Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Naturally, the first question that comes to mind: Who is Robert Gannon and, more importantly, what prompted me to write a column about him this week?
Republican Mr. Gannon is a State Representative from Slinger, Wisconsin.
Last week, he took it upon himself to release the scathing press release “Murder, Mayhem and Jobs,” making a bevy of incendiary comments about Milwaukee’s African American community.
In his press release, Representative Gannon begins his derogatory diatribe by stating: “Milwaukee is ranked the sixth highest city nationally in per capita murders by Forbes Magazine.
Milwaukee finished the year with an unemployment rate of approximately twenty percent for their black population.
This is almost four times as high as the white unemployment rate for the city and the state.” Unfortunately, Mr. Gannon’s bigoted delusion didn’t end there.
He then had the unmitigated gall to try drawing a correlation between the crime level in Milwaukee, on the one hand, and the lack of employment opportunities, on the other. He poses the question: “What employer will build or expand when they fear muggings, carjackings, attempted murder, or other serious criminal threats to their employees?”
When the State Assembly convened for its first session day of 2016, Rep. Gannon was sternly admonished for his inflammatory comments, by several of his democratic colleagues.
Even at this juncture, Mr. Gannon remained unapologetic.
However, his floor remarks did provide some insights into his press release tirade. Apparently, Mr. Gannon is the owner of an insurance agency and has been in the insurance business for more than three decades.
It would appear that he recently became enraged after two policy holders filed claims with his agency: one alleging a carjacking, while the other a mugging — with both incidents occurring in Milwaukee.
This in no way gives Mr. Gannon the right, much less a license, to besmirch the black community in Milwaukee with his bigoted rant.
In typical republican fashion, it’s always easier to blame the victims for their own plight, while completely ignoring that fact that republicans like Mr. Gannon consistently go out of their way to make life more difficult for people of color in this state.
Rep. Gannon is just one of many who relish what they do – with no apparent conscious!