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God’s wondrous
generosity to the human family was made visible in Jesus’ welcoming,
during his earthly ministry, all that sought the light of truth.
Jesus, even before his resurrection, entered the lives of Samaritans,
Pharisees, Roman occupiers, tax collectors, sinners, the powerful
and very ordinary people. Through love and the healing that comes
from love, he redefined their relationship to his Father and to
one another by welcoming them to himself.
In the Gospels,
Jesus speaks with authority (Mk.1: 27). This authority comes from
his being anointed with divine Sonship; this authority comes clear
in Jesus’ speaking divine truth in human words. When he ascended
into heaven, Jesus imparted that same authority to the apostles
and their successors in the Church, the bishops, telling them to
go forth and teach all nations (Mt.28: 18-20). Conscious of that
charge, bishops teach what the faith tells us is true and, in the
light of faith, address those contemporary moral and social issues,
which affect the basic human dignity Christ restored. We, with all
men and women of faith, look at the world with eyes of Christ.
Some years back,
concerned Catholics actively involved in ministry in the African
American community asked the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province
of Chicago (the State of Illinois) to speak to the sin of racism
in our society. It disturbed us to hear again reports that people
of color were sometimes made to feel unwelcome, even in Catholic
parishes. In this letter, we, the Catholic Bishops of Illinois,
desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by speaking to a grave
personal and social evil: the sin of racism.
We begin with
three facts. First, racism exists here; 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. This document focuses on racism against African Americans,
because the centuries old Black-White dynamic in this country seems
to bear deeper dimensions of prejudice than any other form of racism.
Addressing the complexity of the Black-White division, however,
will help us address all forms of ethnic and racial injustice, no
matter where or how it manifests itself.
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.
The teaching
of the U.S. bishops on racism has been forthright and clear:
- Racism is
a sin: a sin that divides the human family, blots out the image
of God among specific members of that family and violates the
fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the
same Father (Brothers and Sisters to Us; Washington, D.C., 1979,
page 3).
Racism distorts
the word of God in both the Old and New Testaments (Genesis 1: 26;
Galatians 3: 27-29). The Holy Scriptures insist that every person
is formed in the image and likeness of God and that all are one
in Christ Jesus. Rather than being built on the firm foundation
of divine truth, racism is built on the shifting sands of personal
insecurity, self-deception and the idolatry of racial superiority.
Since the publication
of Brothers and Sisters to Us twenty years ago, some progress has
been made in the struggle to overcome the sin of racism. African
Americans have been elected to public office and risen to leadership
positions, ordained, religious and lay, in the Church and in businesses.
The number of African American youth who are attending college is
steadily increasing, and the gap between the median income of African
Americans and other Americans is slowly shrinking. There are real
changes in the growth of a sense of fairness and in levels of attainment
by African Americans in the general society.
These and other
signs of change in attitudes and behavior have lulled some into
thinking that the battle against racism is almost won. That is not
the case. 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 websites 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?
In his apostolic
letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (On the Coming of the Third
Millennium), Pope John Paul II invites us to "broaden our horizons"
and so "see things from the perspective of Christ." This
vision gives hope. At the beginning of the Third Millennium, all
have an opportunity to be renewed in the Father’s everlasting
love. We have an opportunity to see the world and its peoples through
the eyes of Christ. We are given the chance to open ourselves to
the Spirit.
The new millennium
is a time for us to say with one voice: "We will not live with
the sin of racism any longer. Racism must end now." But to
make that declaration ring true, we must turn our lives over to
the Divine Redeemer who alone can save and transform us. Through
Christ’s gracious power, we can come to a conversion of heart,
commit ourselves to change and live in hope.
Conversion
of Heart
Conversion
is the response to God’s self-revelation as love. Infinite
love calls us to a transformation of mind and heart, a turning away
from sin and an embrace of God’s way for us. Once converted,
our eyes are opened; we see what is truly important. We become,
with God’s grace, free, responsible and holy.
Conversion changes
individuals, and individuals change society. Overcoming the sin
of racism begins by opening ourselves to God’s Spirit, who
draws all to holiness. The Spirit makes each of us a member of the
Body of Christ, and this spiritual relationship is the source of
our hope for personal and social change. In Christ, we recognize
racism as a division contrary to his will for his people, a division
the Spirit will heal.
Commitment
to Change
Relying
on God’s grace, seeing with Christ’s eyes, living in the
Holy Spirit, what should we do to dismantle racism? Concrete, visible
steps will vary from diocese to diocese, from community to community.
Here are some actions, some small and some larger, which all can
take:
Pray
for an end to racism.
- Take a personal
inventory of your own heart and discover what has to change.
- 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 support or practice racist policies and tell
the company why you are withdrawing your money.
- Elect public
officials who work for racial justice.
- Join community
groups, which nurture relationships of trust among peoples of
different races and ethnic groups.
- Be critical
of how violent crime is focused on and reported; ask media people
to publicize
- good people
and actions in every racial group.
- Have your
parish sponsor workshops which both present racism in all its
complexity and evaluate it morally.
- Help organize
ecumenical prayer services inclusive of different racial and ethnic
groups.
- Speak and
live the truth that you acquire by seeing with the eyes of Christ.
Living with
Hope
The
theological virtue of hope is not the same as wishing for the impossible.
Christian hope stirs up in us the desire that God’s kingdom
come, here and in eternity. We place our trust in the promises of
Christ and rely on his grace rather than on our own strength.
It would be
naïve 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. The
goal is visible when we see with the eyes of Christ, for our hope
of ultimate victory is the Lord who desires that we be one in him.
As the bishops
of the Catholic Church in Illinois, we commit ourselves to speak
the truth about racism. We commit ourselves to encouraging dialogue
between African Americans and other Americans. We commit ourselves
to model in our dioceses a future without racism. Confident in the
Lord, we invite all Catholics in Illinois, and all men and women
of good will, to join us in the struggle against racism so that,
one day, we may all be free.
The springtime
for the Gospel which Pope John Paul II prays will mark the new millennium
will be a time free of the sin of racism. The time is now; let the
place be our dioceses and our State.
April 4, 2000
Anniversary
of the Assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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