In visits to Milwaukee and Madison, Desmond Tutu preached against racial injustice, apartheid

Desmond Tutu, the prominent Anglican bishop who fought apartheid in South Africa, visited Wisconsin several times to speak out against racial injustice.

Tutu, who died Sunday at 90, traveled the globe as he worked to bring down the apartheid regime in his country. In Wisconsin, his speaking appearances drew large, riveted crowds.

In 2003, Marquette University awarded Tutu its prestigious Pere Marquette Discovery Award, one of only five times the school has given the award. Other recipients include Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Apollo 11 astronauts.

His daughter, Naomi Tutu, has visited Wisconsin as well to discuss race relations in South Africa and the U.S.

Here are some of Desmond and Naomi Tutu's most notable trips to the state.

May 1988

Nearly 12,000 people gathered in the University of Wisconsin Field House to hear Desmond Tutu in 1998 and gave him a "thunderous standing ovation," according to a Milwaukee Sentinel article from the time.

Speaking about racism toward Wisconsin's Native American population, Tutu urged the crowd to "be committed to racial justice here as you are committed to racial justice in South Africa."

Tutu, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize four years earlier, also detailed why Americans should not support apartheid, calling it "as evil, as unacceptable, as immoral as Nazism." He encouraged people to see each other as brothers and sisters and to find strength in diversity.

"Brothers and sisters sometimes disagree, and disagree violently, but they still remain brothers and sisters," he said, according to the Milwaukee Journal.

Tutu also delivered a homily to 500 people at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison.

February 1990

Tutu's daughter, Naomi, who at the time was pursuing a doctorate at the London School of Economics, gave a speech at Marquette University in 1990 on the evils of apartheid.

She called for continued economic sanctions on South Africa and said the release of Nelson Mandela from prison weeks earlier was "not a sign that apartheid is over."

"We shouldn't be happy too soon. The struggle still has a long way to go. And we still need the support of the people from this country," she said, according to a Milwaukee Journal article.

She also commented on what she saw as the poor state of race relations in the U.S.

"There is a sense ... that the fundamental racism in this country was never truly addressed," Tutu said. "That is why you are seeing a move backward in the gains Black Americans have made in this country."

Tutu also visited Milwaukee in 2001 to deliver the keynote speech at an event for Church Women United, a Christian women's movement.

May 1995

In a four-day trip to the Milwaukee area in 1995, Desmond Tutu visited sick children, met with church leaders and addressed eager crowds.

"Injustice is not just evil. It is a veritable blasphemy. To keep oppressed even one such person created in the image of God is like spitting in the face of God," he said.

At Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Tutu met patients, their families and hospital staff.

"If you are quite serious about the survival of human society, then you're going to care about the children," he told reporters during the visit.

At UW-Milwaukee, he encouraged business leaders to invest in South Africa; at an elementary school where his image was part of a mural, he led children in a peace rally.

At an anniversary dinner for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, 900 attendees got to their feet for a standing ovation.

At one of the only events open to the public, Tutu's plans to speak on a street corner were foiled by rain, and untold numbers packed into the small New Life Presbyterian Church.

"I wish there was surgery we could perform to open my heart," Tutu told the crowd, according to the Journal Sentinel. "There you would see the depth of my gratitude."

During the trip, a reporter asked Tutu if South Africans and Americans had the patience for change to take place.

"It is remarkable that people seem to be aware that 400 years of oppression cannot be turned around overnight," Tutu said. "People seem to be willing to give the government enough time. Of course, the idea of `enough time' is relative. We are going to have to deliver pretty quickly.

"In the United States, I don't know. The suspicion is that there isn't. I see a growing anger and frustration building."

February 2003

In 2003, Tutu returned to Milwaukee to receive the Pere Marquette Discovery Award for his "unwavering call for justice, forgiveness and reconciliation."

In front of a crowd of 1,200 at Gesu Church, Tutu accepted the award and urged the U.S. not to enter into war in Iraq.

"God smiles through tears to see the many who oppose this war," Tutu said, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Tutu also met with 20 high school and college students who were picked as "emerging leaders" in Milwaukee. At the roundtable discussion, he encouraged the students to help others in small ways.

"It doesn't have to be spectacular, but if you help one person, it will make a difference," he said.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In Desmond Tutu's visits to Wisconsin, leader spoke against apartheid