- In recent weeks, protesters
in cities large and small
across Wisconsin have been
rallying for police reform
following the death of George
Floyd at the hands of
Minneapolis police.
Darrell Keaton is seen as a
leader among his peers and the
Wausau community.
I'm sorry, Mr. Keaton,
my teleprompter was racing
away on me.
I didn't want to start speed
reading.
- I'm still with you.
- All right. Well, that is a
very good thing.
Thank you.
I'm going to do that again.
In recent weeks, protesters
in cities large and small
across Wisconsin have been
rallying for police reform
following the death of George
Floyd at the hands of
Minneapolis police.
Darrell Keaton is seen as a
leader among his peers in the
Wausau community and has been
advocating change during
demonstrations.
He joins us this week with his
perspectives on the racial
justice movement in central
Wisconsin.
Mr. Keaton, thanks very much
for being here.
- Yes, thank you for having me.
- So you founded an
organization in 2011
there in Wausau.
Tell me about that and why
you started it.
- I found in 2011, when
I moved here
from Arkansas.
I saw that there
was an opportunity for
a young man like myself, who
were lost at the
time, to
have an opportunity to
have a decent life.
I noticed that I didn't
have to deal with day
to day violence.
The gun shooting.
There were the sound of police
cars that, you know,
just
growing up in that
environrment.
And so,
after coming here, I got
my high school diploma.
I also became the first
African-American leadership
in this county's history.
And I
am now a student at
NTC tech
college for business and
management.
What I wanted to give back to a
community that had given so
much to me.
And so that prompt me to
develop the Men and Women 4
Change.
I felt that we
all, as men and
women,
need to make changes
as we grow
in our communities.
So I developed the
program to work with at risk
youth.
We wanted to catch the youth
before entering junior
high or high school.
And we wanted to work with them
through the
School Education Board
to identify
kids who are struggling with
attention deficits, behavior
issues,
et cetera.
And so we
started that program
shortly at one of our
schools here: Horace Mann
Middle School.
And after
that, we-- I kind of branched
off in the south.
And so a couple of
years ago, I come back
to the home birthplace of
the organization.
And when that situation took
place with George Floyd,
it just
woke something in me
and I knew then that
I needed to act
and I needed to act swiftly
in my community
because I don't want
something like that to
happen here in my
community in Marathon County.
It's a very decent
coummunty--
- And so when you say you
needed to act and you needed to
act swiftly,
what did you do?
- Well, the first thing I did
was reach
out with some of the other
members of the community that I
worked alongside and
the past.
And I went out myself and
my two granddaughters,
and we did a peaceful
protest
and after me and my
granddaughters went out and did
a peaceful protest, we--
it sparked a movement.
The next day, we had over
300 people come out and join
us. I
just don't want to see
something like that happen here
in Marathon County.
And so if you
jump out in front of it
before it comes to your
doorstep, then you can,
you know, work with
your law enforcement
and make sure that we can
bridge that gap between
the African-American community
here and law enforcement.
And we are working hard
since this to
bridge that gap.
I could probably say that
myself, with my
mayor and my chief of police,
we have really been working
together on
some things to kind
of help bridge that gap.
I can say that we are
officially-- next
year we'll celebrate
Juneteenth
in the city of Wausau,
which has never
happened in the history of this
community.
So I just think that
having something here about the
black
community will continue to bring
positives to our community.
- You know, you you have said
that taking
part in demonstrations
or vigils or
marches, it now seems
to you as though white
people are listening
and joining in.
How important is it to you
that that happens?
- It's very important.
I've said all
along that
we as a people,
as a black community,
we cannot
tackle this systemic
racism that
has plagued our country
for 400+ years.
We cannot do this alone.
We have to have
good white people
to stand with
us to
defeat racism
in this country.
And you
have to start with the head
of this
systemic racism in our country.
And I feel that starts
at the top which is our
government.
And if
we can start there
and trickle down to the middle
class and the lower class,
then maybe we can make
greater changes [?]
in America.
- Well, what kind of dialog
have you seen happening on
matters of race that
might not have been happening
before the killing
of George Floyd and
demonstrations over that?
- I've seen
the removal of Confederate
flags
around our country.
I've seen some
of the
police--
some sort of reform
with what is
going and has gone on with our
law enforcement.
Changes are
happening. Changes are
occurring every day.
I
just, like I said before,
I feel that this time
it's different.
It feels different.
And I do believe that
we as
a community, as
a whole, if we continue
to stand together, hate cannot
defeat love.
- Still, how would you describe
northern Wisconsin
in terms of
racist attitudes toward
people of color?
- I guess I can't speak-- well,
I can't speak for everyone, I
can only speak for myself.
I've been a member
of this community for
about 30 years.
I come here at '94.
I was young.
22, no, I was 23 years
old.
I haven't had
a bad experience
with racism. I ran into
it a couple times,
but I've never
had a, an
experience with racism where
there had to involve
law enforcement or physical
violence.
I'm always a believer,
and I was raised that
if someone
points a finger at you,
just remember how many fingers
are pointing back at them.
So when you speak
of
a race or you use
the N word toward
someone, I
don't really get too offended
about it because I know the
definition of the word.
And for someone to use that
word toward someone
and if you don't know
them or know anything about
them, then what does that make
you you know.
You
have to be educated
on the definition of the word.
And so I
carry that with me
in my
quest to make the
black community more relevant
here in the Wausau area.
- Do you expect protests and
demonstrations to
to continue in your part of the
state?
- No, I don't.
I think at this point,
things are, are
going according to
how they should,
and I think if they continue
on the path that they are,
I do believe that will be OK.
- So you feel as though the
lines of communication are open
and white
people, as you said, are
listening.
And you, in fact, have
been been able to
already make some
tangible change.
And so you see more of that
coming?
- Correct.
Yes, I do.
- All right, we leave it there,
we really appreciate you
checking in with us
and telling us about
the things that are happening
in central Wisconsin.
Darrell Keaton, thanks again.
- Thank you for having me.
Bless.