We Are All Affected And We All Must Work Together (Hour 1)

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Uh, not going to lie, heavy weekend this weekend, tragedy in Minneapolis again.

And we're going to talk more about it, but we do have a very, very, very good show for you today.

After the nine 30 news, we are going to be speaking to state Senator Dora Drake, who is the.

Representative of the District 4, Senate District 4 here in Wisconsin, talking about the proposed amendment for the Wisconsin Constitution that would do away with DEI hiring practices and why they are bad, why this is bad for everyone.

This is not an issue to be discussed regarding race-based hiring as some who like to talk about it.

kind of give the game away when they say that this is a, an amendment that's harmful towards all.

So we'll be talking to her about that.

Her district, I want to get her thoughts on Minneapolis as well as Milwaukee slowly moves towards a, the possibility of ice coming to their streets.

County executive David Crowley and the candidates forum that Dan Schaefer right here, civic media, he moderated last week, talked about a plan for the county.

I know that

Cavalier Johnson is working on something right now, but we want to talk to her about that.

And then in the 10 o'clock hour after the news at the top, we'll be speaking to Asia Barber, who is going to talk to us about our clothing choices.

And I know that sounds like, oh, you know, fun fashion.

We'll be talking about fashion.

We'll be talking about the importance of sustainability in our clothing, her work to demystify the fast fashion and how bad it is for our environment and our

economy and just that conversation of how do I, you know, pick a new wardrobe while also being good to the earth, being good to my pocket book.

Cause let's face it, fast fashion is cheap.

And I understand that I buy fast fashion.

I am going to admit that completely.

And then at 10 35, it's going to be some audio sorbet.

We're going to need to take a, take a moment.

I want to know about your fashion choices.

And I know that sounds, can sound very, um, surfacing, but I know that

It means a lot to some people to be able to dress well, to feel good.

Maybe you are on a health journey and you bought some new clothes that always does feel well too.

So I want to invite you to talk about that with us at 1035.

And then we're going to, we're going to close it out with a handy tip from Greg.

So stick around.

We have a lot of great show ahead for you today, but we're going to kick things off with.

a guest.

Don't usually kick shows off with a lot of guests, but we're doing that today in the light of what happened in Minneapolis.

And today I want to welcome to the show the host of Rational Revolution right here on Civic Media.

You can catch it on Saturdays from 2pm to 3pm.

Mr. Mark Becker is our guest this morning.

Mark, thank you so much for returning to the show, to the timeframe, to all of it.

How are you today?

Yeah, well, thanks man.

You know, fashion tip, I have a loci bracelet, right?

I love those.

And it has like water from Everest and mud from the Dead Sea because it keeps you balanced.

And being a business owner and being someone that cares about other people, that helps me.

So there's a hot tip for your fashion thing, but I'm okay.

I'm

glad.

I'm glad you brought up balance market because before we get into the, the why of why you're here.

And it's very important.

I want to talk about your show, rational revolution, which you can hear two PM to three PM on civic media, or if you go to civic media dot us slash shows, you can go to the show page, download episodes, catch up on the conversations.

But the reason for your show is balance.

Your reason for the show is to find connection because we say it all the time.

There's more that unites us than divides us.

And I feel like in today's day and age, we're seeing more and more of that.

But if you could just give me an overview of the show and why you want to have these discussions.

So the, the motto that I have for the show is something that I've, you know, talked about and held dear for a long time.

And it's, it's not about left versus right.

It's about right versus

wrong.

And

I think that if we center our politics on that and our discussions on that, we can get to a good place.

I was the former chairman of the Republican Party here in Brown County, the youngest one they ever had.

History the big RNC.

Yeah, and I left the party during the rise of Donald Trump in 2015 and You know, I was politically homeless for over 10 years and then I joined the the other side and so I can see things from both sides I can you know, I understand arguments that people would have on the right and so Not to pat myself on the back, but I think I'm uniquely positioned to have those discussions and bring people into You know

the tent of actually sitting down and talking to one another.

