THOUSANDS OF MILWAUKEE FAMILIES HARMED. NOT ONE BUREAUCRAT OR ELECTED OFFICIAL CHARGED.
By Robert Miranda, Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC) Spokesperson
Many of you will recall that just a couple of years ago the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) was devastated after it was revealed that for three years thousands of families were not notified that their most vulnerable were suffering from high blood lead levels.
Resignations, retirements and job changes took place but no criminal charges were levied against anyone directly responsible for not informing Milwaukee families that children in their homes had dangerous levels of lead blood poisoning.
It’s as if Milwaukee leaders shrugged their shoulders and brushed off the crime chalking it up to just a few residents losing some IQ cells-no big deal.
And what is the response of non-profit groups and so-called civic leaders? The response was to find a way to make lead poisoning into gold.
Instead of demanding justice by calling for criminal charges of those who harmed our community and damaged the minds of our children, profiteers and opportunists jumped on the “let’s make a dollar train” riding the backs of families in misery and no hope as they watch their children fall prey to the policies of City Hall that has harmed them.
Only two City of Milwaukee aldermen called for a criminal investigation in 2018 following the call for a criminal investigation by grass roots groups Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC) and Get The Lead Out Coalition (GTLO).
It is now almost two years of investigating this matter and we are still no closer to giving out why thousands of Milwaukee families had to suffer, with and wonder why their child was sick or what was causing their learning disabilities, erratic behavior or slurred speech.
Mayor Barrett’s efforts to tackle this public health crisis suffers from anorexia
Since this disaster there have been a myriad of the usual money grabbing hucksters demanding funding for programs but only a handful of groups demanding justice.
What is the price for damaged children? $2.2 million? Lunch with Mayor Barrett. A gala? A soirée? Attending a Black Church? Geesh! Have we been whittled down to this?
Why should we allow the leadership currently in place to stay in place after thousands of families in our city were harmed by mismanagement and failed policies which emanated out of City Hall?
The trail of lead poisoning starts at City Hall. From there it went into thousands of homes and not one parent was told of the health danger and damage done to their children.
And we wonder why our schools are failing and our streets are unsafe.
When we stop treating misery and poverty as a career opportunity, maybe then we can see improvements in areas of the city damaged by years of political neglect and indifference.
