Here & Now

Angela Lang on the 2022 Vote and Wisconsin's Racial Politics

Frederica Freyberg:

As to the Evers/Johnson voters in Wisconsin, a key part of the Johnson playbook were those attack ads against Mandela Barnes calling him “different” and “dangerous.” Are they what tipped it narrowly to the incumbent senator? How do people who work to get out the vote for Barnes regard those messages, especially in Milwaukee vilified for its crime. We talk with Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, and thanks very much for being here.

Angela Lang:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you regard those attack ads against Mandela Barnes?

Angela Lang:

They were terrible. They were vile. They were really hard to watch. I think for — I know me personally and I think other folks, if we can talk to our own lieutenant governor this way, how did the campaign feel about the rest of the Black community and voters he should have been courting instead of actually vilifying? It was terrible. It was difficult and it was hard to watch, but at the same time, very encouraging to see Mandela Barnes remain really graceful in how he handled that and did not stoop to their level.

Frederica Freyberg:

What’s your response to voters who say that Barnes did not do enough to defend against them?

Angela Lang:

I think it’s complicated. I think on one hand, anything he probably would have done would have been seen as weaponized and further seen as the angry Black man so that’s why you saw him making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. His humanity was stripped because of those ads, and being a Black person, especially running a statewide — for a statewide office, you have to be careful to not further fan those flames. And people ask, would I have personally done something different? Absolutely! That’s why I’m not the candidate. I think it would have been incredibly difficult for, I think, most of us to handle it the way he did with such grace.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you think people who voted for Evers and not for Barnes were frightened as designed by that messaging?

Angela Lang:

I’m very curious to have conversations with those voters and to see if people focus group them or what have you. Ultimately, I can’t think of any other reason for those voters to exist other than racism and fear mongering, and I think that’s really sad and really tragic that some people couldn’t get past their own racism, but we have all these challenges on the line and understanding how Ron Johnson is very harmful to our communities and for whatever reason, that seemed to take a backseat in terms of racism for those folks.

Frederica Freyberg:

How does all of that speak to the racial polarization in Wisconsin?

Angela Lang:

I think it shows we have a lot of work to continue to do. I know in the last couple years since the murders of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd, there’s been more conversations happening. And I think those conversations need to continue. I think we’re in the midst of a racial reckoning that we need to continue to dig into, and I think it’s going to be awhile before this community and our state and the country as a whole comes together and actually says we demand better and all communities deserve to thrive and to have dignity and not have this racist rhetoric, but I think it starts by continuing to have conversations.

Frederica Freyberg:

You said following the Barnes defeat that, “the progressives that started the electability whisper campaign in the primary, you all are partly to blame.” What’s that about?

Angela Lang:

Yeah. I think we saw, you know, I won’t mention the campaigns, but we saw some campaigns in the primary kind of amplify some of the dog whistle politics, calling him extreme given some of his endorsements or talking about his tax record. Things that Republicans would talk about, but these were his opponents and his challengers in the primary, and I think by having some of those dog whistles, and it kind of going unchecked in some cases, really provided an opening for the Republicans to have their vile messages as well in the general election.

Frederica Freyberg:

There was a decrease in voter turnout in Milwaukee County which saw something like 47,000 fewer votes than in 2018 in the U.S. Senate race. Not for lack of effort, we know. What do you think about that?

Angela Lang:

Yeah. You know, we are still going to be digging into the numbers and figuring out what happened, but we also know, too, that we’re getting reports that hundreds of people just even in some polling places were turned away due to having the wrong polling location because of redistricting, and their polling place had moved. Did those people that got turned away, were they able to go to their correct polling place and vote? We heard reports of that, and, you know, we also heard some reports of people having childcare issues because MPS was closed as well. I’m not saying that’s all of the reasons, but I think we need to look at some of those things that are not normally talked about to really kind of put the pieces together of a puzzle of what actually happened, but I think it goes to show there’s more work to do especially for the spring elections of next year.

Frederica Freyberg:

Just briefly, you’re looking ahead to the next statewide race the race for Supreme Court. Why is that election in your sights?

Angela Lang:

I think it’s important for several reasons. Our team feels very strongly that, one, we could flip the ideology of the court away from its conservative majority. We’ve seen the court impact things like ballot drop boxes and voting on Election Day and things like that. It is also an opportunity. We have made an endorsement to elect our first Black justice in the state of Wisconsin in Everett Mitchell. We are excited to be a part of history but understand too, what’s at stake for the rest of the state if we are able to flip that seat.

Frederica Freyberg:

Angela Lang, thanks very much.

Angela Lang:

Thanks for having me.