Dear Friends,
Words fail us, but our outrage and horror haunt us again at this terrible time, when yet another African American has been killed at the hands of the police.  We cannot imagine the pain and anger, frustration and outrage the African American community must be feeling.  The murder of George Floyd is abhorrent, as is the lack of accountability on the part of the police department and the city government.
There is no adequate consolation that we can offer for the violence, the death, the expression of systemic racism blatantly at work here. Yet, we stand with our African American brothers and sisters and pledge to act as allies and partners in protesting these outrageous acts of inhumanity.
​
Leviticus 19 tells us “do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds”.  Let us not stand idly by while the African American community is ravaged by racism and violence.  Let us take action!
Fighting systemic racism is a life-long task. One small first step is to sign this statement from Faith in Public Life - PEOPLE OF FAITH CRY OUT: BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Another small step – read and take to heart this advice from Corinne Shutack – 75 Things White People Can Do to For Racial Justice.

Let us stand together with people of color and other oppressed minorities and work together to end the racism that is poisoning our society!

Rabbi Bonnie Margulis
Executive Director
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

May 13, 2020
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, wifaithvoices4justice@gmail.com; 608-513-7121
 
WISCONSIN FAITH VOICES FOR JUSTICE URGES OUR COMMUNITIES TO REMAIN SAFER AT HOME!
 
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is appalled and dismayed at the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Governor Evers’ Safer at Home order.  The Supreme Court has sacrificed public safety in favor of partisan ideology.
 
While the Governor’s Safer at Home order has been successful in flattening the curve of projected coronavirus cases, the metrics for re-opening the state, as outlined in the Badger Bounce Back plan, have not yet been fully met.  There still has not been a downward curve in the reporting of new COVID-19 or flu-like symptom cases, according to the Department of Health Services.  Scientists at the University of Wisconsin have shown that social distancing has begun to work but have also warned that now is not the time to re-open the state.
 
In an amicus brief Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice filed in support of the Governor’s Safer at Home order, Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, Executive Director of WI Faith Voices for Justice, said, “As a rabbi, I look to Jewish tradition to inform my values and beliefs. For Jews, pikuach nefesh – saving a life – is paramount above all other commandments…For all faiths, the imperative to look out for the most vulnerable in our society leads us to support all actions that do exactly that.  This virus most cruelly affects the most vulnerable in our society – the elderly, the immune-compromised, and particularly and disproportionately affects African Americans and other communities of color.  Social distancing has been shown in past pandemics to slow the spread of disease, and it seems to be doing the same now. Governor Evers’ Safer at Home order is effective, and necessary, to keep us all safe.”
 
While we recognize the negative impact Safer at Home is having on our economy, it is imperative that we all stay home to protect the safety of ourselves, our families, our communities, and especially our first responders and health care workers who risk their lives to care for us.  We all are deeply concerned about the economic impact this pandemic has wrought, particularly upon those least able to withstand an economic shock. Small business owners fear bankruptcy. People are struggling with sudden unemployment, lay-offs, cut hours. They do not know when or if they will be able to get back to work, nor how they are going to pay the rent, feed their families, pay for health care, and keep the lights on and the water running.  However, the way to help is not to open the state prematurely and risk everyone’s health.  Rather it is for the Legislature to pass a relief bill that will help those who need it most.
 
We appreciate the more than one hundred religious leaders who signed on to our amicus brief. They understood that the right to worship freely is truly measured by how spiritual devotion serves the public good—in this case, their flocks’ health—not by how many congregants can be squeezed into a house of worship. We anticipate that the religious community will continue to do the right thing and, on behalf of our members and the broader community, not encourage or support the premature opening of our state.
 
We applaud the decisions of elected officials in Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, and Brown County who have extended safer at home in their localities. Despite the Supreme Court’s disastrous and dangerous ruling, we urge the people of Wisconsin to maintain social distancing, to limit their travel outside their homes to only the most vital of needs, to wear masks and stay six feet apart from others whenever outside the home, and to refrain from public gatherings of more than ten people until health experts, and not politicians, tell us it is safe. 
 

Coronavirus and the Faith Community
In light of the concerns around public gatherings and the coronavirus, we are sharing a couple of helpful resources from Public Health Madison and Dane County.  We hope you will find these of use.

Here are some helpful tips for faith communities.  For example, this may be a good time to consider switching to elbow bumps or smiles instead of shaking hands

People are strongly encouraged to get prepared at home. Have enough food on hand in case you need to stay in for 14 days, get soap and cleaning supplies, and make any needed arrangements for your care. Here is a planning resource from Public Health Madison and Dane County. 

