Here & Now

Barnes on Changing of the Guard

Frederica Freyberg:

Monday morning at 11:00, tune into live coverage of the inauguration of Governor Tony Evers. WPR’s Shawn Johnson and I will be at the state Capitol as the new administration is sworn in. A new administration that includes our state’s first African-American Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. And he joins us now. Thanks very much for being here.

Mandela Barnes:

Of course. Thank you for having me and Happy New Year.

Frederica Freyberg:

And to you, first let me say congratulations. We have not spoken to you since the election.

Mandela Barnes:

Thank you so much.

Frederica Freyberg:

How meaningful is it to be just the second African-American elected to statewide office in Wisconsin?

Mandela Barnes:

Well, like I’ve always said, there’s a certain weight to it. There’s a certain gravity. One that I do accept, especially in a state like Wisconsin that has some of the worst disparities in education and incarceration and income for people of color. This is how we change not just what’s possible but what should be expected across the entire state for everyone.

Frederica Freyberg:

How long has it been incoming that you would be, you know, just the second person of African-American descent to be elected?

Mandela Barnes:

Yeah. So for a while we didn’t know. We didn’t know which way things would go. I spoke to Vel Phillips a long time ago. She’s a friend of mine before she passed away. We’d speak quite frequently and I remember her telling me that when she ran for office 40 years ago, that people didn’t even know that she was black by and large across the state, unless you were in Milwaukee at the time. She was the first black woman to graduate from UW Law School. If you looked at her stats, some people wouldn’t have put it together.

Frederica Freyberg:

40 years.

Mandela Barnes:

40 years.

Frederica Freyberg:

So do you expect to be an example for others?

Mandela Barnes:

I do hope to be. For so many children, across the state, so many children, especially areas like the city of Milwaukee who deal with some very serious issues, very unique set of circumstances. May not have the best examples or may not have always been told what they can ultimately grow to be. Being the first in this position, I hope Im not the last and I want others to be able to go on far beyond anything that Im able to do during my time here.

Frederica Freyberg:

I read that you were named after Nelson Mandela, at a time that the future South African president was still in prison for his anti-apartheid work. How proudly do you bear his name?

Mandela Barnes:

Very proudly. It’s funny you mention that because my father who named me and his mother were at odds at the time when Nelson Mandela still being in prison. Ultimately he obviously won that one between the two of them but I do take it as an honor. Even when I was a member of the legislature, people were like Representative Barnes. Just call me Mandela. In my mind, it held more weight than representative.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile, the state GOP accuses you of “catering to the far left while ignoring critical parts of this state.” What is your reaction to that?

Mandela Barnes:

Yeah. That whole rationale means that you’ve totally ignored issues–they have totally ignored issues that impact people. Of course I’m going to talk about raising the minimum wage because I’m around people or Ive represented people whose lives would drastically change if only they were paid what they were worth. If only their value was reflected in their paycheck, which it’s not. I talk about the need for health care expansion. I myself have a health care story. I was on a BadgerCare waiting list less than ten years ago at one point. So of course Im going to talk about these issues. But from that perspective, for saying that I will be catering to the far left means they’ve totally ignored a piece of the population that’s dealing with some real issues and have been for quite some time. People just want a chance to get ahead here in the state of Wisconsin. I talk about environmental issues because we have to make clean air, safe drinking water a priority and at the same time, we can create jobs and change the economy here in the state of Wisconsin that has not fared well for everyone who lives here.

Frederica Freyberg:

What will be your initiatives then as lieutenant governor?

Mandela Barnes:

Yep. So I’ve talked about working on equity and sustainability. That means that we work to make sure that there are no groups of people who are left behind in the state as they are now. We’re dealing with some very extreme income gaps, income equality. Here in the state of Wisconsin, it’s at its highest point since the Great Depression. People still have not even come back from the recession 11 years ago. That’s a real problem. We have to establish some equity first, racial, gender, generation equity because you look at the rate of teen unemployment which is also through the roof and that’s why you see so many young people get involved in things they shouldn’t be involved in. They have no other way. And the sustainability piece. Looking at Wisconsin for the next 10 years, 25 years, 50, 100. We have to take that long-term vision and like I said, investing in renewable energy. That is our key here in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

These issues are so intractable though in Wisconsin and as you say, we lead the nation in many of the inequities. How do you do that in your position?

Mandela Barnes:

Yeah. So obviously I know more than thinking it would be just me. You can look at this position as a convener of sorts. I’ve worked with a number of community organizations, a number of young professional organizations. People who want to work to attract and retain talent in the state of Wisconsin. So many people in my age group don’t see Wisconsin as a place to live, work, raise a family. So many people flee the state. We have to change that and I know that I can’t do that on my own but it means that we have real conversations and difficult conversations at times. It means that people have to learn one another. We can no longer go down the path of these regional divides that a lot of politicians have continued to push because it benefits them politically but it ultimately does a disservice for the residents. So we have to have open and honest dialogue to help begin to move us forward.

Frederica Freyberg:

More globally kind of, what can citizens in Wisconsin expect from the Evers-Barnes Administration?

Mandela Barnes:

People can expect an administration that listens. That’s why before we even took office, we did our budget listening tour to build the people’s budget. We went to all parts of the state, as many parts of the state as we could in the amount of time but that’s before we even took office because we want to know right away. We want to be prepared out of the gate to prepare a budget that benefits people. One that’s based on equity. One that actually has the input of every day citizens. Not just the most influential lobbyists or the highest donors and that’s the way we built a Wisconsin that works for everyone.

Frederica Freyberg:

What was most resonant when you were on that tour listening to people?

Mandela Barnes:

So there are a lot of different perspectives and Ill say the one thing that you hear everywhere is education. People want their schools to be funded because people understand that the more money we put in education, the less money we have to spend on incarceration. We have more people who are educated, that’s the real way we work to attract jobs, good paying jobs to the state. If we have an educated work force that’s ready to go, people want to move to Wisconsin. They’ll want to move their businesses here because we have the people ready to fill those gaps.

Frederica Freyberg:

As for Monday, who will be at your swearing in?

Mandela Barnes:

My parents will be at my swearing in, along with some family, some friends. We have — the list is still growing. I’ve probably gotten a few texts since Ive been speaking with you today but, you know, a lot of people, a number of community leaders will also be there on Monday for the swearing in.

Frederica Freyberg:

How proud are your parents?

Mandela Barnes:

My parents are over the moon. You just can’t — like my dad was at a restaurant with my mom. Somebody asked my dad how his day was going. He said, “My son just got elected lieutenant governor.” So he is not shy about this. Every time — we go to the same gym, so they don’t know me as lieutenant governor-elect. They know me as Jessies boy.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Well, again, congratulations and Mandela Barnes, thanks you very much.

Mandela Barnes:

Thank you. Happy to be here.