Looking for additional members is a diocesan group to which I belong: the Commission for Racial Justice. For the last 11 years it has worked behind the scenes to live out its Vision Statement: “The CRJ will be an agent of transformation that explicitly and consistently affirms our God-given dignity and our human right to be free from racial domination and will lead the Diocese of Camden to embrace the Gospel vision and Catholic social teaching that all races are equal.”
The CRJ’s efforts to transform minds has seen it send priests and deacons suggested homily material so that they would be able to preach authoritative Catholic social teaching to congregations across south Jersey about racially hurtful mindsets. Denying work or affordable housing or simple human respect because of one’s skin color or ethnic background is seriously sinful. As long ago as 1979 the U.S. bishops in their pastoral letter “Brothers and Sisters to Us,” taught: “Racism is 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.”
Psychology experiments with school children have shown how racism has to be taught and is not inborn. In one case the children lined up single file and walked forward to the teacher. Not telling why, the teacher put the brown-eyed students on the left and the blue-eyed ones on the right. One got no homework that night, dress-down privilege and snacks. The other was denied these. When they were told that the basis of the discrimination was eye color, the ones who lost out were indignant while the favored felt uneasy. After all, the latter had friends among the pariahs. Then the children were asked if favoring the color of eyes was like favoring the color of skin in their experience. They realized that something so superfluous as color was, even to adults.
The CRJ encounters resistance to its work from people who say, “We don’t have that problem in this parish.” Do they mean that all the parish is of one color or that no one in it is bigoted? What polls or other evidence do they present that there is no problem? To address this, the CRJ a few years ago introduced to host parishes and retreat centers a program called “Racial Sobriety.” The name is significant: addicted persons customarily deny their addiction. Recovery cannot start until they take the first step and admit that they are powerless in the face of habitual behavior. Father Clarence Williams, CPPS, who devised the learning experience, came from Detroit to conduct the process with volunteers. Participants conceded that scales fell from their eyes.
The CRJ, composed of racially, ethnically and culturally diverse members, meets eight times a year to identify and eradicate the sin of personal and structural racism all too familiar to its victims but nearly unknown to others. It might sponsor an all-African Mass for mixed audiences to celebrate ways of worship centuries old. It might have city and suburban school children link up as pen pals to share their worldviews, which they discover are very different, given some very different economics at home. It might provide a Latino or Haitian festival when so many utterly valuable farm workers are in our farm fields doing excruciating work at sub-par wages not covered by minimum-wage laws. This of course saves consumers enjoying blueberries or tomatoes surprising amounts of money.
The Commission for Racial Justice has a different mission than does an agency like Catholic Charities. The latter works hard all year to give on the spot aid to homeless, hungry or otherwise hurting people. It provides food, clothing and many other basic needs. It is absolutely indispensable to any church calling itself Christian. It is what most people think of when they imagine the church helping poor people. Most are surprised to learn that the Catholic Church is second only to the U.S. government in providing such social needs nationwide. However, while the government is tax supported, the church is member supported, helping member and non-member alike.
Instead, the CRJ acts to inform people that we cannot call ourselves church if we let attitudes and prejudices corrupt our thinking, making us accept poverty and racism as normal. They are in fact unnatural and occur only because we sinfully let them.
Did I mention that the CRJ is looking for committee members?
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”