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Congregations
Respond To Racism, Oppression
When Debra Gray Boyd of the First
Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, Ohio, went to the microphone
on the last day of General Assembly in June and invited all other UUs
to do something about racism before the next GA they pretty much did
what she said.
Hundreds of them went home and either got behind existing antiracism
and antioppression programs in their congregations or started new ones.
UUA Moderator Gini Courter, who has spoken to many groups since GA,
says that Boyd's request, which became a GA resolution, was taken to
heart. "I'm blown away by the number of congregations that are
picking up the GA resolution and running with it," she says. "I'd
guess that at least half of our congregations are actively responding
to it."
What does it take to get a congregation involved in antiracism work?
It could be one committed individual such as Sarah Berel-Harrop of the
Unitarian Fellowship of Houston.
At GA 2005 she was moved by an antiracism workshop she attended. At
GA 2006 it was Boyd's resolution that compelled her to bring an antiracism
dialogue to her congregation. This fall she helped organize a group
that read the book Soul Work. The group plans to present a worship service
on what it learned. The congregation also participated in the Amnesty
International weekend of faith on the death penalty and has incorporated
information about racism into worship services. It also purchased the
course "Weaving the Fabric of Diversity" and will present
it next spring.
Berel-Harrop, partly inspired by the resolution and partly by her own
experiences, felt driven to become involved with antiracism work-and
to involve others. "There were some members I approached,"
she says, "who expressed a similar attitude toward antiracism as
they did about Welcoming Congregation-'Aren't we past that? Aren't we
already antiracist?'" She says she hopes that people who respond
to the resolution will do more than just work on a specific issue. "Part
of the problem as I see it is a desire to equate antiracism with some
kind of advocacy. That's to some degree a way of avoiding introspection
into how oppressive systems work and where we fit into them."
The First Unitarian
Church of Portland, Ore., began seven initiatives in response to
the resolution. They include a church audit on barriers to diversity,
adult classes on antioppression, and a workshop entitled "Class
Matters." It has also created and will begin selling a documentary,
Heart Beat of the People, which shows how the arts can help change racist
attitudes. First Unitarian has also called a third minister, Leela Sinha,
to help create an alternative worship service that will intentionally
appeal to young adults and communities of color.
Debra Boyd's congregation in Columbus sent several youth to two district
antiracism trainings and they will share their experiences and also
hold a discussion about the PBS show "Race, the Power of an Illusion."
Two youth groups plan to see and discuss antiracism movies as well.
Boyd says she was moved to stand up at GA and make the plea for antiracism
work because of a group of youth, who, just before she spoke, talked
about discrimination they had experienced at GA. Says Boyd, "I
was very moved by them. They spoke very clearly about the need for all
of us to address this issue in a very active way. This is important
spiritual work for us to do individually and collectively."
Resources
Resources for congregations wanting to engage in antiracist, antioppression,
and multicultural endeavors are available online at uua.org/programs/justice/antiracism/leaders.
More information is at the UU Allies for Racial Equity website, uuallies.org.
Send stories about what your congregation is doing to respond to these
issues: ResponsiveResolution06@uua.org.
Winter
2007 Index · Membership Resources
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