Vel Phillips, the first African-American and female alder in Milwaukee,
the first woman and black Secretary of State for Wisconsin, and committed ally
to the Milwaukee Civil Rights Movement for open housing in the 1960s, was
depicted in the African American and mainstream press and media differently.
Based on coverage of her engagement in Milwaukee’s protest movement and Common
Council in African American newspapers such as The Chicago Defender and
mainstream, white-oriented papers like The New York Times, Phillips’s
gender tends to be masked while the Black press is more cognizant of it.
Moreover, how Phillips situated herself within Black political activism and
social movements both nationally and locally seems to reflect the diverging
depictions in Black and mainstream media, with whites seeing her primarily as
“Negro” while Black sources emphasize her gender and the politics of
respectability.
Elected as Milwaukee’s
first woman and “Negro” alder in 1956, some Black sources from the period, such
as The Chicago Defender, focus on her motherhood and “housewife”
characteristics despite her education and background as a lawyer.[1]
One piece from the New Pittsburgh Courier, a Black paper, in
1962, describes Phillips as “quite a girl” for telling off biased Southerners
in the Democratic national committee for choosing the Democratic presidential
candidate.[2] The
author goes on to describe Phillips, “If you doubt that [Vel R. Phillips] is a
"go-getter," you have only to see how far she has advanced during the
past few years. Five years ago Mrs. Phillips was a struggling young lawyer and
housewife..” Phillips is linked with being a housewife even before she was
elected to the Milwaukee Common Council and her successful career at age 36 is
linked with her being a mother and wife, evincing signs of sexism by placing
her into the category of a black woman who must be attached to a male. The same
newspaper article then claims she only ran for alder in 1956 because her
husband, Dale Phillips, turned it down.[3]
The sexist overtones from this Black paper were present
elsewhere, too. The Chicago Defender’s “Vel Phillips Has Scored Many
Firsts In Her Career” from 1958, describing her after being elected as a
Wisconsin Democratic member of the party’s national committee, defines her as a
housewife while extolling her accomplishments.[4]
The same piece evokes the politics of respectability by repeatedly tying her to
motherhood and using a photograph of a smiling, well-dressed Phillips. Like all
respectable Black women used in the press for civil rights causes, she is the
epitome of middle-class, bourgeois sensibilities. In interviews and describing
herself, Phillips states her middle-class background, however, and the fact
that her knowledge of Black history and her sense of justice were tied to
attending Howard University and discovering the vast world of Black intellecualism,
activism, and the collective uplift ideology from figures such as Alain Locke,
Howard Thurman, and E. Franklin Frazier.[5] In
addition to her role as a member of the Black middle-class, tying her into the
politics of respectability for Black newspapers and the public, Phillips also
distanced herself from the Nation of Islam, Black “extremists” and Communists,
who she saw as being fueled by the White Citizens Councils, not Black activism.[6]
Thus, Phillips embraced further the politics of respectability by not allowing
herself to be linked to the far-left, although she did express admiration of
Malcolm X for not accepting inferior treatment as well as recognition of the
NAACP Youth Council’s protests in Milwaukee.[7]
For white papers, Vel Phillips was always a Black person
before a woman. Janson for The New York Times describes her as the “sole
Negro on the council”[8]
and Ottley from Chicago Daily Tribune mentions her as a mother.[9]
The white press is also more interested in the alleged threat Phillips made at
a Common Council meeting in 1967 about potential violence if her open housing
bill was continually voted down by other whites on the council.[10]
Thus, the white press, despite Black media’s depiction of Phillips as a
respectable mother and housewife engaged in politics, emphasizes her racial
identity and possible ties to rioting and violence. Neither depiction
accurately reflects the life and activism of Vel Phillips during the turbulent
1960s. While sometimes engaging in militant action, such as calling out calling
out Southern Democrats for their racism in the party[11]
or criticizing racist plans by Southern whites to rid themselves of Blacks by