We hope these resources will be useful.  Stay healthy, everyone!

Questions about race have appeared on the U.S. Census since 1790. But should race be a question on the census?  The Science Museum of Minnesota’s exhibit on race asks this question. The exhibit notes “Keeping the question about race on the U.S. Census helps reinforce misconceptions. But removing the question would make it hard to track and correct racial discrimination.  What should we do?”
 
The U.S. Census Bureau says  “Local, state, tribal, and federal programs use these data, and they are critical factors in the basic research behind numerous policies, particularly for civil rights. Race data are used in planning and funding government programs that provide funds or services for specific groups. These data are also used to evaluate government programs and policies to ensure that they fairly and equitably serve the needs of all racial groups and to monitor compliance with anti-discrimination laws, regulations, and policies.” Read more about how data on race is used here.
 
However, as the Science Museum exhibit notes, the way the question is worded on the Census is confusing and inconsistent, sometimes using skin color and sometimes tribal or national identities as categories.  The questions on Hispanic (sic) identity is confusing and leaves many unsure how to answer.
 
What do you think? Should the Census continue to ask about race? If so, should the current question remain as is? What do you think? Find the question on Hispanic (sic) identity and the question on race below.
 
Or should the question be simplified, with just six broad categories asking about population group rather than race, and alphabetized, so ‘white’ is not privileged at the top?  Alternatively, should people be given the option of filling in a blank to give their own self-identity?  Or should the question be eliminated altogether? 
 
Please post your comments below and we will share them in our next e-newsletter.
 
For more information on the history of the race on the Census, see: Smithsonian Magazine, “How the U.S. Census Defines Race” By Erin Blakemore, Nov. 9, 2015.

August marked the 400th anniversary of slavery in this country.  In August 1619, a ship holding 20-30 kidnapped people from Africa came to Jamestown, in the new colony of Virginia, and those people were sold into slavery.  Thus, began the original sin of slavery which built the United States.
 
I recently returned from a Civil Rights Tour of Montgomery and Selma, along with 50 of my rabbinic colleagues. The trip was organized by my professional organization for Reform rabbis – the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The purpose of the trip was to learn about our country’s history of slavery, segregation, and mass incarceration, with the hope that each trip participant would return to their home communities with a greater sense of urgency and dedication to doing the work of racial justice.
 
Our journey was titled, “Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation”.  Today I’d like to talk about Truth.  In subsequent blogs, I’ll struggle through Justice and Reconciliation.  I’d like to invite you all to contribute your own thoughts, struggles, experiences, and truths.  Email me at wifaithvoices4justice@gmail.com and I’ll share your thoughts in later blogs, with your permission.
 
Truth:  If you live in Madison, WI, you are on the land of the Peoria, Sauk and Meskwaki, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Miami, and Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux) First Nations.  (find out here what First Nations originally inhabited where you live).  When we talk about the original sin of slavery, let us not forget the adjacent sin of the dislocations and acts of genocide against the First Nations.
 
Truth: Slavery may have ended officially in 1865, but its legacy is still with us and permeates every aspect of our society, from language, food, music, dance, to poverty, mass incarceration, maternal death rates, the education gap, the wealth gap, and much more.
 
Truth: "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." – George Santayana. We in the United States do an abysmal job of teaching the truth of our history.  We learn that our Founding Fathers were dedicated to liberty and freedom for all, but we ignore the fact that nine out of ten of our first Presidents were slave owners.  The reality is that, in large part, their motivation for breaking away from Great Britain was the fear that the British were moving away from slavery and toward abolition. So, a few truths about our history:

Truth: Between the 16th and 19th centuries, over 12 million Africans were kidnapped from their homes and brought to the New World to be enslaved. About 10 million survived the Middle Passage. 

Truth: The Legacy Museum estimates that 40% of those enslaved were separated from their families. After the Civil War, hundreds of ads appeared in African American newspapers, as people searched for their lost relatives. The government did little to help.  On one wall of the Legacy Museum, some of these ads are replicated.  They are heart-wrenching cries of mothers searching for children they have not seen in years; children searching for long lost parents; siblings trying to find each other.  Ads detail changes of names as people are sold from one master to another. How could they possibly find each other when they were no longer certain of their loved one’s name?

