A Pattern or Practice In the City of Racine

Short summary

      A pattern or practice of discrimination, means that there's  a policy or a practice of discrimination or a pattern of discrimination. It is been conducted against a group of persons or an issue of general public importance.

     In the past six years in the City of Racine 13 minority owned bars or nightclubs and 2 white owned bars with minority patrons have been closed while in contrast no white establishments have been affected.

This all started: With the documentary Pattern or Practice, the documentary was going to bring awareness to the fact that minority businesses were being close an alarming rate by the City of Racine.

What happened ?  As the film crew interviewed each business owner and as we dove into the meeting minutes of the City of Racine. We saw a disturbing pattern of how targeted business owners, particularly Hispanic and Black owners were subject to different standards.  As we interviewed persons affected by the policies instituted by the City of Racine, we discovered the systematic closing of minority businesses in particular areas.

Why? A "cleanup" effort by the City of Racine in three targeted areas, where the majority of these businesses were operating.

Came together : As we brought each business owner together they discovered that they were not alone in the way things were handled by the City of Racine in the closing of their business. Individuals started to step out and discuss the institutional racism that was happening in the City of Racine.

What we need: We need funds to stop the continue action of the City of Racine. We need funds to be used for pretrial investigations, open records requests, depositions, vandalism reports, police reports, subpoenas, specialists. None of the funding will go toward the documentary, Attorney fees, or anything not associated with bringing this case to court.

• Where's the NAACP? 
• Where is the ACLU?   
• Where's the Justice Department?                                   

All three have been contacted. The NAACP has never gotten back to us. The ACLU said they were too busy. The Justice Department has been contacted  "no response".

We decided to come to you.

What we will do for you:  First and foremost is to keep you informed of what is happening. This is a very complicated case with a lot of twists and turns and heartache. We will post videos, comments, and anything pertinent that would be of interest to our supporters. And of course the cool perks, download of the documentary, T-shirts, movie posters etc. all items will be sent out at the close of our fundraising. The documentary Download or DVD will be released after the film Festival circuit is complete approximately January 2014 all other items will be sent on close of fundraising.                                                             

The pattern                                                                                            

Application process:  Restrictions were placed upon minority businesses at a much higher standard, age, music, dress code, side agreements. Cost prohibitive requests were made of minority business owners. The application process for white establishments were considerably less.

Surveillance:  The term used by the Racine Police Department is crime prevention. Surveillance vans, cameras, police cars with videos are parked outside of minority establishments waiting for an incident. Incidents are logged reported to the Public License and Safety Committee. This practice is not done to white owned establishments.

Called in:The minority owned establishments are called in at a much higher rate and for infractions that white owned establishments are not called in for.

Poor public image :Incidents are played out in public on minority bars and downplayed when white bars are involved.

Side agreement or due process:The minority business owner is threatened with closing of his/her business or accept a side agreement, understanding that the restrictions must be adhered to or he/she will lose their business.

Due process:  After repeating the process the minority business owners now are voted to due process. The committee that conducts the hearing is the same members who voted to send the business owner to due process. There is no chance the minority owner can survive the hearing. Once the hearing is completed and the businesses is then recommended for revocation the same members are on Racine Common Council to judge the outcome. To date there have been 13 owned minority businesses and 2 white owned business with mostly minority clientele taken to due process hearings or forced into closing in the last six years, none have survived. In contrast no white bars have had their business closed by the City Of Racine.

Business closed:The Alderman, Mayor, Police Chief, and concerned citizens use the local media to praise the good work of all involved in ridding the city of troublesome bars/clubs and have made the city a better place to live.

FACEBOOK PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/PatternOrPractice 

http://www.racinecommunicator.com/32-what-happened-to-the-cruise-inn

http://racinecommunicator.com/36-the-unfair-treatment-of-rosie-s-bar

http://racinecommunicator.com/35-rosie-bar

Community Women’s Club holds event in honor of civil rights leader Corrine Reid-Owens

Shown is newly appointed Racine Police Chief Art Howell and his wife April Howell, along with Al Gardner and his wife Denise Gardner, who is president of the Community Women’s Club.

