Emails outline Gateway's decision to rescind racial justice award

Gateway Technical College rescinded a humanitarian award to the Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism three days after it received one emailed complaint, according to information obtained through an open records request.

The complaint was made last month by Taylor Wishau, a conservative Burlington School Board member and Racine County supervisor who has long been a critic of the group. At issue in Wishau's complaint was the use of the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" in personal media posts by the president of the nonprofit.

With a decades-long history, that phrase is widely considered to hold different meanings, depending on context. For some, including Hamas, it’s seen as an antisemitic call for the destruction of Israel. Others use it as a call for peace and human rights for Palestinians.

Central to the animosity between Wishau and the nonprofit is a discrimination complaint Wishau filed with the school district in 2021, alleging the organization's founder, Darnisha Garbade, had been racist against white people in social media posts. In 2022, Wishau was subject to a $34,500 court judgment in a lawsuit brought against him by Garbade, who alleged Wishau violated her right to free speech about racism in Burlington by making the complaint.

In emails to the Journal Sentinel, Wishau said his history with the nonprofit is irrelevant and comments made by the organization's president, Laura Bielefeldt, are enough to justify losing the award. He cited criticism of the "river to the sea" phrase by U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Criticism of the phrase as antisemitic led to censure for U.S. Rep. Rashida Talib of Michigan in November, among other public officials who have used it.

Bielefeldt has maintained her comments were not intended as antisemitic. In an interview, she said Gateway staff called her before rescinding the award, but she felt they presented little room for “actual discussion” about her social media posts.

Internal emails show at least two people — Gateway’s chief diversity officer and a member of the board of trustees — suggested college leaders tread lightly in deciding to rescind an award based on one complaint that could be biased.

"There is a history with Taylor Wishau and BCDR. While I recognize what he is trying to say here, I do not believe this to be rooted in genuine concern but rather an attempt to prevent Laura from receiving the award because of his personal battle against BCDR," Gateway Student Trustee Nicole Oberlin wrote in an email to Gateway President Ritu Raju on Jan. 9. "He actively works against BCDR and their efforts in the community on a regular basis.”

In a statement, a Gateway spokesperson said college leadership was aware of that history, including the lawsuit, but nonetheless determined "there was enough of a concern to move forward with rescinding the award."

"Our role is to serve all students and we don’t support any form of hate," the statement reads.

Gateway said comments reflected leadership of the nonprofit

Along with the "river to the sea" phrase, Wishau's Jan. 8 emailed complaint to Gateway included screenshots of posts made by the nonprofit president saying “free Palestine,” “Stop the Genocide in Gaza" and rallying support for anti-war protests.

Bielefeldt said that before the award was rescinded, she received a phone call from Gateway asking whether the posts on her personal social media accounts reflected the views of the nonprofit. The current Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza had not been discussed among nonprofit membership, she said. BCDR's activism is focused on racial justice issues; it's that focus that formed the basis for its nomination to Gateway's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award.

In a statement, a Gateway spokesperson said that after a conversation with college representatives, Gateway staff determined the Palestine-related posts “reflected the leadership of the group” even though they were made on the president's personal social media.

On Feb. 1, Bielefeldt spoke outside Gateway's Kenosha campus where about 20 people gathered, including members of the Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice, Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace-Milwaukee. Rachel Ida Buff, a member of leadership for the latter two groups, spoke against Zionism during the demonstration.

"In no way do I say that (phrase) with any hatred or intention to harm anyone in the Jewish community," Bielefeldt said in an interview. "I think that Gateway missed the opportunity to have that conversation, and to really talk about what's going on.”

Wishau to Gateway: 'This is just the tip of the iceberg with this group'

The Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism has drawn attention to issues of racism in the 11,000-person, majority white city between Kenosha and Lake Geneva for several years.

In 2020, Garbade formally complained to the Burlinton Area School District about unaddressed racial harassment, including repeated use of racial slurs, against her children.

In 2021, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction ordered corrective action against the Burlington district after determining its leadership were aware of, but failed to address, a “racially hostile environment.” The district and school board initially disagreed with the allegations of the complaint, but Garbade appealed.

Wishau, a school board member in Burlington from 2007-10 and 2018 to present, said via email he has no interest in working with the nonprofit and sees their methods for activism as “aggressive.” Internal emails show Wishau referenced those broader concerns about the nonprofit to Gateway officials.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg with this group over the last 3 years or so," Wishau wrote via email to Gateway President Ritu Raju, Board Trustee Ram Bhatia and others on Jan. 9. His email outlined a list of grievances with BCDR, including that the nonprofit had “accused an entire community of being white supremacist/racist" and brought “outside agitators from Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago” to school board meetings.

Other emails show Gateway staff discussed the history between Wishau and the nonprofit before rescinding the award. In an email to Raju on Jan. 9, Gateway Chief Diversity Officer Tammi Summers outlined a long list of points to consider, including that the college had recently learned BCDR leadership "supported efforts that are opposite of Dr. King's life work and legacy."

She noted the competing interests between BCDR being nominated for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award for its work as a whole and the need to hold organizational leaders accountable for their actions. She also said Gateway will need to consider whether to "change everything" based on one community member's voice, and which voice the college should choose to act on "regarding any issues of justice, inclusion and equality."

Summers wrote that she's "suspicious" of Wishau's motives, and whether the situation ties to disagreement about the "foundation of the work" BCDR is trying to achieve in Burlington schools.

Either way, she wrote, "things will be messy and we will be viewed in a negative light."

Nonprofit founder: Character attacks intentionally distract from nonprofit’s fight against racism

The April 2021 state findings of a ”racially hostile environment” in Burlington schools formed the basis for the legal dispute between Wishau and Garbade. In June 2021, Wishau filed a discrimination complaint with the school district against Garbade. It alleged she had been racist against white people in social media posts and should be barred from a district equity task force.

More: Burlington schools failed to address 'racially hostile' environment, DPI finds

Those events led Garbade to sue Wishau in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Wisconsin, saying his complaint was an attempt to chill her right to speak freely about “deliberate indifference to racism." The lawsuit ended in 2022 with a judgment for $34,500, split between a $10,000 payment to Garbade and the remainder in legal fees.

In interviews, both Garbade and Bielefeldt said the history between Wishau and BCDR is impossible to ignore. For Garbade, the complaint about the Palestine-related posts served as an attempt to distract from the nonprofit's longstanding efforts to fight racism.

"They were trying to attack (Laura's) character, and BCDR's character, to get the attention off of the racism that's going on," Garbade said. "Dr. King dealt with the same thing. People were attacking his character in an attempt to get (attention) off of the efforts of trying to push for equity. It worked back then, and even though everybody loves him now, it's still working."

Cleo Krejci covers higher education, vocational training and retraining as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gateway College rescinded award to nonprofit after complaint, phrase