"I strongly urge voters in district five to consider Ms. McQuain as an alternative to Mr. Mullins if she can commit to championing diversity and inclusiveness as their representative."
As a candidate for city council, Gregory Barnes has challenged me to speak about my commitment to diversity, inclusion, and the eradication of systemic racism, and I am more than happy to speak.
I am a white woman challenging a Black man in the race for City Council District 5, and I believe that even though I do not experience the challenges that the majority of my constituents face daily, I can bring thoughtful, empowering leadership to that seat, because I am willing to listen, to think deeply, and to follow my constituents’ lead in prioritizing public initiatives that will lead to better outcomes for all Milledgevillans.
As I said recently at the county commission meeting, one of the successes of systemic racism is that it’s invisible to many people. Burning crosses and Klan robes get a lot of attention, but it’s the subtler forms of racism that make for unequal access to opportunity and power. That’s not to say white people don’t experience hardship or get exploited by those in power. It means that they don’t navigate a system designed with obstacles based on their skin color. Generations of discriminatory policies in the public and private spheres means Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) live in areas more prone to pollution, accumulate less generational wealth, and experience harsher impacts of policies that pretend to be neutral, like the war on drugs.
We can’t address the mental health, clean water, economic opportunity, and climate change in our community without also addressing the impacts of the larger system we live in. As the white civil rights activist Anne Braden said, “As long as people of color can be written off as expendable, and therefore acceptable victims of the most extreme inequities, none of the basic injustices of our society will be addressed; they will only get worse.” As your councilperson, I will keep this belief central to the work I do in our community.
I don’t claim to have all the answers to centuries of systemic racism, but I believe we can come together to find answers for what works for us here in Milledgeville. It’s time for a new perspective on ways of doing things, like exploring participatory budgeting. It’s time for open conversations based in restorative justice so our neighbors can heal and we can grow stronger as a community. If you give me your vote, I will give you a councilperson committed to justice, equity, and inclusivity for Milledgeville.
Jessica “Jess” McQuain
Candidate for City Council
Milledgeville District 5