paying for bus tickets to Northern cities, Phillips was also committed to
working through the system with her elected position as an alder in the
predominantly Black ward in Milwaukee.[12]
Surviving Common Council footage of a meeting from
September 19, 1967, a year before Milwaukee finally passed an open housing
ordinance, shows Phillips and white alder Robert Dwyer arguing over the
implications of calling her words a “veiled threat,” with the latter arguing
that violence shows the movement in Milwaukee is not a non-violent, Christian
struggle and that Blacks should wait rather than expect rapid change.[13]
Phillips responds by saying her earlier statement is not a veiled threat but
the “facts of life” and immediate legislation to ease the overcrowded, ghetto
conditions of life for Black Milwaukee should be the priority of Milwaukee’s
Common Council.[14]
Clearly, white colleagues and residents in Milwaukee perceived her as part of a
violent or more radical contingent because of her language in Common Council
meetings as well as her participation in the 200 of marches organized by the
NAACP Youth Council and Father Groppi in the late 1960s. Besides referring to
the potential violence and unrest that is inevitable from segregated housing
and the lack of necessary services, Phillips also veered away from the politics
of respectability through denunciations of white alders in Milwaukee as “dumb
bigots,” quoting NAACP Youth Commandos who represented the younger, more
militant rhetoric of the late 1960s.[15] Interestingly,
Phillips recalls in an interview from 2007 with Barbara Miner how some of the Black
Power activists criticized her for not participating in pickets outside the
homes of white alders, suggesting she was interested in furthering her
political career.[16]
Consequently, Phillips was perceived as radical by
fellow white alders and some of the white press, while Blacks emphasized her
respectability and some, specifically Black Power-oriented Milwaukee activists,
did not see her as radical enough for continuing to work within the system to
support strong open housing legislation. The fact that Phillips did participate
in many of the demonstrations, including her arrest with Father Groppi, and
received significant support and consultation from Groppi and the Youth Council
in Common Council meetings, demonstrates that she was unquestionably committed
to achieving successful fair housing laws for Black Milwaukee. The politics of
respectability were definitely imposed upon her by the Black press and her
upbringing, especially in regards to her middle-class background and education,
but also in the context of her marriage and children. Regardless, Phillips was
celebrated and respected in the Black press because of engagement with civil
rights in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and national politics. Moreover, by
participating in the demonstrations and legal battles in Milwaukee, which led
to national media attention because of white counterdemonstrators’ violent
resistance, Phillips helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1968.[17]
As a woman of many firsts in Wisconsin history, her involvement with
Milwaukee’s civil rights struggles transcended racist and sexist portraits in
the press.
Bibliography
Armour, George. "Vel
Phillips Upsets Wis. Democrats." The Chicago Defender (National
Edition) (1921-1967), Jun 21, 1958. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/492990817?accountid=465.
"Black Nouveau |
Program | #1827 - YouTube." YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2nOypBtzrE (accessed December 14, 2012).
Boynton, Ernest.
"Milwaukee's Militant Learns to Compromise." Chicago Daily
Defender (Big Weekend Edition) (1966-1973),Mar 23, 1968.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/493409923?accountid=465.
Decade of Discontent 1960-1970. Directed by Worthwhile Films, Charles Taylor, Wisconsin Governor's Employment
and,Training Office, and Awareness Project Self Help, Larry Bandy and Inc
Praxis Publications. Madison, Wis.: Praxis Publications Inc., distributor],
1995.
"Common Council Considers Ald. Vel Phillips 5th Plea
for Open Housing Bill in Milwaukee," Milwaukee Star, September 23,
1967.
"Councilwoman Rips White Citizens Group." Chicago
Daily Defender (Daily Edition) (1960-1973), Jun 12, 1962.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/493898201?accountid=465.
Garland, Hazel. "Vel Phillips is quite a Girl, Tells Off Biased
Southerner." New Pittsburgh Courier (1959-1965), Jul 23,
1960.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/371592605?accountid=465.