So that's what we're trying to

do.

And that's what you do really, really well.

I mean, you've had some really great discussions on your show.

And I think that's the, I think that's the thing people really are struggling with either people on the right who feel as you felt.

And I know that our friend Todd Alba felt left behind by the, the original moral value compass, whatever you want to call it of the Republican party.

But I know there are people on the left who

when it comes to these topics, you almost have to say, all right, I understand, we're upset, we're heated, we're passionate, but we cannot turn our backs on those who want to have that discussion.

It doesn't help anything.

We were talking about that a couple of weeks ago when the rise of the new Marjorie Taylor Greene, however you want to do that, like just this new attitude from her, and I think it's very important not to just say, well, to heck with her,

forget her.

Oh my God.

No, because when you do that to, when you do that to people, Oh, I'm not doing that too.

She doesn't call me back, but like there are people in our lives who are having doubts, who are saying, yeah, this is not what I wanted.

Now you can say, well, this is what you voted for.

That's a totally different conversation.

But when it comes down to the brass tax, if we sit there and say, well, this is what you get.

And you know, you're in the, you're in the FO part of this, but

they're going to walk away from the conversation with nothing and they might go back to where they were because at least at that point they felt comfortable but I think it's about tampering our own sense of passion and saying let's sit down and let's talk and let's connect because I'm not a billionaire.

And I think that a lot of people aren't, so therefore, we need to work together to preserve a democracy.

But that's,

you know... Well, it's also telling people, you know, I didn't vote for this.

And when we want to point out that you voted for this, a lot of times they didn't.

Yeah.

Look at all the things that Donald Trump has done that...

Our lies, he said, is going to lock up the best and the brightest or the worst.

He's not doing

it.

Yeah.

So so many things, you know, if we play the blame game with people, they didn't vote for this either.

And it's giving them the space to not say, well, yes, you did.

Yeah.

No.

So, yeah, it's seeing the humanity in people, which was what we have to do.

Yeah.

And it's also, it's also accepting the idea that sometimes people can also change their mind.

And it doesn't mean you have to go out and have a drink or a beer or invite them to family supper.

It just means that's one more person that we can work together with to fight for what's important.

And I think we can all agree what's important is the democracy, the process and the freedom of what America should be about.

But the reason why I wanted to have you on the show, I mean, I could have you on the show every week if I wanted to because it's a great hang, but you...

So Mr. Alex I say nurse he was he was an I he was an he was a he was an ICU nurse he worked at the VA Alex Pretty was He was he grew up in Green Bay went to school there, but you knew him tell me more about him and the post that you put on X Can't believe I just called it X that I mean honestly where we're sitting right now It's got 1.1 million views.

It's been shared a bunch of times.

You spoke

over

the BBC.

There's been

traction with this because you knew him and you had something to say about the whole situation.

Well, I've been super cognizant to speak to people and different news outlets that I've been very selective

because

I've been approached by every single friggin local media here in Milwaukee, but there's two things.

My old Catholic guilt says I shouldn't be talking for someone because

You know, I knew him when I was little.

But then the second thing is, I know that there are that they'll try to both sides this.

There's no both sides to what happened.

But I knew Alex, we sang together in the boys' choir, Green Bay Boys' Choir for years.

And that is such a tight knit community.

Um, that, you know, you have to understand that we were little, you know, from eight years old to like the teenagers.

Yeah.

And we're, it's such a tight knit group from the parents to the staff, to the directors.

We spend hours and hours every week with each other.

Alex was on a trip that, uh, the boys car went to the British Isles.

I mean, you're traveling the world with these people.

And, um, and, you know, I lost contact with him when we got older.

And, um, but yeah, I mean, it's when I said,

to another play or to the BBC it was that I didn't know Alex today but when something like that that traumatic happens to one of us it's like a disturbance in the force that we all feel and it's a sorrow that I feel yes for Mr. and Mrs. Pretty and for him but I also feel it for the entire community as a whole to see what happened and to see

that I mean, I've seen my friend die on media so many more times than

I

would ever care to see that happen.

