R-6: Resolution to Recharter the Commission to End Racism -- PASSED
Resolved, that the 194th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Ohio re-charters the Commission to End Racism as the Commission for Racial Understanding, whose mission is to work for healing and transformation in ourselves, our church, and society.
Resolved, that this Convention directs all Diocesan Commissions and Committees to identify and address problems caused by racism or a lack of racial understanding. To that end these entities are encouraged to work with the Commission for Racial Understanding in developing action plans for promoting transformation and healing of division caused by racism.
Resolved, that the parishes of the diocese are challenged to make racial healing and transformation within their congregations and communities a priority and are encouraged to draw upon the resources of the Commission for Racial Understanding to fulfill this objective.
Submitted by:
Commission to End Racism
Rationale:
The Commission to End Racism was directed by the 1994 and 1995 Diocesan Conventions to address racism, defined as an abuse of power. This particular definition of racism is often named as institutional racism (abuse of power, systemic barriers, and privileges based upon one's race). From 2005 to 2008 the Commission was challenged by the loss of active members and frequent turn-over in leadership. Therefore, the Commission has spent the last two years in a two-prong process of restarting basic discussions about racial issues in the Diocese and reviewing its own structure and mission.
The Commission has sponsored and underwritten the cost of multiple screenings and discussions of the film Traces of the Trade, which chronicles one family's wrestling with its ancestor's participation in and benefit from the slave trade. The Commission has also led discussions on White Privilege in a workshop at the Winter Convocation and a Diocesan Council meeting.
In nearly two years of trust building, reflection, and discussion, the current members of the Commission remain committed to breaking down structural barriers to equal opportunity for racial minorities. What they have concluded, however, is that this sort of work cannot succeed if there is not an equal and complimentary process of building strong, constructive, and healthy relationships across racial lines. Negative racial stereotypes and experiences that any individual has are an impediment to mutual understanding, healing, and the ultimate break down of institutional racism.
Therefore, the Commission believes that it is essential to broaden the context in which discussions about race and racial understanding take place in the Diocese of Ohio. In nurturing conversations about the racial stereotypes and prejudices embedded in each of us regardless of our race, the Commission will focus on supporting members of the Diocese in deepening their individual understandings of the role one's race plays in our daily life and interactions, and thereby enable parochial and diocesan leaders to identify and correct instances of structural racism within our parishes, diocese commissions/committees, and the communities in which we live.
This initiative is consistent with the most recent General Convention resolution A142, which states, "Resolved, that dioceses and provinces develop programs and ministries to dismantle and eradicate structures of racism, both internally and externally, and integrate the practices of anti-racism into their ongoing life."
