Demand Factual BIPOC History be Taught
Achieving racial justice means reforming our institutions. Demand that the comprehensive history of Black, Indigenous and People of Color be taught in all our educational institutions.
We need to teach our future generations about white privilege, white supremacy and to have honest conversations about race. To help kickstart your racial activism, we have drafted email templates for you adapt and send to traditional institutions within your own communities, to insist they take action to dismantle systemic racism.
Racial injustice is unique to each country and cannot be addressed with one broad-brush email. However our drafts can encourage you to think about these topics within your domain, to research some statistics within your communities and take action.
The below email draft sets you on the path to demand that the comprehensive history of Black, Indigenous and People of Color be taught in all our educational institutions in order for students to understand our deeply racist history and how colonialism and slavery construct systemic disadvantage.
How to use this email template
ADAPT • Edit the <italics> words, sentences and/or paragraphs with your appropriate text, adding your own details as well as researched statistics, experiences and data
EMAIL • Your lour local representative; state/federal education ministers and secretaries; schools, universities and colleges.
Please note
Where possible, research and write about specific BIPOC communities and needs
The goal of racial justice is not to simply have white people accept that white supremacy and white privilege exist — rather the critical intent is to address racial inequity, uplift BIPOC communities, as well as have white folks comprehend how their personal lives actually support this oppression and then actively change that interaction
Intersectional justice to reform our institutions, amplifying the voices of BIPOC, and fighting for social justice is not about white people getting thank yous and personal recognition (i.e. white saviorism). White people need to be willing to take action from the sidelines, with no need for public acknowledgement — and encourage others within their communities to do the same.
Email draft
To whom it may concern,
My name is <insert name> of <insert community, state of country>.
I am writing today to insist we comprehensively teach the factual history of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in our schools in order for children/students to understand our nation’s deeply racist history and in turn, how <colonialism/slavery> constructs racism and systemic disadvantage.
It is crucial that our teachers and institutions cover the history of <enslavement/massacres/stolen generations of Black, Indigenous and People of Color> during the <colonial era> and we must not allow these relevant and profound historical catastrophes to be cast aside in increasingly complex curriculums.
<Include a paragraph with up-to-date fact/data on the specific incident you have referenced>.
Do not allow the sanctity of factual historical <genocide> to be forgotten. We must arm our future generation with this knowledge to end systemic racism.
The inequity in our <Black, Indigenous and People of Color> communities must be reformed. The cyclical poverty trap created by ongoing colonisation and <enslavement/massacres/stolen generations> must be addressed now. We cannot continue to walk the murderous path of our colonial past and you hold the power to enact real change. This power, this change, this reform cannot and must not be in isolation. Listen to the people who are protesting for <Black, Indigenous and People of Color> lives here in <your country> — for Black Lives Matter across the global — and acknowledge that change and a revolution must happen now.
Yours Sincerely,
<Your Name>
See more
Use our email template to demand our elected officials address the high proportion of incarcerated women and mothers from Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color communities
Use our email template to demand our medical establishments enact comprehensive cultural awareness training for medical professionals, as well as increased recruitment from the communities of Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color.