A joint project of Villanova University and Mother Bethel AME in Philadelphia is locating and transcribing these ads. So far, over 900 ads have been found.  You can sign up on their website to be part of the crowdsourcing project to transcribe these ads for the digital archives, and you can browse the on-line archive and read some of these ads for yourself – Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery.

Truth: There is a direct line from slavery to Jim Crow, to lynchings, to today’s mass incarceration.  These are not historical footnotes that we can look back on as relics that are no longer relevant. They are part and parcel of who we are as a nation today. 

Truth: These few random facts are just the tip of the iceberg.  We must do a better job of lifting up our history and connecting the dots to today’s systems, public policies, and ingrained attitudes that serve to perpetuate racism. 
 
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is embarking on an intentional effort to create a Racial Justice Initiative.  We need to acknowledge that it is not sufficient to say that racial justice is part of everything we work on.  There must be more. For we are explicit and intentional in our work for immigrant rights, as a founding organization of the Dane Sanctuary Coalition. We are explicit and intentional in our worker justice initiative, the Dignity at Work Coalition.  And we are explicit and intentional in our Interfaith Community Building initiative.  We must be equally intentional and explicit in our work for racial justice.  It is at the core of what we believe and who we are as people of faith, and we must name it as such.  I do not know yet what this will look like or what form it will take. I invite you all to join us in envisioning this initiative. 

WISCONSIN FAITH VOICES FOR JUSTICE STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS
 
 
Our hearts are full of tears today as we stand together with the Muslim community in sorrow and solidarity in the wake of the horrific news of the mass shooting yesterday at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. We have no words of comfort to offer.  All we can do continue our work to build bridges among faith communities; to stand together for love, not hate; and to work to build a world where everyone is safe and secure in their homes, in their places of worship, and in their communities.  We can pray that world will come speedily, but prayers are not enough.  Please reach out to your Muslim friends and neighbors today. Extend the hand of friendship.  Offer hugs where appropriate.  A kind word of comfort. Your presence.  Let us all stand together as one unified community of faith and love.

Just days after Congress passed a Farm Bill that preserved protections for people struggling to find jobs, the Trump Administration announced proposed rules that would make it harder for unemployed and underemployed people to make ends meet.
 
Under current rules, able-bodied adults without children or dependents have a three-month limit on receiving SNAP benefits (food stamps) unless they meet strict work requirements (80 hours per month).  However, states can request waivers to this time-limit for areas with a high unemployment rate (10% or higher).  Currently, 29 states have such waivers. The new Farm Bill left these waivers in place.
 
The Trump Administration’s USDA is proposing a rule that will fly in the face of Congressional intent and impose stricter limitations on the ability of states to obtain waivers.  Experts estimate that 750,000 people will lose their food benefits under these new rules. 
 
Your voice is needed to tell the Trump Administration to respect the will of Congress, recognize the needs of hard-working people struggling to feed their families, and rescind these proposed changes.  Please take action! Feeding America is gathering statements for the public comment period.  The Trump Administration is obligated to read every unique comment, so please take a few minutes to personalize the text provided.
 
SNAP is a vital program that helps seniors, children, veterans, and hard-working people to put food on the table. Please add your voice to protect SNAP!

Below is our testimony to the Joint Finance Committee on the five special session bills introduced today and to be voted on tomorrow, Dec. 4. These bills will take away Governor Evers' ability to refuse to implement waivers the Walker Administration sought to impose onerous work reporting requirements and other barriers to access to BadgerCare and FoodShare. They will take away Attorney General Josh Kaul's ability to withdraw from a lawsuit to do away with the Affordable Care Act. One bill will move the presidential primary from the April election to a special March session, which Senator Majority leader Scott Fitgerald openly said was solely for the purpose of benefiting the Republican-backed candidate to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Please call your legislators ASAP and tell them to vote against these dangerous and undemocratic bills!
 
Testimony to the Joint Finance Committee:

Good afternoon. I am Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, President of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice. We are a state-wide interfaith education and advocacy organization.  I come before you today in opposition to these extraordinary session bills, which are a blatant attack on the constitutional separation of powers between the legislature, the Governor’s office, and the State Attorney General; on voter rights and access to voting; and on hard-working Wisconsin families who depend upon BadgerCare for their health care and FoodShare to help them make ends meet.
 
As we meet here today, our country is mourning the loss of President George H. W. Bush. President Bush said, “America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.” This is true no less of the leaders of our state than the leaders of our country.  It is neither kinder nor gentler to erect barriers to access to health care and nutrition, and it is neither moral nor democratic to put limits on access to the ballot box.
 
