by PASCH Staff

Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett has become a hero of the domestic violence community. While on a family outing to the Wisconsin State Fair, he heard a woman screaming for help, begging for someone to call 911. Barrett discovered a grandmother seeking to protect her one year old grandchild from an attack by a man wielding metal pipe. Police would later characterize the assault as “a domestic dispute.”

When the mayor attempted to dial for help, the assailant beat him with the pipe about the head and torso. Apparently Mayor Barrett was very determined, for in his defense of the woman and child, he suffered a broken hand. Clearly he used vigorous force to prevent any harm from coming to the unfortunate victims.

The Associated Press quoted Barrett's brother John Barrett as saying, "My brother Tom encountered a domestic violence situation. Tom stepped up and did the right thing. He called 911 and tried to calm the situation, protect the grandmother and her grandchild. As a result of his actions, Tom was attacked and struck repeatedly with a metal object. Tom's efforts protected the woman and the child. His efforts also protected members of our family, as well."

How was it that such a situation should develop in so public a place as the State Fair? Only because all too often we accept domestic violence as part of our culture. Those of us who have lived fourscore years or more can remember a time when abuse of one’s family was viewed as utterly reprehensible. It is often forgotten that concern over domestic violence was a major factor in the rationale for women to gain the vote and pass only when they were under the influence of demon rum. To rid society of alcohol would lead to peace in the home. As later generations were to discover, abuse can happen when there is absolutely no liquor involved.

The protection of women and children was a major plank in the platform of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union as dedicated members brought their message throughout the land. They spoke out fearlessly against the hidden evil of violence in the home, and they gained a widespread hearing. Based upon spiritual conviction and a mission to make homes safe, the WCTU became a political force that would in time earn women the right to vote as they raised their voices against a great social evil.

There were, to be sure, some who were more militant and broke into saloons to smash the whiskey bottles and hurl them into the street. Carrie Nation and her ilk displayed a ferocity that was in time directed into more effective channels. Nevertheless hers was part of the cumulative voice that condemned violence against women in the bitterest of terms. Between the two World Wars domestic abuse was often referred to as the most despicable of crimes.

Tom Barrett, twice elected mayor of Milwaukee (2004 and 2008) is surely to be commended for “doing the right thing.” The physical blow that he struck against domestic abuse cost him the fracture of a hand, but his forthright action represents a moral blow to the complacency that so often characterizes attitudes toward domestic abuse. How many others had heard those screams and not bothered to respond? Mayor Barrett moved swiftly and forcefully with actions that spoke louder than words, not as a publicly elected official but as a righteous citizen.

His action calls for the rest of us to “do the right thing.” We need not resort to physical blows to create an environment where domestic abuse is condemned, where we bring prayer and scripture and moral certitude to combat the evil. Let us recall that the task of prophets is to recognize an evil, to bring the Word of God to bear on it, and to call for appropriate action.