PUBLIC SAFETY + PRE-TRIAL FAIRNESS
DON’T TAKE THE BAIT
In addition to the state Supreme Court race, two questions will be on your ballot next month around cash bail and pre-conviction conditions. Make no mistake: these are devious changes being pushed by a wealthy and powerful few hoping to divide us by where we live and what we look like and use us as their pawns as they attack our freedom.
They designed these amendments in order to: 1) cement into our state constitution the notion that access to wealth equates to access to freedom and 2) create an ideological monopoly on the definitions of violence and serious harm. They want us to be afraid, and they want us to do their dirty work for them. This month’s newsletter focuses on how to talk truthfully about these referenda to remind our audiences what keeps us safe and point out the motivations behind the false narratives fed to us by people who want to divide us.
As always, if our messages don’t spread, they don’t work. Our shared challenge is to break through the noise by pulling together a narrative that inspires our communities to chime in and join us.
DISMANTLING HARMFUL NARRATIVES
Part of the reason these amendments are so dangerous is because on their face, they seem innocuous to many people. Like with many dog-whistle narratives, the language being used in and around these referenda is a wolf in sheep’s clothing to give the people pushing them plausible deniability- but we aren’t fooled.
Their goals:
To weaponize fear and division in service of claiming and holding power.
To get us to do their dirty work by voting away our own freedoms.
To normalize the falsehood that freedom is dependent on wealth.
To uphold a carceral worldview that privileges control, surveillance and punishment of BIPOC, poor, LGBTQ, and disabled people.
WINNING NARRATIVES ON PUBLIC SAFETY + PRE-TRIAL FAIRNESS
KEY GUIDANCE
As always, here’s how we express our most effective messages, step-by-step:
Lead with our values explicitly naming that they are shared across races, backgrounds, and genders
Name specific people who violate our values and expose their motivation for spreading lies and scapegoating people in our community.
Inspire action with a clear call to action.
Close with a positive vision of our future and how coming together makes that happen.
And remember, some things that feel intuitive will set you back:
Negating our opposition’s falsehoods only reinforces their lie in voters’ minds, such as saying “actually, we don’t want to <whatever it is they are saying we want>”
Offering versions of our opponent’s frames centers their message. Voters want to hear what our values are and what we believe our world can be.
SAMPLE NARRATIVES
PUBLIC SAFETY
No matter where in Wisconsin we live or how much money we have, we all want our loved ones to be safe and thrive. This means living in communities where we look out for each other, have great schools for our kids with supported and valued staff, and can access comprehensive healthcare and support systems that help us get through hard times and ensure we come out better on the other side.
But this election, a few rich and powerful people are trying to dismantle what we know keeps us safe. They want to distract us with fear-mongering around cash bail so they can distract us from their failures to provide what we really need to be safe and thriving. Thankfully, we’re smarter than that– we know that taking money away from our communities to siphon into the cash bail system only furthers disparities and takes resources from communities who need them.
We all know what really keeps us safe and thriving– and it’s not crowded jails like some politicians want. This spring, we have the chance to make Wisconsin better for each other. We can reject the politics of fear and embrace freedom and safety for all. <call to action to vote no if your legal allows>
PRE-TRIAL FAIRNESS
No matter what our neighborhood looks like or how much money is in our wallets, we all deserve the freedom to decide for ourselves what safety looks like in our communities.
For most of us, it’s communities where we know and look out for our neighbors, have the great schools and healthcare we need, and thriving community programs and spaces where we can strengthen our village together.
But because they’d rather stuff the pockets of their donors instead of providing what we all need, some politicians are hoping to use fear to bait us into giving up our own freedoms. They want to be the ones to tell us what safety is and isn’t on their terms, and deny us the ability to have our own say. We won’t fall for it.
The safest neighborhoods are the ones that have the most resources to make sure every resident has what they need. We all know what really keeps us all safe– and it’s not crowded jails. This spring, we have the chance to make Wisconsin better for each other. We can reject the politics of fear and embrace freedom and safety for all. <call to action to vote no if your legal allows>
Something important to remember
Yes, call out the racism and the harm and the motivation, AND... don’t get stuck there.
Think of our people, our base, our values sharers. They value hope. They want joy. They seek unity. If we stay stuck in the mud of why the opposition is terrible, we lose our people.
Use your vision, come back to it when you feel stuck.
We don't have to fall for their tricks. We can have a world where people are free to decide for themselves if and when they want to become parents. We can have a world where our kids have freedom to be safe and authentically themselves in their schools. We can have a world where everyone has the freedom to to take time off when they or a loved one is sick.We just have to build it together. That starts by [call to action].
Don’t forget, you can download and find Wisconsin-specific GIFs and memes for use with our shared narrative at this IntoAction library.
Here are some sample messages you can edit and share!
All WI families' rights should be respected. But today, a handful of politicians prop up legislation to create separate systems of justice based on what we look like and the money in our wallets. We won’t fall for it. Safety and justice should be for all of us, no exceptions. <Vote no on April 4.>
We’re onto those politicians who keep pointing fingers at Black Wisconsinites, spreading lies about our community bail funds and even our elections, desperately hoping to distract us from their failure to promote safety and justice for all in Wisconsin.
Let’s be clear; this bail ”reform” is steeped in racism and hate. This dog whistle legislation is a distraction to keep us separate. We won’t fall for it. We are coming together against anyone that seeks to divide us.
We're tired of politicians trying to scare us. We know what keeps us safe — a Wisconsin where we look out for our neighbors and have leaders who fully fund our community, from violence prevention programs to healthcare. <Vote no on April 4.>
No matter what our neighborhood looks like or how much money is in our wallets, we all deserve the freedom to decide for ourselves what safety looks like in our communities.
Wisconsinites know that safety and justice should be for all of us, no exceptions. It’s time for us to make a new choice. Be a voter, April 4.
In Wisconsin, #WeKeepUsSafe and we’re voting to #ProtectOurFreedoms.
WHY WE LAUNCHED THIS SERIES
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
This year is a pivotal crossroads for our state and our nation. In 2020, we came out in record numbers. We marched, we voted, we volunteered, and we elected new leaders to govern our interests.
But now, our time is running out to ensure that every person in Wisconsin knows how much they made a difference. If we cut through the noise, we can ensure they know that they changed the direction of our state, improved our lives, and will do it again.
Here’s the challenge: our collective knee-jerk reaction to disinformation and incorrect statements is to provide “enough” facts to win the day, argument and voter. But contrary to our instincts, this doesn’t work and can even strengthen our opponent’s narrative!
When we try to bust a falsehood, what ends up happening is:
We deepen the audience’s belief in the lie
We repeat and reinforce our opponent’s frame
We expose the lie to folks that might not have heard it before
At the same time, we know we can’t stay silent. This monthly newsletter will help inform how to dispel lies and call out dog whistles without repeating them.
