Wisconsin Democrat Mandela Barnes Suggests National Parks Are Racist 

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JUNE 19: Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes speaks to the
Dylan Buell/Getty Images for VIBE

Wisconsin Senate Democrat candidate Mandela Barnes claimed last July that national parks “weren’t made for the enjoyment of people who weren’t white.”

Speaking on the “Black Oxygen” podcast, Barnes suggested national parks are a part of the systemically racist fabric of America because the “parks are on land that was indigenous.”

“It’s important to create more welcoming spaces because things haven’t always felt welcome,” he said. “And that’s historical, just that perspective, given the fact that national parks weren’t made for the enjoyment of people who weren’t white. National parks are on land that was indigenous.”

Barnes, who serves as the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, is campaigning against Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) for the state’s senate seat. Polling shows Barnes is leading Johnson by 7 points. President Joe Biden in 2020 was elected in Wisconsin by less than one percent (49.4-48.8 percent).

It is not the first time Barnes has pushed radical ideas. A video surfaced in July of Barnes speaking about the “awful” founding of the nation.

“Things were bad. Things were terrible. The founding of this nation? Awful!” Barnes claimed. “But you know, we are here now. And we should commit ourselves to do everything we can do to repair the harm because it still exists today — the harm the damage — whether it was colonization or slavery. The impacts are felt today. And they are going to continue to be felt unless we address it in a meaningful way.”

Barnes’ far-left radicalism is a product of being a “long-time leader” of the Working Families Party. The organization has positioned itself as a “national left-wing organization responsible for supporting and mainstreaming the most radical ideas and politicians in America,” 1130 WSIN reported.

Barnes has repeatedly called for defunding “over-bloated” police departments and has stated it “pains” him to see fully funded police budgets. Barnes has additionally called for “a reduction of spending” on state corrections budgets, along with suggesting that he “wish[es] we could accelerate” releasing violent criminals from prison.

The Democrat candidate has also advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), permitting driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, and giving in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. Barnes favors an entirely government-run health care system, canceling the Senate filibuster, packing the Supreme Court, and destroying the economy to stop the warming of the globe.

Barnes has stated the nation must take “urgent action” to stop global warming with “equitable and inclusive” measures to end the “long pattern of environmental racism we have witnessed in this country.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

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