Green Gaia
Veteran Member
We Are Called to Continue the Journey
http://www.uua.org/president/060830_katrina.html
A Pastoral Letter from the Rev. William G. Sinkford
August 26, 2006
Dear Friends,
One year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, we are once again besieged by images from that region. The anniversary of Katrina's landfall found virtually every national journalist in New Orleans. They related stories of profound hope, of lives being re-built, of brokenness made whole. But they also reported the stories of hopelessness, the anger and anguish of dreams deferred. They have shown the rest of the nation what racism and economic injustice look like in the reconstruction effort, no less than they did in the midst of the destruction a year ago.
New Orleans is not fundamentally different from any other American city. Race and class collude to marginalize and disempower people of color and cultural minorities everywhere. "The poor will always be with you," said Jesus. But New Orleans , in the midst of its struggles, offers us the gift of knowing that it is impossible to deny these fundamental truths.
What will those of us who stand in the place of privilege do with what we know? In the past year, the UUA/UUSC Gulf Coast Relief Fund has been supporting the most marginalized communities in that region, most, but not all, people-of-color organizations. We have shown up as allies. And what privileged allies can do is to direct resources toward the empowerment of the most vulnerable, those who will not receive support from more mainstream relief efforts.
This has been good work for us, as allies, work that will continue with funds contributed by Unitarian Universalists and our supporters. But our knowing can't be limited to New Orleans. You do not need to go to the Gulf to see systems of power and privilege. Simply look down the street, or into a neighboring community. But that knowing is harder to come by and harder to sustain. We need to develop the capacity to see and know the reality of oppression...even when, or especially when, we only have to look next door.
We will mark another anniversary this church year. It will be ten years next June since the passage at the 1997 General Assembly of the Journey Toward Wholeness resolution and the commitment by our faith to transform itself into an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multi-cultural religious community. That journey has been difficult and far from linear.
But some things have changed for the better. Every meeting of the UUA Board of Trustees includes process observation using an anti-oppression lens. Does your congregation do this? Would you like to learn more about it? Contact your UUA trustee for more information.
Today there are an unprecedented number of seminarians preparing for our ministry who are people of color, Latina/o or Hispanic. Will our congregations be willing to welcome their ministry? How many congregations are doing the internal work now that would prepare them for this ministry?
Based on my observations, there are increasing numbers of people of color in our congregations. But most of them are in our church schools, thanks to transracial adoption and blended families. How many of these young people will grow up to say, "I'm proud to be a UU. This is my church."?
There is an active "white allies" group, UU Allies for Racial Equality, operating at the national level, helping white Unitarian Universalists understand what right relationship with persons of color might look like.
Some things have changed.
At GA last June, we Unitarian Universalists gave ourselves another chance. In response to reports about racial incidents affecting the youth community at the previous GA in Fort Worth, a responsive resolution was offered, calling on our congregations to "hold at least one program over the next year to address racism or classism, and to report on that program at next year's GA."
Written by a delegate from one of our churches, this resolution arose spontaneously and was passed overwhelmingly by the delegates representing over 600 congregations. I believe this resolution reflects our refusal to ignore the problems of racism and classism. I am hoping that it reflects a willingness to engage once again in the work that is ours to do, the spiritual work of creating the Beloved Community.
I know from personal experience how hard it can be to stand as a person of color in this faith. Last week I received a letter from an African American UU, now 90 years old, telling me that our faith has not been active enough in recent years on issues of racial justice. This 50-plus year UU wrote to tell me that he was resigning his church membership. I cannot tell you how sad this letter made me feel.
Some things have changed, but we have work to do. And just as we have supported the rights of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, we have the capacity to make a difference.
Let us take the opportunity we have been offered. Let us claim an identity as a faith that stands against racism and oppression, and that welcomes our multi-cultural world rather than retreats from it. In our hearts, we know that we are called to work for change. May we allow our knowing to lead us, rather than our fear.
