March on Saturday Showcases Increased Desire to Protest Inequality

“No justice, no peace, no more racist a** police,” chanted protesters as they marched against inequality in Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.

The roughly 50 participants in the Milwaukee protest march hiked from The Calling di Suvero art piece through Marquette University, past the Milwaukee Police Administration Building and back to the lakefront. They marched in response to the recent ruling that exonerated the police officers involved in March’s shooting of Breonna Taylor but also against the bigger idea of racial injustice that they feel as well as a desire to make Milwaukee residents more politically active.

“We’re out here marching for everyone,” said Lam Milhomme, the protest’s leader. “Justice starts with us.”

Milhomme and his march’s participants aren’t alone in thinking that there’s racial injustice in America. In 2019, the Pew Research Center reported that 73% of Asian Americans, 69% of African Americans, 61% of Hispanics and 56% of white Americans think that being white offers either a substantial or at least small advantage in daily life. 

Their research also stated that 56% of Americans believe that being Black hurts someone’s ability to get ahead at least a little. In the report, respondents cited things like overall racial discrimination and Black Americans having less access to a quality education being the main factors behind their feelings.

In addition, a 2018 report to the United Nations from The Sentencing Project noted that, in 2016, these opinions were at least partially based in fact. According to the report, young Black Americans account for 35% of juvenile arrests while only making up 15% of the population. The report explained that this was mainly because of urban poverty instead of that demographic committing substantially more crime.

At Saturday’s march, people besides the rally’s predominantly college-aged participants talked about their anger. Denise Cross, a 62-year-old former technical writer who is now crippled, spoke out about against injustice in America.

“It’s about time that we take care of the injustice between the races,” Cross said. “Everyone’s gotta do what they gotta do.”

In response to this felt inequality, the protesters marched to bring awareness to racial injustice and to get Milwaukee residents more politically engaged.

“We’re out to here so that we can be involved in our community,” said Amanda Lukowisz, a UW-Milwaukee student. “And also to show support for Black Lives Matter and the community itself.”

Once again, the protesters aren’t the only ones who want more people to be aware of society’s issues. In March of this year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies published a report stating that protesting has become almost 12% more common across the world from 2009 to 2019, specifically citing a 17% increase in North America alone.

Another report by The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project from September supports this trend of there being more people demonstrating in America. The report stated that there were almost 3,500 demonstrations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement on the weekend that George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by police. According to that study, the number of protests has decreased dramatically in recent months but is still higher than most points in America’s history. 

However, for as many demonstrations as there have been, some protesters think that it’s still not enough. Andre St. Louis, a 42-year-old artist, said that more people need to protest if they want any change to happen.

“It’s great that there are so many people out here today,” he said. “But so many more people need to be, too.”