Bills to replace the authority of the Attorney General to enter into or withdraw from federal lawsuits with the will of the legislature, to abridge the authority of the Governor in appointing agency officials and making administrative rules in favor of the legislature, is to attack the fundamental principle of separation of powers.  
It has so often been noted in the last few years, in defense of controversial positions, that elections have consequences. That is no less true today. In this past election, the voters spoke loud and clear for the positions and policies espoused by Gov-elect Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul. Governor-elect Evers was clear about his support for the Medicaid expansion and his opposition to work requirements; he and Josh Kaul were clear about withdrawing from the lawsuit attacking the Affordable Care Act; Evers was clear about his intention to expand access to voter registration. 
 
These positions were clear and well-known, and it was these positions the voters responded to when they elected Tony Evers governor.  The bills proposed today are a deliberate attempt to overturn the will of the people.  I call upon all our legislators to honor their obligations as elected representatives of the people of Wisconsin, listen to our voices and our votes, and vote No on these bills.
 

A Week of Violence and Tragedy
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning (Ps.30)
 
This past week was one of unrelenting violence, tragedy, and loss.  From pipe bombs sent to prominent Democratic leaders and critics of President Trump; to the murder of two African-Americans in Kentucky – killed when their assailant was unable to enter a black church and sought other prey; to the devastating attack on the Jewish community leaving eleven dead; it seemed the sorrow would never end.
 
These are not isolated incidents.  They are the very predictable outcome of the rhetoric, the hate speech, the dog whistles to racists and anti-Semites, that has been perpetuated by our president and not repudiated by his followers in Congress. They are part and parcel of the fear mongering and lies Trump is perpetuating about the Honduran refugees, claiming they are terrorists, when in reality, they are fleeing terror.
 
There is a direct line from Trump’s hateful lies to the murders in Pittsburgh. The terrorist who perpetrated this horror did so specifically because of Jewish support for refugees, through the Jewish refugee resettlement agency HIAS. The response of the Pittsburgh Jewish community has been to pledge to redouble their efforts, based on their Jewish values of tikkun olam, repairing the world, to reach out a helping hand to refugees.  Trump’s response has been to send 5000 troops to the border to keep out the Honduran refugees, and to threaten to take away citizen rights to people born in this country to foreign-born residents.
 
In the wake of Saturday’s shooting, President Trump said, ‘It’s a shame, something should be done’.  I could not agree more.  Something should be done, and next week we all have the opportunity – nay, the responsibility, to do that something. Nov. 6 is election day.  If we do not agree with what is happening to our country; if we do not want our elected officials to be fomenting hate and violence; if we want to be a country that welcomes people seeking safety and asylum; if we want to be a country that values each and every person regardless of religion, or ethnicity, or sexual orientation or gender identity; then we are obligated to go to the polls and vote.
 
This past weekend felt like one long night of mourning. But for many communities around the country, the weekend ended with interfaith vigils and ceremonies, as the many and varied sectors of our society came together in love and unity.  This outpouring of support brought light to the darkness, and helped those of us who were experiencing pain, and grief, and fear, to see that joy would be possible in the morning.  Let us look forward to seeing this joy carry through to Election Day and the opportunity to make our voices heard!

At Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, we believe democracy only works when every eligible voter exercises the right to vote.  This is not a partisan issue.  The right to vote is fundamental to who we are as Americans.

Today is National Voter Registration Day. On this day, organizations and individuals across the country engage in a coordinated effort to get as many people registered to vote as possible. WFVJ is part of this effort!

Please help get as many people registered as possible.  Share widely our video, Register and Vote 2018, which gives helpful information and links to resources on how to register and vote.

A little-known fact: if you have been convicted of a felony in Wisconsin, have served your time and completed any probation or parole conditions (‘off-paper’), you are eligible to vote!  If you are in jail on a misdemeanor or awaiting trial, you are eligible to vote!

The next step after registering is to learn as much as possible about the candidates and their stands on the issues you care about.  Use the non-partisan Dignity at Work Voter’s Guide for Every Working Person. This guide can be used at candidate forums, town hall meetings, and any other venues where candidates are available for questioning.

As important as it is to get people registered, it is equally important to get everyone to the polls! Download and distribute freely these Voter Pledge Cards (for Dane County voters; for Wisconsin voters) to help remind people to vote, find their polling place, and arrange a ride to the polls.

Thank you all for your commitment to preserving our democracy!  See you at the polls!