neym.org --> M&C Working Party on Racism
Contents:| Mission Statement | (further down on this page) | ||
| Letter to Meetings | Letter concerning racism sent to meetings by Ministry and Counsel in September 2002. | ||
| Ayvazian Notes | Notes from talk by Dr. Andrea Ayvazian at Yearly Meeting 2002 sessions, followed by "Grafitti" contributions of Yearly Meeting attenders on the subject of racism. | ||
| Fit
for Freedom, Not for Friendship |
Quotes and a resource list from Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye's research in the historical attitudes of Quakers towards people of color. | ||
| Will We Answer? | Article by Gail Thomas, Clerk, NEYM Christian Education Committee, in response to the Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship project. | ||
| Where Do I start? | A short bibliography of readings for those just starting to understand racism in our society. | ||
| Racism Bibliography | A bibliography of materials that may be helpful in understanding racisim and white privilege. | ||
| Racism Links | Racism resources on the Web, by or about Quakers. |
Mission Statement
The following mission statement for the Working Party on Racism was approved by New England Yearly Meeting Ministry and Counsel on November 9, 2002:
Because we live in a culture of racism that permeates the lives of individuals and institutions, whether they are conscious of it or not, NEYM Ministry and Counsel has formed the Working Party on Racism. Our mission is to help individuals, Meetings, committees, and NEYM as a whole to understand and respond to racism and white privilege on multiple levels. These levels include awareness and regard for the culture of whiteness and the experiences and cultures of various peoples of color in the United States.
Our goal is to promote an understanding of racism as a race-based system of privileges and disadvantages on the personal, institutional, and societal levels. Responding to racism is a spiritual issue, and understanding the institutional nature of racism can help liberate white people from feelings of guilt, allowing them to respond in Truth to racism. A further understanding of the parallels between racism and other systems of oppression can also be helpful.
The Working Party will help develop a set of resources including books, videos, activities, education plans and workshop leaders and will cooperate with Meetings and NEYM committees to use these resources in our spirit-grounded work as individuals and institutions to understand and respond to racism. We will also support building connections among Monthly Meetings and with other Yearly Meetings and other spiritual organizations that are working on anti-racism.