A Call for Change
There’s no denying American Catholic dioceses and parishes have a checkered past when it comes to the fair and just treatment of racial minorities. Even their treatment of fellow Catholics.
The country’s bishops wrote about this in their 1979 pastoral letter, “Brothers and Sisters to Us.” “Racism is a sin,” they said, “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 all.
Simply put, it wasn’t that long ago the dominant secular culture was racist. (And, it could be argued, still is.) Simply, and sadly put, so were many Catholic institutions and individual Catholics.
On the other hand, it was Christian churches and their members — including brave Catholics — who were in the forefront of the civil rights movement. They were the ones who helped others, helped all of us, see how things could be different, how things should be different. How, morally, things had to be different.
We’re all still learning how to put an end to systematic and personal racism. Many still feel its sting. Many won’t or can’t forget past hurts.
What can an individual family do? What can parents do to help their children not just be aware of other races and cultures but better appreciate them? These are some points to keep in mind:
Examination of Conscience
• We parents need to honestly examine our own consciences. Our children pick up on, imitate and often adopt what we say and do. If we want them to appreciate other races and cultures we have to do that, too. If we don’t want them to use racial slurs or tell racial jokes, we can’t either. No one is born with prejudices. As the song from “South Pacific” notes, any biases children have are ones they’ve been “carefully taught.” And, as we all know, parents are a child’s first and most influential teachers, presenting lessons about love or hate. Grace or sin.
• Stereotyping is alive and well. It fills our movies and television shows. For example, on the big or little screen, most often a corporate executive is corrupt and a devout Christian is a fool or lunatic.
• We fear what we don’t know. And we’re afraid to admit our ignorance. The way to move beyond the fear and the stereotyping is to get to know individual people. It’s hard to be racist if we really know a member of that other race. When “they” becomes a face, a name, a fellow human being.
This can happen at work, at the parish or in the neighborhood. Often we tend to congregate with “our own” even when the crowd may be mixed. We’re like the high school students who — feeling most comfortable within their own clique — never venture beyond it. While it’s easy for us to see how much those kids are missing out on because of their shortsightedness, it’s hard for us to realize and admit we may be doing the same thing. It can take a little gumption to move beyond our safe circle of acquaintances, our comfort zone. But the rewards can be fantastic: new friends, new perspectives, new understanding, a new appreciation for others.
Widen Your Community
• Every culture has its own celebrations and often it invites members of the larger community to join in. Frequently this includes a crafts fair, ethnic food and a concert or dance. These can present a wonderful opportunity to help our children learn more about a particular culture by seeing it, by “sampling” it. Organizers and workers are pleased to be asked questions about their heritage and traditions. They’re proud to talk about it.
• Some groups have cultural centers where the history and customs of a people are presented in a number of ways. Again, the staff members — often volunteers — are happy to talk with visitors and answer questions.
• At times we may hesitate to step forward and visit with someone of another race or culture because we’re afraid of offending him or her. But often the message they receive is different than the one we’re sending. Our shyness or lack of confidence can feel like indifference or even hostility. It’s a tragedy, and a scandal, when that happens at our parishes. Researchers tell us newcomers and visitors often don’t feel welcome at large parishes. Week after week, no one may speak to them.
• On the other hand, our parishes can be places where the many cultures within the Catholic Church can be celebrated. If a particular race, nationality or ethnic group is hosting a celebration at the parish, we should take our kids. Give them the opportunity to see fellow Catholics — and maybe even fellow classmates — taking pride in their heritage.
• And one last suggestion: we need celebrate our own family’s culture. To help our children learn about it and also take pride in it so that they can more easily understand why members of other cultures and races take such pride in theirs.
Copyright 2000 Catholic Exchange
Bill Dodds’ latest books are Your One-Stop Guide to How Saints Are Made and Your One-Stop Guide to the Mass (Servant Publications); and 1440 Reasons to Quit Smoking: One for Every Minute of the Day and What You Don't Know About Retirement: A Funny Retirement Quiz (Meadowbrook Press). His website is www.BillDodds.com. You can email him at BillDodds@BillDodds.com.