In faith,
Rev. William G. Sinkford
President, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
http://www.uua.org/president/060830_katrina.html
A Pastoral Letter from the Rev. William G. Sinkford
August 26, 2006
Dear Friends,
One year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, we are once again besieged by images from that region. The anniversary of Katrina's landfall found virtually every national journalist in New Orleans. They related stories of profound hope, of lives being re-built, of brokenness made whole. But they also reported the stories of hopelessness, the anger and anguish of dreams deferred. They have shown the rest of the nation what racism and economic injustice look like in the reconstruction effort, no less than they did in the midst of the destruction a year ago.
New Orleans is not fundamentally different from any other American city. Race and class collude to marginalize and disempower people of color and cultural minorities everywhere. "The poor will always be with you," said Jesus. But New Orleans , in the midst of its struggles, offers us the gift of knowing that it is impossible to deny these fundamental truths.
What will those of us who stand in the place of privilege do with what we know? In the past year, the UUA/UUSC Gulf Coast Relief Fund has been supporting the most marginalized communities in that region, most, but not all, people-of-color organizations. We have shown up as allies. And what privileged allies can do is to direct resources toward the empowerment of the most vulnerable, those who will not receive support from more mainstream relief efforts.
This has been good work for us, as allies, work that will continue with funds contributed by Unitarian Universalists and our supporters. But our knowing can't be limited to New Orleans. You do not need to go to the Gulf to see systems of power and privilege. Simply look down the street, or into a neighboring community. But that knowing is harder to come by and harder to sustain. We need to develop the capacity to see and know the reality of oppression...even when, or especially when, we only have to look next door.
We will mark another anniversary this church year. It will be ten years next June since the passage at the 1997 General Assembly of the Journey Toward Wholeness resolution and the commitment by our faith to transform itself into an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multi-cultural religious community. That journey has been difficult and far from linear.
But some things have changed for the better. Every meeting of the UUA Board of Trustees includes process observation using an anti-oppression lens. Does your congregation do this? Would you like to learn more about it? Contact your UUA trustee for more information.
Today there are an unprecedented number of seminarians preparing for our ministry who are people of color, Latina/o or Hispanic. Will our congregations be willing to welcome their ministry? How many congregations are doing the internal work now that would prepare them for this ministry?
Based on my observations, there are increasing numbers of people of color in our congregations. But most of them are in our church schools, thanks to transracial adoption and blended families. How many of these young people will grow up to say, "I'm proud to be a UU. This is my church."?
There is an active "white allies" group, UU Allies for Racial Equality, operating at the national level, helping white Unitarian Universalists understand what right relationship with persons of color might look like.
Some things have changed.
At GA last June, we Unitarian Universalists gave ourselves another chance. In response to reports about racial incidents affecting the youth community at the previous GA in Fort Worth, a responsive resolution was offered, calling on our congregations to "hold at least one program over the next year to address racism or classism, and to report on that program at next year's GA."
Written by a delegate from one of our churches, this resolution arose spontaneously and was passed overwhelmingly by the delegates representing over 600 congregations. I believe this resolution reflects our refusal to ignore the problems of racism and classism. I am hoping that it reflects a willingness to engage once again in the work that is ours to do, the spiritual work of creating the Beloved Community.
I know from personal experience how hard it can be to stand as a person of color in this faith. Last week I received a letter from an African American UU, now 90 years old, telling me that our faith has not been active enough in recent years on issues of racial justice. This 50-plus year UU wrote to tell me that he was resigning his church membership. I cannot tell you how sad this letter made me feel.
Some things have changed, but we have work to do. And just as we have supported the rights of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, we have the capacity to make a difference.
Let us take the opportunity we have been offered. Let us claim an identity as a faith that stands against racism and oppression, and that welcomes our multi-cultural world rather than retreats from it. In our hearts, we know that we are called to work for change. May we allow our knowing to lead us, rather than our fear.
In faith,
Rev. William G. Sinkford
President, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
- Hurricane Katrina, one year later
- Make a donation to the UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast Relief Fund.
- Gulf Coast Relief Home
