neym.org --> M&C Working Party on Racism
Contents:| Minute on Racism | New England Yearly Meeting minute on racism, 2003 (below). | ||
| Mission Statement | M&C Working Party on Racism Mission Statement (below). | ||
| 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. |
Minute on Racism
Adopted by New England Yearly Meeting of Friends in annual sessions, 2003
New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends affirms its commitment to becoming an open, affirming, anti-racist Religious Society. Our understanding of racism is that it is a system that accords advantage or disadvantage based on racial identity. Racism is fundamentally inconsistent with the divine guidance that has led our Religious Society to testimonies such as Equality, Peace and Community. We seek divine assistance and the help of other friends of Truth to examine our individual and corporate complicity in racism. We aspire to a more perfect union with the Author of all, who shows no partiality in the diversity of creation.
Those of us who have grown up with a white identity in America have a particular challenge in that we have been conditioned not to notice the system of racism and white privilege. Our well-intentioned attempts at colorblindness can have the unfortunate result of blinding us to the system of racism in which we unwittingly participate. Let us remember Jesus’ admonition to remove the log from our own eye before seeking to remove a speck from our brother’s or sister’s eye. We all pray for clarity of vision so that in the words of George Fox, we may “be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them you may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you.”
Working Party on Racism - Mission Statement
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.