Teach the Truth Wisconsin
Around the country, the forces of white supremacy and racism are confronting school boards, demanding they prevent teaching the true history of racism, slavery, sexism, and violence against marginalized communities that is part of the founding of our country.
As people of faith, we believe it is the responsibility of each person to do their part to address the systemic inequities and injustices in our society, and to create a world where every human being can live a life of dignity and respect. Our children need to be prepared to take on their share of this task when they grow up. Yet, without knowing the true history of how our nation came to be, they cannot understand the underlying causes of the issues we face, and therefore, will be ill-equipped to meet the challenges they will confront as adults.
Please join us once again for a Week of Action for Racial Equity, October 9-15th, as we lift up stories of Wisconsin history at significant sites of racial justice around the state. Click here to view last year’s #TeachTheTruth sites across Wisconsin.
How your congregation/organization can participate:
Choose a site from the list provided or suggest a site not on the list. Select a site in your town or city that symbolizes or reflects history that people want to censor because it speaks about racism or other oppression. It could be identified by a historic marker, statue, archive, burial ground, or museum. There are also countless historic sites that are unmarked — such as a freeway that destroyed a neighborhood, a site of black resiliency, or a university building built by enslaved labor. (Click here for some suggested sites around Wisconsin.)
Research the history of the site and create a poster using the provided template that relates that history. Then pick a date in the second week of October – let us know the date so we can put it on a calendar of events for the week to publicize. On that date, bring your poster to the site and take a selfie holding up the poster. Give a brief talk or invite a teacher or historian to give a brief lecture, telling the history of the site and why it is important to know that history.
Record the event and send us the file. We will post the video on the Taking a Faithful Stance for Racial Equity Facebook page. Please share your event on your social media and use the hashtag #TeachTheTruthWisconsin.
Download a Teach the Truth WI Toolkit here (includes How to Organize a #TeachTheTruthWisconsin Talk or Event, Sample Media Advisory and Tips, Tips for Handling Hecklers and Potential Disrupters, Poster Template, Tips for Recording Your Talk or Event)
Questions? Please contact Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
2022 #TeachTheTruth Events:
- Friends of Call for Peace Teach the Truth in Honor of Indigenous People’s Day – October 10th & 11th (Madison – Capitol & First Unitarian Society)
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Teaching the Truth about School Board Takeovers – October 13 (Hartland – Lake Country Unitarian Universalist Church & Zoom)
Organized by Creating Beloved Community (MICAH, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, WISDOM) and Wisconsin Council of Rabbis.
