MEQUON, Wis. — People in Mequon are rallying and marching to remember George Floyd and honor Juneteenth day. They are also marching to bring awareness about racism in their community after a social media post mocked the death of George Floyd.
A Homestead High School graduate sings the Black National Anthem on this Juneteenth day. It is the day to celebrate the end of slavery in America. At the same time, Mequon community members gathered in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly with a movement called Break the Silence in the Burbs, which shines a light on racism in the suburbs,
“We are going back to a time when Black people literally have to lose their life, literally have lose their life to understand that we matter,” said speaker Bianca Shaw.
She is talking about George Floyd who died after Minnesota Police Officer kneeled on his neck. This week a video mocking Flyod’s death was posted on social media by a Homestead High School student.
Today, one of the students involved, Cole Elsbree, issued an apology.
“What I did was disgusting and wrong and terrible, and no one is more disappointed than I am in myself,” said Elsbree.
But Homestead High School students at tonight’s rally say the video only shows a glimpse of what minorities in Mequon experience.
“Everything with race has been pushed over and pushed to the side for many years in Homestead and the Mequon and Thiensville School district for many years,” said Chase Bell, senior at Homestead High School.
“That just shows how people out here don’t know how they feel,” said Solomon Garrison, a sophomore at Homestead High School.
“It’s not just a one time experience in the high school. I’ve experienced it in the middle school and it’s not something that is brought to the staff and if it is, it is walked over and nobody sees it. It’s very hurting to me and my colleagues that experience the same things daily,” said Jade Bell, a freshman at Homestead High School.
People are now kneeling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to remember George Floyd. There will be another protest in Mequon, June 20th starting at 1 p.m. Organizers say meet at the intersection of Mequon and Port Washington Road at the Bed, Bath and Beyond parking lot. They say the walk will be 3.7 miles.
