Journalists, community leaders discuss racial disparities and how media cover them

Community leaders and reporters discussed racial disparities in Dane County and how the media covers the topic as a part of a panel talk Oct. 15 at UW-Madison.

The discussion focused on findings from the “Race to Equity Report” published by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families earlier this month, which found “persistent” disparities between blacks and whites in Dane County.

According the report, disparities are common across the country, but in Dane County, gaps between blacks and whites are much higher than national averages. For example, the report states nearly 75 percent of black children in Dane County live in poverty, which is twice as high as the black-child poverty rate nationwide. 

The report says the Dane County’s apparent aggregate success makes it harder to understand the extent of disparity.

“What’s interesting in particular about Dane County and Madison is that these disparities are on average greater here between whites and African Americans in particular,” said Erica Nelson, who authored the report.

Nelson said she appreciated the coverage the report has received so far and hopes people keep discussing the issues it raises.

“My hope is, going forward, that people continue to cover [racial disparities] so [the topic] doesn’t fade from the foreground,” Nelson said. “The issue, generally, I think, should be at the forefront of media and the conversation.”

Dee Hall, a reporter who covered the “Race to Equity Report” for the Wisconsin State Journal, said at the panel discussion that media generally write about people in power.

The panelists opened up the discussion by discussing the history of discrimination in Madison.

 Jonathan Gramling, publisher of the Capital City Hues, a publication that reports on issues facing people of color, brought up discriminatory housing codes.

 According to Gramling, during the mid 20^th century, some Madison property deeds were written with restrictive covenants that prohibited people of color from buying certain property. He said while these covenants can no longer be enforced because they are illegal under the Constitution, they are still included in deeds for older properties.

“We have had specific racial conspiracies against African Americans in this country,” Gramling said. “It doesn’t just happen down south, but it’s probably happened in most communities in America.”

Kaleem Caire, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison, spoke about historical discrimination in employment. He said a UW-Madison study regarding black employment in the 1940s showed whites were hesitant to hire blacks in areas where whites had not seen them before. As a result, the jobs available to blacks were limited mainly to service jobs.

Caire said the two major books about Madison’s history do not include much information about the city’s black community.

“There are all these crazy things that have gone on in this city that we don’t like to talk about,” Caire said.

The panelists discussed how neighborhoods influence disparities.

“Oftentimes, we’re taught in stereotypes before we’re even conscious that we’re being taught in stereotypes,” Gramling said.

He mentioned perceptions of different parts of Madison’s neighborhoods, sharing his experience as a South Madisonian.

“I think people are proud to be South Madisonians,” he said. “The problem was the way the rest of the city looked at South Madison. South Madison became an image and not a place.”