It's just awful.

Yeah.

So yeah, it's

that did not feel good.

No, of course not.

And again, I appreciate I mean, you say you're you're being selective.

So that makes me even more grateful that you are here with

us today.

I just you know, in the post, you didn't you didn't do a personal video and I you know,

And I understand what you're saying with the Catholic guilt thing.

Don't make this about me, but you do need to speak up because all the voices help in this matter.

And I'm just going to read what you said real quick.

You said, he never brandished his gun.

He was legally permitted to carry.

He was holding his phone.

An officer beat him, disarmed him, and he was executed.

Alex touched many lives, including mine.

As I sang in the Green Bay boy choir with him four years, Alex Pretty was murdered today.

And I think that's something I want to come back.

to on the other side of the break, which is the narrative that was really hard spun with Renee Nicole Good that fell apart immediately.

But they're trying to do the same thing with him.

And it fell apart even quicker, the fact that he did have a gun.

He was disarmed.

He was mobbed by a bunch of people.

And then he was shot in the back.

And I want to talk about the attitudes, the opinions you're hearing.

Specifically, I want to talk about

One story that came out this weekend that was, I think could be very shocking to a lot of people regarding the, the NRA, but we're going to talk more about that with Mark Becker, who is the host of rational revolution, which you can hear right here on civic media from 2pm to 3pm every Saturday.

If you miss an episode, you can always go to civicmedia.us slash shows, go to the show page.

All of those episodes are archived.

He has had amazing conversations with, as, as you have said, Mark,

you know, both sides having a balanced conversation, trying to find that area where we agree, where we can then work together, but more with Mark on the other side.

And do not forget, after the 9 30 news, we'll be speaking with state Senator, Dora Drake from Milwaukee about, we're going to talk about this as well.

The Minneapolis, the second Minneapolis shooting this year, not the.

And also the DEI amendment on the Wisconsin Constitution.

And what that means...

for everyone in Wisconsin when it comes to the practicing hires of DEI.

So more to come.

Don't go anywhere.

If you have any questions, comments, Alicia on the live stream says, yay, Mark Becker.

Well, yay, Alicia, Alicia Sanders for watching and commenting with us being here today.

We appreciate y'all sharing your time.

855-752-484-285-757 is the number comment.

Leave a comment on the live stream.

Talk to you very soon.

Don't go anywhere.

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Welcome, welcome back to Civic Media mid mornings.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host, your friend.

And your partner, co-conspirator, however you need me, I'm here for you, friends.

You are listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Thank you for being here.

As always, we really appreciate your time spending your time with us.

We have a lot of great shows still ahead.

It's going to speak to state Senator Dora Drake after the 9 30 news about the Wisconsin constitutional amendment proposal.

It's going to be on the consti, it's going to be on the ballots this year about DEI hiring practices and why targeting them.

It's bad for everyone.

Then Asia barber at the top of the second hour talking about fashion, fashion choices, fast fashion and sustainability.

Then we've got an audio survey.

What are you buying?

your clothing.

What are you doing?

Where do you shop?

I'll tell you where I shop.

I shop at farming fleet.

Not, not ashamed of that at all.

Thank you very much.

And then, uh, closing the show out with a little tip from Greg, but, uh, before we get on with that, we're talking to Mark Becker, who is the host of rational revolution that is right here on civic media from 2pm to 3pm every single Saturday.

Can't catch it.

Well, that's okay.

You have a life.

Go to civic media.us slash shows and download episodes there.

Catch up with all of the talks because.

He is interested in balance.

He is interested in having a conversation and finding out what divides us, finds out what unites us more than divides us.

The dividing thing, totally different conversation.

That's football talk.

We're not getting to football talk here on the show.

Before we get more into it, Mark, really quick, I just want to give a shout out really fast to two people.