Miner, Barbara . "Valiant Lady Vel." MilwaukeeMag.Com. www.milwaukeemag.com/article/242011-ValiantLadyVel
(accessed December 10, 2012).
"Mrs. Phillips Plays it Tough and Wins." New York
Amsterdam News (1962-1993), May 18, 1968.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/226636780?accountid=465.
C,.B. Powell. "Mrs. Phillips Cites the Kennedy Record." New
York Amsterdam News (1943-1961), Jul 23, 1960.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/225483552?accountid=465.
Ottley, Roi. "Negro Woman on Milwaukee City Council." Chicago
Daily Tribune (1923-1963), Sep 06, 1958.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/182184886?accountid=465.
Special to The New,York Times. "Milwaukee City Council Passes Stiff
Open-Housing Ordinance." New York Times (1923-Current File), May
01, 1968.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/118277754?accountid=465.
"Vel Phillips has Scored Many Firsts in Her Career(2)." The
Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967), Jun 28, 1958. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/492974548?accountid=465.
"Vel Phillips Speaks Out Against 'Freedom Rides'." The
Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967), May 05, 1962.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/493000893?accountid=465.
Washington, Betty. "Milwaukee
Councilwoman Fights for Housing Law." Chicago Daily Defender
(Daily Edition) (1960-1973), Sep 14, 1967.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/494325911?accountid=465.
WTMJ-TV. "UWM Libraries Digital Collections : Item Viewer."
UWM Libraries Digital Collections : Home.
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/march&CISOPTR=720&CISOBOX=1&REC=11
(accessed December 14, 2012).
[1]
Garland, Hazel. "Vel Phillips is quite a Girl, Tells Off Biased
Southerner." New Pittsburgh Courier (1959-1965), Jul 23,
1960. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/371592605?accountid=465.
[2]
Ibid
[3]
Ibid
[4]
"Vel Phillips has Scored Many Firsts in Her Career(2)." The
Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967), Jun 28, 1958. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/492974548?accountid=465.
[5] "Black
Nouveau | Program | #1827 - YouTube." YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2nOypBtzrE
(accessed December 14, 2012).
[6]
Councilwoman Rips White Citizens Group." Chicago Daily Defender
(Daily Edition) (1960-1973), Jun 12, 1962.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/493898201?accountid=465.
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Special to The New,York Times. "Milwaukee City Council Passes Stiff
Open-Housing Ordinance." New York Times (1923-Current File), May
01, 1968.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/118277754?accountid=465.
[9]
OTTLEY, ROI. "Negro Woman on Milwaukee City Council." Chicago
Daily Tribune (1923-1963), Sep 06, 1958.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/182184886?accountid=465.
[10]
Special to The New,York Times. "Milwaukee City Council Passes Stiff
Open-Housing Ordinance." New York Times (1923-Current File), May
01, 1968.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/118277754?accountid=465.
[11]
Garland, Hazel. "Vel Phillips is quite a Girl, Tells Off Biased
Southerner." New Pittsburgh Courier (1959-1965), Jul 23,
1960.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/371592605?accountid=465.
[12]
"Vel Phillips Speaks Out Against 'Freedom Rides'." The
Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967), May 05, 1962.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/493000893?accountid=465.
[13]
WTMJ-TV. "UWM Libraries Digital Collections : Item Viewer." UWM
Libraries Digital Collections : Home.
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/march&CISOPTR=720&CISOBOX=1&REC=11
(accessed December 14, 2012).
[14]
Ibid.
[15]
BETTY WASHINGTON Daily Defender,Staff Writer. "Milwaukee Councilwoman
Fights for Housing Law." Chicago Daily Defender (Daily Edition)
(1960-1973), Sep 14, 1967.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/494325911?accountid=465.
[16]
Miner, Barbara . "Valiant Lady Vel." MilwaukeeMag.Com.
www.milwaukeemag.com/article/242011-ValiantLadyVel (accessed December 10,
2012).
[17]
Ibid.
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