings, lynchings, assassinations, and other Rights Act. The attacks continue in this elector- bloody repressions of civil rights activists, Conal cycle, with intimidation of voters, restrictions gress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to on absentee voting, and laws designed to make protect against racial discrimination in voting. in-person voting more difficult, especially for It was later amended to include the prohivoters of color and low-income voters. bition of language discrimination as well. In The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitu- Mississippi, Black voter registration went from
less than 7% of eligible voters in 1965 to almost 60% in 1967. By 2012, 90% of eligible Black Mississippians were registered to vote. A crucial provision of the Voting Rights Act required preclearance of changes in state voting laws in states that had historically discriminated against Black voters. The preclearance process disallowed changes that would disparately affect Black voters. In Shelby v. Holder, decided in 2013, the Supreme Court eviscerated the Voting Rights Act, saying that the preclearance section was outdated. In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, decided in 2021, the Supreme Court further restricted application of the Voting Rights Act.
Immediately after the 2013 Shelby decision, states began changing voting laws in ways that make voting more difficult. Many of these changes have a disparate impact on Black voters. One example: Arizona now requires voters to provide proof of citizenship through a birth certificate or passport, and to report their place of birth on voting registration forms. Millions of Americans—an estimated 5 to 7%—do not have these documents. Passports are expensive and it takes a long time to get one. Birth certificates also cost money, and may be difficult or impossible to obtain for elderly voters or for people born at home rather than in a hospital. In Minnesota, Republican Secretary of State candidate Kim Crockett questioned whether people who cannot read or write English and people with disabilities who need assistance in voting should be eligible to vote. She later said her comments were taken out of context, but refused to clarify what she meant. Gerrymandering After each census, state legislatures are required to redraw district lines for state legislatures and Congressional districts. Since the 2020 census, Republican state legislatures have redrawn lines in ways that deliberately dilute the voting power of Black voters, of Hispanic voters, and of Democratic voters. This
Second Black person ever to serve on Robbinsdale school board seeks reelection By Julie Gordon Contributing Writer Raised on the South Side of Chicago as the second youngest of 10 siblings, Sharon Brooks Green often tagged along to local block meetings where her mother served as secretary. Those experiences set the stage for Brooks Green to not only serve as a block club president herself as an adult, but also provided the springboard and lifelong quest for community advocacy and political leadership. On November 8, Brooks Green hopes to retain her current seat on the board of directors for Robbinsdale School District #281, where seven candidates are vying for four at-large positions. Brooks Green is currently the school district’s second Black board member. The MSR recently sat down with her to hear what issues matter most to her candidacy. Sharon Brooks Green
MSR: Where did you spend your early years, and how did that experience shape your decision to focus on education as a career? SBG: I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois on the block of 89th and May St. It is significant because it is where I started my political career. My mother was the secretary of the block and very instrumental in our block club activities. I would follow her to meetings and watch how things were done. When I came of age, I became the block club president and had the chance to work with the alderman, state representatives and state senators, which included Barack Obama. So that was my introduction to politics.
the inspiration behind writing this? SBG: I started a nonprofit in Chicago for Black mothers of Black brothers who were incarcerated. This is when mass incarceration was hitting America at its hardest in the disparity kind of way against Black people. Several of my family and friends were incarcerated, including my own son, so I started that group to rally, unite and organize. When I moved to Minnesota, I continued the work of Peace of Hope to support families of the imprisoned. I also learned that while I had passion for this cause, I needed more knowledge, and began my education at a late age.
MSR: What has your educational journey looked like? SBG: I had raised my children MSR: You recently published a book, Peace of Hope, helping families im- and been through plenty of other pacted by incarceration. What was ■ See Brooks Green on page 5
■ See EUA on page 5
Corrections to last week’s “Reconnect Rondo: more than just a land bridge” story: -According to Reconnect Rondo, the organization did not receive the $5.2 in federal aid as stated in the article because Congress did not pass the bill with the funding. -ReConnect Rondo, through the city of St. Paul, applied for and received $150,000 in 2021 to study anti-displacement initiatives. -Reconnect Rondo commissioned the prosperity study mentioned in the article.