Wisconsin Politician Shelia Stubbs Gets The Police Called On Her While Campaigning In A Predominately White Neighborhood

On this episode of Being Black In America, we have Wisconsin State Assembly candidate, Shelia Stubbs.  She is seeking answers as to whom called 911 on her while she was merely speaking with neighbors and passing out flyers.

Stubbs was door to door canvassing in a neighborhood within her district, trying to gain potential voters in an upcoming election. She was accompanied by her mother and daughter, who both stayed behind in the car. As she begins to speak to one of the neighborhood residents, a police officer pulls up behind her vehicle and questions her and her mother about why they were there. The officer said they received an anonymous call from a neighbor stating that her vehicle was a part of a drug deal. According to the police report obtained by NY Times, the call was summarized as saying, “They are waiting for drugs at the local drug house — would like them moved along.”

Stubbs was stunned at what she heard. “A drug dealer? Are you kidding me?” She recalled being embarrassed and stated in an interview, “I couldn’t demonstrate how I really felt on the inside. I just wanted to go.”

Following the incident, Stubbs decided not to speak on the incident but recently chose to tell the story because of the traumatizing effect it had on her and her family. Although she won the primary by nearly 50% and is poised to be the first black woman to fill the seat for Wisconsin in the general election, she still felt angry, belittled and hurt by the incident. She said in the moment it was all unfolding, “I held back my tears until I got back in my house.” She didn’t want to break composure because her daughter was watching.

Shelia, who is a common face in the community, felt despite her role, she was in an uneasy position as a black woman being confronted by a police officer. She described it as life or death. “Every move I made, in communication, or demeanor, or behavior, was critical in the outcome of this situation,” she said in an interview. 

The officer did tell Shelia that she should continue canvassing but Stubbs said she wanted to just go home. After a day off, she went on to canvass other parts of the district, but she did not return to the street where the encounter took place. And she never found out who called the police on her and her family.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