That is Amanda Nimmer, who is one of our producers here at Civic Media up in the Green Bay area.

I don't think she sleeps ever, which is a

It's concerning to me, but she helped put this all together.

She contacted me and said, Mark might want to talk to you about this.

And then I want to thank senior producer Tucker for putting together all the details of getting Mark on the show this morning.

I know Mark, you are a business owner and you are a important person in town.

So I

appreciate

your time.

We were talking about your show, but we were also talking about the tragic shooting of Alex Pretty, who has ties to Wisconsin, went to school in Green Bay.

You knew him as a young person.

You sang with him in the boys' choir.

And this is the second shooting in a month's time.

you know, we're seeing pushback from, we're seeing, I mean, if you look at the news this weekend, you're seeing pushback from Republicans, you're seeing pushback from, of course, Democrats, but you're also seeing pushback from the NRA, who is not a fan of the reasons why they executed Mr. Pretty, as far as a matter of saying, you know, gun safety.

What are you hearing, Mark, from your friends who maybe

other in your situation where you kind of found yourself without a party, maybe on the fringes, or ours could possibly be like, Yeah, this isn't for me anymore.

I can't do this.

This is not where my values lay.

Are you hearing talk that is saying we need to have a bigger conversation right now?

It's been interesting.

You know, Green Bay had a protest and there's there were some people that surprised me that they attended because they didn't like

what was happening.

I think right now, and especially, you know, between this one and Renee Good, what Republicans are doing is they don't know they're like flailing

in the

night trying to

search for

something that was thick.

So, you know, they talked about, oh, well, he shouldn't bring a gun to well, if you're a believer in the Second Amendment, that sentence doesn't exist.

Because if you think that we have the right to bear arms, the fact that he brought a gun there is not

Anywhere near any reason that he should have been even looked at

yeah,

so you know it's there and then they talk about well you have I believe in the First Amendment and you have the right to say blah blah blah well The Republicans will say well you don't have a right to say bomb on an airplane so they believe in these things when it fits their narrative So they believe in the First Amendment I believe that he should have been there and you want to protest you can protest But why would you bring a gun to?

No shut your mouth

You don't actually believe those things if you use that sentence to justify why he died.

I agree.

And then you should be tragically outraged that Greg Bovino is up there saying that if you call them terrorist or Gestapo, there will be consequences.

You should be upset about that.

You should be upset about 1,600 people being pardoned for storming the Capitol with guns.

One of them, I mean, he didn't storm it, but he was there, sits in Congress right now for the third district.

You should be upset that a guy walked into Kenosha and shot people.

crossing state lines with a guy.

He was a boy.

Like that's the thing is, if your, if your outrage is never, isn't consistent, you can't be taken seriously.

I don't respect your outrage.

If your outrage is consistent, if you're upset, if you're a person who's upset with the left and right on various issues and it remains consistent, I get that.

But exactly, Mark, if you, if you love the second amendment, I've, I've been seen.

bumper stickers since post nine 11 that say don't tread on me since the tea party don't tread on me.

Well, they're, they're treading on us right now.

Right.

And if

there's ever a time

to work together, it's right now.

and the phony outrage from, oh, we stand ready to stand up to a tyrannical government and come take my guns and all of that stuff.

They're entering people's homes without anymore.

They kill the man after they disarmed him, his legal right to carry fire.

All of these things that are happening are things that when I was in the Republican Party, we gave speeches about how we're ready to stand against this.

BS you haven't this is your time to do just that and you're failing because When you say that what they really meant was you know, we we are upset

and we're standing ready to fight against a government who's a tyranny, what they meant was we're just waiting our time until we get to be the ones wielding the tyranny.

Exactly.

That's what they're

doing.

And if you want to hear more discussions like this, I implore upon you, I beg upon you, I tell you, please listen to Rational Revolution 2pm to 3pm every Saturday here on the Civic Media Radio Network with their host, the host of the show, Mark Becker is here today.

Mark, again, I thank you for being here.

