Guest Column

Like George Wallace, Belling Too Will Fall

By Robert Miranda

Milwaukee County almost passed a resolution, which would have cut off Clear Channel Communications from access to any future contracts. The employer of the Mark Belling show watched in disbelief as the board voted 10 against and 9 for pulling Clear Channel’s contract.  The vote was close.

The Coordinating Committee Against Hate Speech supported the resolution; the group is spearheading the campaign to have Mark Belling removed from our public airwaves. A desperate last-minute lobbing effort by Clear Channel representatives, led by Cindy McDowell, appeared to have made the difference in swaying the vote away from having the resolution sent to County Executive, Scott Walker, for his signature. The county executive; however, would have surely vetoed the measure, and without enough votes to override the veto, the measure would have failed ultimately.

Nonetheless, having the measure passed would have been a symbolic message at best; the idea that our public dollars be spent with a corporation that supports a bigot should offend many decent people.

Upon the news of the resolutions failure, Belling took time on his show to boast about his program and to thank his listening audience for applying pressure on the Milwaukee County Board to vote against the resolution.  The defeat of the resolution [for now] ensures that the bigotry he espouses continues over our public airwaves.

Indeed, Belling spoke arrogantly and flamboyantly about the defeat of the resolution. He spoke about how his show’s ratings were climbing because of the incident; he bragged and seemed to be very proud of this. He hoped that the people who wanted him off the air would continue their campaign; he’s benefiting from the publicity.

Belling’s words reminded me of those Jim Crow days in the south, more specifically; his colorful and self-aggrandizing speech last week got me to hark back to when Alabama Governor, George Wallace, a staunch racist segregationist, vowed to fight against integration of the University of Alabama.

Slick haired and wiled eyed, it was Wallace who championed Alabama’s right to remain an Apartheid-like state. He too had admirers and a host of supporters who came to his side and stood with him as he fought against federal efforts to bring down the walls of open segregation in Alabama.

Indeed, I can remember those old news clips of a rebellious George Wallace, standing in front of the entrance of the University of Alabama. He stood there trying to prevent two Black students from gaining access into the school.

“The unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted and force-induced intrusion upon the campus of the University of Alabama today of the might of the Central Government offers frightful example of the oppression of the rights, privileges and sovereignty of this State by officers of the Federal Government. This intrusion results solely from force, or threat of force, undignified by any reasonable application of the principle of law, reason and justice. It is important that the people of this State and nation understand that this action is in violation of rights reserved to the State by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Alabama. While some few may applaud these acts, millions of Americans will gaze in sorrow upon the situation existing at this great institution of learning”, said Wallace.

“Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”, Wallace once said.  His stand adorned him with admirers back then who by and large are much of the same mindset of Belling’s following today. They use the same language as Wallace—free speech, constitutional rights, federal government intrusion—to hide their true racist mantra. Nevertheless, bigots do eventually fall, most of the time they do so because of their own ego. 

Belling’s overconfidence will be a contributing factor in his fall. He can boast about his ratings today. He can celebrate the fact that he has 150,000 listeners tuning into his program every week. He can even make light of the campaign working to have his bigotry removed from our public airwaves, his ego and his pomposity matters not to us nor does his increasing popularity.

Indeed, like the forces of justice who were able to eventually crack the walls of racism in Birmingham, Alabama, the commitment to bring down the idioms of racism over our public airwaves today is strong.

The Mexican people are rising up to confront Clear Channel Communications.

Led by a courageous group of individuals, determined to bring Belling’s bigotry to an end, we will continue in the spirit of those who before us took on the risk to challenge racism directly. 

To be sure, Wallace’s reign came to an end. It took some time, but ultimately his mantra of hate and racism no longer could keep him in power. Belling too, will have his end of days, and when that day comes, it will be the Mexican people, along with all those who were affected by his wicked racist words, who will rejoice and in unison sing, “we shall overcome.”

 -- Miranda is a national award-winning columnist, Latino community activist and columnist for the Milwaukee Spanish Journal. rmiranda@wi.rr.com