The Racine Community Women’s Club for months had planned to celebrate the birthday of one of the club’s founding members Corrine Reid-Owens. The event was altered when Owens died Tuesday, Nov. 6, one day before she would have turned 100.
Denise Gardner, the club’s president, said the group felt it was important to continue by honoring Owens for all the things that she had done for the community through civil rights, housing, and for the people of Racine. 
About 150 people, made up of elected officials, church members and friends, attended the event to pay homage to the woman who arrived in Racine from Mississippi in 1946.
George Stinson a retired businessman, who himself served as Racine Branch President for over 20 years, said that Owens is leaving a big void in Racine when it comes to civil rights.  “I hope that others can step in and take her place and be as productive as she was”
Soon after arriving, Owens began to devote her time to education and quality of life issues. She joined the local branch of the NAACP in 1947, and was elected as its president in 1953. Her fight for what was right, however, began even earlier with her own quest to be an educator.
Alderman Michael Shields, who served one term as the branch president, said, “When she first came to Racine she wanted to be a teacher, but she could only get hired as a janitor, even though she had a teaching degree” 
Owens would later become one of the first black teachers in the Racine Unified School District and then went on to become the first black woman to be elected to the board of directors for Gateway Technical Institute.
Morris Reece, who heads the city’s Fair Housing Program, said Corrine Owens is not only a legend that will be missed in the Racine community, but she left so many things that we have built on and continue to build on and we so gracefully admire her courage for standing up when she came to this community.  He said for her achievement, Racine will always remember her as an icon and she will never be forgotten
Owens was also a kind, considerate person — one who never hesitated to speak up for what she believed in, said Shields. “She was just a wonderful person, who really stood up for justice. She is going to be missed”
Al Gardner, a community activist, said that Owens was a grand lady and should be an example to the Black community to speak up on issues and not remain silent.  “Hopefully we can do what Mrs. Owens did, open our mouths so we can get fed.  If you keep your mouth shut you will not get fed.  She always opened her mouth for the rights of all people”
Thomas White, a long time friend of Owens and State President of the NAACP, remembers when he came to Racine in 1965 and met Owens.  He described her as having lots of energy.  “If she didn’t feel well and you mentioned the NAACP she would perk right up, that was the kind of person she was” he stated.
In the 1970’s, Owens, with the help of  Joe Harris, formed the Concerned Citizens Group, which led to the hiring of a record number of African American police officers.  Our current Chief of Police, Art Howell, was a member of that initial group of hirees.  He described Owens as a visionary and said that many of his accomplishments are directly attributable to some of her early efforts.  
Rev. Ernest Garrison,  who recently became pastor of  Wayman AME Church, said that he has had many opportunities for a blessing.  Early on he was astonished when he had the opportunity to pastor a small church in Detroit, not knowing that the church would be the one that Rosa Parks would choose to be her place of worship.  “The same thing happen when I came to Racine, and I had the opportunity to pastor a woman of the same caliber as Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan”

Golden Gate Funeral Home Helps Family With Burial Of Children
According to Racine fire officials, a candle apparently started an inner city house fire that killed three children and critically injured a fourth.
Officials said last week that the electricity to the home in the 1900 block of Linden Ave. had been turned off. The four children were pulled from the burning home by firefighters who described the heat and the smoke as intense.
Two children, Dayja, 9, and her sister, Dalijah, 8, died Thursday after being pulled from the fire. On last Friday their brother, Michael, 7, died of injuries suffered in the fire at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.
A fourth child, Luther Patterson, 5, remains at Children's Hospital.
The children's mother, Deborah Scott, ran from the home to her parents' home across the street and called 911, screaming and crying that her children were trapped in the home and that smoke prevented her from getting them out of the house, fire officials said.
Funeral services for the three Scott children will be held Friday in Racine. There will be a public viewing from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Greater Mount Eagle Baptist Church, 920 State St. in Racine.
The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Westlawn Cemetery. On Thursday there will be a public viewing at the Golden Gate Funeral Home, 1910 Taylor Ave. in Racine, beginning at 10 a.m.
The Golden Gate Funeral Home, who recently opened a satellite location in Racine, will provide service to the family at no cost, explained Arthur Reid, president/CEO of Golden Gate. When asked why, he replied, “This is what I do.”  He added, “I put myself in a person’s position.  If I was in their situation and needed help, I would hope that someone would help me.”   
A Scott Children Memorial Family Fund has been established at the Educators Credit Union and Associated Bank in Racine and Kenosha.

 

 

 Black Nouveau profiles Corinne Owens, the Mother of Civil Rights for the city of Racine; showcases poet Spitfire and artist Brad Bernard; and discusses Diabetes and the African-American community.

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