Please come back to the show.

Let's keep these conversations going because, you know, it might

it raises the hackles and gets me fired up.

But at the end of the day, what we're doing is talking about saving our democracy and

making it free.

Go ahead.

One thing before we go.

Yeah, yeah.

This, we have to keep talking about this.

We have to keep talking about truth and reality and what happens.

Because if we don't, that's when they win.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And we're going to keep talking about this, Mark.

Absolutely without a doubt.

After the 9 30 news, we're going to talk to state Senator Dora Drake about the proposed DEI amendment on the Wisconsin constitution and why it hurts everyone.

We're going to keep the conversation going.

Mark, thank you so much for being here.

Appreciate you.

All right.

Don't go anywhere.

When we come back, state Senator Dora Drake, more civic media mid morning.

My name is Greg Bach, your host state tuned.

Stay close.

Welcome.

Welcome back to mid mornings on civic media.

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the live stream is always up and running.

We got great comments here from Tony, who says, Mark Becker, who was our previous guest talking about his show, Rational Revolution and his connection to Alex Pretty.

He said, Mark also had a great conversation with Pauline Lay around what's happening in Minnesota.

And Alicia says they're having a meeting in Michicot today about data centers with Charlie Barron, who has been a vocal.

I think opponent of data centers, which is very interesting.

When comedians get involved, you know, we're in trouble.

Comedians cannot be trusted.

I know that for a fact, Calvin, but we still have great show ahead of you today.

Asia Barber is going to be here on the other side of the news in the second hour talking about fashion, your fashion choices, sustainability and why fast fashion is not what we think it is.

And then we will talk your fashion choices in during audio sorbet.

What does it mean to you?

What does clothing mean to you as far as expression?

Have you gone on a health journey?

Are you buying new clothes?

That's a very important thing too, and if you do, I'm proud of you, but you're...

beautiful the way you are, no matter what.

And then a helpful tip from Greg at the end of the show, but let's keep it rocking and rolling with our next guest.

She is the state senator for the fourth district here in Wisconsin.

My guest is state senator, Dora Drake.

Thank you so much for being here this morning.

I really appreciate your time.

I know it is a short work year for Wisconsin legislature.

So you guys are working real, real fast, but good morning to you.

How are you today?

Good morning.

You know, I'm doing quite well, Greg, despite all the chaos that's happening.

How about you?

I'm fine.

Yeah.

If anyone says they're doing amazing, I'm like, hmm,

hmm.

Well, and I think part of that is you have to be tuning out to what's happening, right?

So like I heard a little bit about what you guys were talking about earlier about what's happening in Minnesota.

Yes.

Yes.

And I was doing laundry.

you

know just

trying to do you know basic stuff at the house

when

I found out that another citizen was murdered and it's disgusting because let's just be clear the Trump administration is actively using its police force which is ICE to terrorize citizens that aren't agreeing with his policies initially people thought that this was only to try to get criminals that were here illegally out

And we knew this was a push against immigrants and our Latino brothers and sisters here in this community.

And they are filled with terror right now.

But now we are truly seeing what was the real reason behind it all.

And so am I grateful that people are standing up and finding ways to support?

Absolutely.

But let's be perfectly clear.

Just because we're standing up, there are actions that could be taken right now.

And frankly, ICE needs to get out.

There's just no other way to deal with it.

I won't repeat what Mayor Fry said because I'm FCC compliant, but I do agree with what you're saying completely.

And I want to take a moment too because like the laundry, the laundry is important and not just because it's important, but

People are busy.

Folks are busy.

People are living their lives.

You and I, and my colleagues here, we live in a world where we are ensconced in the news and what's going on.

So it takes a lot for me to not say, why do you mean you don't know about this minute thing that's going on?

Because people have lives.

And I want people to understand that that's what we're here to have a conversation.

And also, just as a weird thing,

You are awesome.

Celebrate your victories.

Just because there's stuff going on in the world doesn't mean you can't feel good about those moments in your life that are really great.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Sorry for the moment of therapy there.

