Protesters demonstrated recently near Mayfair Mall to express their opposition to the mall’s new security policy, which prohibits youth 17 and under from being in the mall after 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays unless accompanied by a parent or supervising adult 21 or older.

by Barbara White
For the second Saturday in a row, Campaign Against Violence and the Urban Underground held a rally to protest the new policies at Mayfair Mall prohibiting youth 17 and under from being in the mall after 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays unless they are accompanied by a parent or supervising adult 21 or older.

The policy, called "Parental Guidance Required" (PGR), also requires that all IDs be checked at the discretion of the mall’s security staff.

The protestors have stated Mayfair’s PGR policies are racist and an outright attack on the majority of law-abiding youth who simply want to go to the mall to shop and socialize with each other.

"Kids can work here for peanuts, but they can’t shop here," said community activist Brian Verdin, who joined the youths in their protest. "It is Jim Crow days all over again. We must all fight against this kind of aggression. All they (the teens) want is to be heard and the representatives of Mayfair Mall should be reasonable and hear them out with hopes of finding a better solution."

The group of protestors also had 2,500 petition signatures they hoped to present to mall management asking for a meeting with them to discuss the new policies. They also demanded input to find a better solution to the problems at the mall that led to the adoption of the PGR program.

Youths, who are the target of the new mall policies, could be seen marching along Mayfair Road and Center Street chanting "Out of sight, out of mind;" "Being young is not a crime, there’s a better solution." The average ages of the protesters was believed to have been between 14-17. The young people conducted themselves in a very orderly fashion.

Though older activists such as Verdin, Doris Jude, Janette Herrera and Dawn Baker--whose child was part of the protest--were there to support the more than 50 teens and young adults who demonstrated at the mall, an observer of the protest was disheartened to see no parental support, with the exception of Baker.

During the first protest after the PGR went into affect two weeks ago, demonstrators were met by Wauwatosa Police who were reportedly carrying shotguns and warning the youths to stay off of mall property. Last Saturday, the young protestors and older supporters were confronted with a chain-link fence along the northwest and northeast side of Center Street directly across the street from the mall where the demonstration took place.

Jayme Montgomery, 24, who was the spokesperson for the group, blamed mainstream media for blowing the incidences at the mall out of proportion, stating that they began targeting young people at the mall with news stories that blamed the youth for Mayfair’s problems.

"This new policy affects young people of all backgrounds," Montgomery said. "Here it is, at 17 and 18 years of age, you can go fight in the war for many of these same corporations that own these stores in this mall, but then they’re not allowed in the mall without an adult or identification."

Montgomery listed a number of things the protestors object to about the PGR program, such as security having the power to be selective in who they allow in the mall.

"If you are 30, but look 17 or 18 years of age, you will be carded. A young mother out with her children will have to show ID. Where does it stop?" Montgomery asked.

Though news reports on the disturbances at Mayfair blame teens and young adults, Montgomery said most of the problems have been committed by adults of all backgrounds not young teens.

Baker, the lone parent there to support her son, echoed Montgomery and Verdin about the unfairness of the PGR. "(The policy) is extremely unfair and is discriminatory and has the smell of the days of Jim Crow. If we do not take a stand here, where does it end?"

Said Herrera: "As a mother, I will not let my child fight alone when they are right. As elders, we must embrace and support our children when they are right."

Travis Nance, director of security at Mayfair Mall, approached the group and accepted the petitions saying he would make sure they got to the proper mall authorities. To date, no word has come from the mall as to whether or not management has seen the petitions.