Moving Beyond Racism

Bishops, I C. Moving Beyond Racism. Migration World Magazine, MAR 2000, v28, i3, p5

OVERVIEW

(Download Moving Beyond Racism overview as a PDF)

 

 

The Roman Catholic bishops of Illinois issued a pastoral letter calling on the 3.7 million parishioners in their state to oppose all forms of racist behavior, including the use of bigoted language and racist jokes. In 1979, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement describing racism as a sin.

 

 

Following are excerpts from the letter by the Illinois bishops.

 

 

THE SIN OF RACISM

 

 

We begin with three facts.  First, racism exists; it is part of the American landscape.  Second, racism is completely contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Third, all baptized Catholics have a moral obligation to work toward the elimination of racism.

 

 

What is meant by racism?  Racism is a personal sin and social disorder rooted in the belief that one race is superior to another.  It involves not only prejudice, but also the use of religious, social, political, economic or

historical power to keep one race privileged.

 

 

Racism exists, in some form, among all peoples, in any form it is intolerable and unacceptable.

 

 

Racism is personal, institutional, cultural and internal.  Personal racism

shows itself in an attitude or action taken by an individual to diminish the

God-given dignity or rights of another because of race.  An example of personal racism in action is the verbal or mental demeaning of African Americans simply because of their color.

 

 

Institutional racism allows racist attitudes or practices to shape the

structures of an organization.  Institutional racism reveals itself, for

example, when promotions are manipulated so that African Americans are not fairly considered for certain positions.

 

 

Cultural racism is the extension of this sinful attitude to the mores,

standards, customs, language and group life of a whole society.  One culture's ways of thinking and behaving are then regarded as the only way to live.  All other social patterns are dismissed as deviations or dangers.

 

 

Internalized racism is a sense of inferiority or lack of self-esteem because

one belongs to a particular race. When an African American child grows up believing that to be black is inferior, he or she is a victim of internalized racism.

 

 

Events continue to remind us that racism thrives.  Look at the brutal and

racially motivated death by dragging last year of an African American in

Texas.  Consider the more recent aggravated sexual assault on a Haitian

prisoner by members of the Brooklyn Police force.  Search the web sites filled with racially charged hate speech on the Internet.  All this is so blatantly racist that it can shock and therefore move us to ask again how to confront more effectively the sin of racism.

 

 

Any confrontation cannot ignore the more subtle forms of racist actions:

realtors who manipulate sales and steer clients along racial lines; law

enforcement officers who routinely profile black drivers for police checks;

department store detectives who automatically follow young black males,

parents who drive past an excellent school to register their children at

another because a substantial number of the students in the first school are African American, groups who deliberately avoid contact with racially diverse or culturally different communities.

 

 

Almost unconsciously, the sin of racism can touch and stain every aspect of life, from friendships to work relationships, from where people recreate to what programs they watch on television.  Given the long history of racism in our country, how can anyone hope to abolish at last this moral plague?

 

 

Here are some actions, some small and some larger, which we all can take:

 

 

* Take a personal inventory of your own heart and discover what has to change.  Ask yourself

**a.  When I hear the term (African-American, Chinese, Japanese, Native Indian, Caucasian, or Hispanic, etc), what thoughts or images regarding them and their behavior, attitudes, and lifestyles come to mind?
**b.  What do I admire or respect about (African-American, Chinese, Japanese, Asian, Native Indian, Caucasian, Jews, or Hispanic, etc)?
**c.  How have significant others in your life influenced your attitudes about (African-American, Chinese, Japanese, Native Indian, Caucasian, or Hispanic, etc)?
**d.  What experiences have you had that had the greatest impact on your present feelings toward (African-American, Chinese, Japanese, Native Indian, Caucasian, or Hispanic, etc)?
**e.  If you have not had much contact with (African-American, Chinese, Japanese, Native Indian, Caucasian, or Hispanic, etc), what prevents this from happening?
**f.  When you have a prejudicial thought or hear a prejudicial remark, how do you handle it?

 

* Seek opportunities to know and learn from a person of a different race.

 

* Identify racist behavior in our community, speak with others and make plans to oppose it.

 

* Refuse to use biased language and to tell jokes tinged with racist attitudes.

 

* Teach children to move beyond mere toleration and to accept open-heartedly people of all races.

 

* Avoid investing in companies which supports or practices racist policies and tell the company why you are withdrawing your money.

 

* Elect public officials who work for racial justice.

 

* Have your parish sponsor workshops which both present racism in all its complexity and evaluate it morally.

 

 

 

It would be naive to think that racism will disappear overnight, it is too deeply embedded in the American experience.  But change will come if we remain constant and never lose sight of the goal...

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

 

 

1.  How and when would you implement the above goals? 

 

2.  What does it mean to be prejudice?  What will you do today to increase your multicultural awareness?

3.  The Catholics in the state of

Illinois took the initiative to try to end racism, what do you think must be done to end racism not only in Illinois but across America

?

 

4.  Why do or do you not personally believe racism is a sin?

 

5.  How is racism contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

 

6.  What can evangelicals do individually or collectively to end racism?

7.  Do you see hope in

America

that one day there will not be racism?  Why or Why not?

 

 

 

** in  overview indicates added by undersigned.

 

 

IMPLICATIONS

 

 

Although the Catholics of Illinois took the initiative toward ending racism, it is applicable to all Christians.  This article notes that racism is still thriving today (23 years since the 1979 report) because it is deeply embedded in the American experience.  Racism exists, in some form, among all peoples, in any form it is intolerable and unacceptable.  However, we must take individual and collectively responsibility to end it.  The best way for racism to end is among all those who proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

 

 

Sandra Whitley  c. CYS