But I wanted to- No, it's needed.

Yeah, yeah.

I wanted to talk to you originally about the DEI amendment that will appear on the ballot this year.

We're going to talk about that, but I cannot go any further without discussing what we were just talking about, which is Minneapolis.

There's a lot of talk about Milwaukee and ICE

and what's

going on.

And, and, you know, at a, at a candidates forum last Wednesday at the Cooperage County executive Crowley said that he has got a plan that he's putting together that will be on the website soon.

I know that, that Mayor Johnson, they're, you know, they're all talking about this, but as far as the work you're doing, as far as the things you're hearing, what is going on with this and how are you as a elected official?

working to prepare or just stay informed?

Absolutely.

So I think first and foremost, as state legislators, we want to make sure that we're supporting our local leaders because the reality of Wisconsin right now is that we still are in a Republican-held legislator.

And so if there's any way for us to push any legislation that would help local government in this matter,

it's not going to happen because they won't give it a bill hearing.

And so I think part of what we're doing, at least what I'm doing is not only being with our local leaders, understanding how we can be helpful, but also how to prepare residents as well as advocate for things that we can still do, you know.

So like as a legislator, I can still reach out to federal leaders and ask them

not to pass the resolution that will continue funding for ICE.

You know, in my own district, there is a processing ICE facility that is currently still under construction.

And the reality is there is no way for our local governments to stop it because they serve local and state.

And so it's making sure on my end that we're communicating where things are happening, making sure that people are given the resources.

And also identifying when the harm is near.

You know, there have been rumors of ice coming soon, this and the other.

So I think it's imperative that people tap into the orcs that know the word, like, versus de la frontera, but not spread rumors either.

People are already terrified, scared, and rightfully so.

And so what we should be doing is making sure that the information is accurate.

And we're doing all that we can to support those efforts.

I completely agree with you.

And we've discussed this matter when it pertains to data centers, but I think this is another

call

for people to be aware of what is on the agenda of your county board meetings, your town hall, city hall meetings.

Look at those.

Those are there.

They are published in good time for you to attend, if you can.

Not a fan of certain cities doing their meetings during business hours because it makes it harder for us to visit.

But you can see what's there.

And if those details, if those proposals affect you and your community, it allows you to speak up, public comments, talk to your local leaders.

make your voice.

We are seeing that with regard to data centers.

I'm not here to talk about data centers, but I just feel like the proof is there that if you raise your voice, people do listen.

And we spoke to Angela Lange about this last week and she'll be coming back

to

talk about it.

But, you know, that is where we're headed.

It's we're preparing for what could happen next.

And I think it's this isn't just something, Senator, that, you know, affects

the immigrant population.

This affects

all

of us.

Exactly.

Because this is as we're, you know, Alex Pretty, Renee Nicole Good, and please forgive me.

I had it written down here.

He was Mr. Bishop, Mr. Bishop.

He was all American citizens, all killed by ICE agents.

That to me says that this is not an immigrant issue.

This is not a certain issue.

This is for all of us to be aware of.

And we are seeing awareness and I would be remiss if I didn't ask you your thoughts on that before we got into the actual reason why you were here.

But yeah, I just wanted to know more.

So people who are hearing this on WAUK can reach out.

And again, go to Milwaukee Turners.

They have a great forum to tell

you

what your rights are as not a citizen, but a person living in this country.

Regardless, so

exactly and one thing too that I forgot to mention great because so much has happened in this legislator so far Even last year when all these things started to happen and we have the arrest of like Judge Hammond Dugan myself and other Democratic legislators actually introduced legislation Trying to enshrine the certain places that would be protected, you know like your schools

like

your parks and things like that never got the public hearing

you know, and so it just shows that there is a active negligence to caring for people and government actually working for the people that we represent instead of trying to reach a political agenda, which actually ties really nicely to what we're talking today, because it's the same, you know, message there.

I want to correct myself really quick.

It was Mr. Keith Porter Jr.

was shot.

Yeah, my apologies to everyone out there don't like to be wrong on those things.

But so

Yes, let's talk about, this is something that we on this show have been discussing almost since the inception when we were a matinee on air a couple of years ago, which is this constant unceasing attack on DEI hiring policies.

First of all, there is there will be an amendment now another amendment because when they can't do it on the floor, they're going to put it on an amendment because that's just an easy way of confusing people with language.

I want

to start talking about

this now so people understand what will be on the ballot and they read it correctly and vote what I.

vote in a way I feel like is effective for all of us, and I want to bring up something really quick here.

If you're just joining us, by the way, we're speaking to State Senator, Dora Drake, who represents the District 4 here in Wisconsin.

When we were setting this up...

your staff made it clear that we didn't want that they didn't want us talking about DEI in in the manner of how this affected the black community.

And I'm glad they said that because that is not why I wanted to talk about it.

I wanted to talk about DEI with you because you were in you were in a story in WPR speaking out against this amendment.

The fact that DEI harms everyone.

This is this is an this is a tool that that works for

all sorts of folks from different groups, not just the Black community.

And I want to get your thoughts on that specifically first, and then we'll go into more in a moment.

Yeah, so you mentioned how this is more than just harming Black folks.

It's harming everybody for this reason.

So representative Shaysort will put out a DI report on all the resources that the state gives to your local governments, school boards, programs, what have you in our state statutes.

And this was sort of their reason why they have proof that now this is only granting preferential treatment, you know, to people based on race, sex, national, orange, and ethnicity.

If you actually look at the report, the majority of resources went to struggling like communities in our state.

and i'm not mad at that because the reality is as legislators our job is to look at the data that's in front of us figure out what we need to do to enact policies to do that and that's our job but right now legislative republicans for over a decade had the opportunity to expand economic and educational opportunities for all wisconsinites and they chose not to so instead of making this a legislation where they would have to vote for on the floor they were rather gaslight the constituents

say that they're blaming black and brown wisconsinites and women to and use honestly uses as meat to their base to get the votes out when they're actively harming their own constituents

and i think that can that sort of tactic also i feel like is along the lines of what they've done to education here in wisconsin is instead of

making

solid real investments in our schools which by the way if you look at the report cards are wisconsin wisconsin schools do well there are schools that could use help could use love could use

money, but

they choose

to villainize teachers, students, staffing, all the things instead of saying, why don't we make a real investment?

We're going to talk more about this on the other side of the break.

We're speaking to State Senator Dora Drake about the proposed, not the proposed, the constitutional amendment question that will be on the ballot this, this November regarding DEI.

Why does an attack on those policies and why it is bad?

for everything, for everyone.

And why it is just a replica of what's coming out of the Trump administration right now.

So more to come with state Senator Drake.

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Still ahead, we have Asia Barber, who is a writer and contributor.

She has talked to all sorts of outlets regarding fast fashion fashion and just being more sustainable.

in your choices.

We appreciate your time.

If you want to be part of that conversation, please call our texts.

And then after that for audio survey, what's your fashion choices these days?

I know it's cold.

I know jacket gloves, scarves, hats should be part of it, but how are you expressing yourself?

What's going on there?

Do you want to try something new?

Never know.

And then after that, a little tip from Greg to close on the show, but right now we are speaking to state senator.

Dora Drake, who represents the fourth district here in Wisconsin, talking about what happened in Minneapolis, how that pertains to Milwaukee, not just the fact that the man grew up in Green Bay, but ice on the streets of Milwaukee.

But now we are talking about an amendment question that will be on the ballot this November regarding DEI hiring practices.

And State Senator, really quick, I wanted to read just the basic.

point of it that the proposed DEI amendment would prohibit quote governmental entities in the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting or public administration.

And that's just going I feel like it's doing a lot of heavy lifting to get to the fact that they don't like DEI period.

Yes, and essentially that's right.

So this is a misleading referendum because you would think, if anyone reads that on face value, you would think, oh, of course I would absolutely be against discrimination and preferential treatment.

But the reality is, if this is pushed into state law, this would codify an anti-discrimination ban on our constitution.

When we asked the authors in the Senate hearing if they did any research on the impact of all their state and public dollars, they had no information about how this would impact anybody.

Because frankly, not only would this impact the supplier diversity program, which only meant this 5% goal of supporting minority-owned and women-owned businesses eight out of the 40 times it's been implemented, it would also put the Holocaust education bill as what

at risk a bipartisan bill both of them bipartisan bills that were put to address the need that was there and so with this in our constitution it would prevent us as lawmakers to do any remedies or policies to help women black and brown wisconsinites or other struggling communities because that would be considered as preference to treatment and frankly i think their obsession with diversity equity and inclusion

is dangerous because programs with these aspects help people in all areas of the state of all backgrounds.

And frankly, I think I mentioned on the show earlier, they would rather push the blame on people that don't look like them in order to feed their base.

And so, you know, with this past Wednesday, you know, it was voted on the floor.

So what we did as Senate Democrats is we introduced

uh amendment that would actually guarantee equal rights for everyone only for republicans to claim that it was reverse racism as their justification and so clearly they're showing where their colors are but their acts and the reality is their actions are no different than what donald trump's hate filled because it is the hate filled rhetoric from the white house urging us to blame our neighbors for struggles instead of uplifting each other because we know people are struggling we know we're in an affordability crisis

Democrats in the state have actively came to the table and said, here are things that we'd rather do.

Instead, they've only given tax credits to the wealthiest in our state.

And so I think this ties in really to what's happening to ICE in here.

We are at a moral turning point of what we will be doing, not just in Wisconsin, not just Minneapolis, but everywhere.

And this November, it will be up to the people of the state to stand for compassion, morality, and justice.

I think that, you know, one of the things that come with these amendments is that they're written away where people will look at and go, well, this makes sense.

As you said, like, yeah.

Exactly.

Of course, I don't want to do this.

But I think what it'll do is it will allow businesses to also then just stop all their DEI practices period because they might say something effective.

Well, I don't want to get in trouble.

But when DEI practices actually help disabled folks to helps vets and.

I'm not a scientist, state senator, and you are an elected official, which means you are, you are not

a scientist.

Well, you have a certain, you have gravitas that I have not achieved yet.

But as far as I know, vets and disabled people can be any color too.

And when you look at who benefits from these practice DEI or affirmative action, a lot of times it's

A lot of times it's been white women who do it as well.

So this has harmful effects for everyone.

And I want to say two things really quick before we go.

Tom Tiffany tweeted a while ago.

I couldn't find it because there's just so many tweets.

He said that DEI race-based hiring.

I'm like, boop, you just said it right there.

When you say DEI race-based hiring, you're calling out yourself and saying, you don't understand what DEI actually is.

And in the very documents that were submitted to the committee, it said that DEI practices exclude white and Asian students.

And I'm pretty sure Asian people believe they're people of color, too.

You don't even know what this means.

So before you do something, let's talk about it and let's educate ourselves.

But that's not what they're interested in.

No, they're interested honestly and just following what President Trump is doing and that's what this has all been about

And you mentioned, you know, our Asian communities, we have a lot of state laws that uplift our Hmong veterans and that have been bipartisan led by their own constituents too.

Yep.

This in our Constitution will nullify all that and be up for litigation.

State Senator Dora Drake of the Fourth District.

Thank you so much for being my guest today.

I really appreciate your time.

Please come back.

Let's keep talking about

this.

Keep people educated.

And if there's anything you need from me, never, never hesitate to reach out.

I appreciate great morning

everyone when we come back.

We're speaking to Asia Barber who is a fashion fashion consultant fashion writer all the things out there Please be part of the conversation a 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 a 5 5 7 5 civic civic media mid mornings My name is Greg Bach.

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