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commission on racism & religion

GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Statement Against Racism
BASED ON THE SOCIAL PRINCIPLE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
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The rights and privileges a society bestows upon or withholds from those who comprise it indicate the relative esteem in which that society holds particular persons and groups of persons. 

Therefore,

  • We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God.

  • We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened.

  • We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for grievances, and physical protection.

  • We deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or persons based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, status, economic condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation.

 

Our respect for the inherent dignity of all persons leads us to call for the recognition, protection, and implementation of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights so that communities and individuals may claim and enjoy their universal, indivisible, and inalienable rights.

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  • Racism is the combination of the power to dominate by one race over other races and a value system that assumes that the dominant race is innately superior to the others.

  • Racism includes both personal and institutional racism. Personal racism is manifested through the individual expressions, attitudes, and/or behaviors that accept the assumptions of a racist value system and that maintain the benefits of this system. Institutional racism is the established social pattern that supports implicitly or explicitly the racist value system.                

  • Racism, manifested as sin, plagues and hinders our relationship with Christ, inasmuch as it is antithetical to the gospel itself.

  • In many cultures white persons are granted unearned privileges and benefits that are denied to persons of color.

  • We oppose the creation of a racial hierarchy in any culture. Racism breeds racial discrimination. We define racial discrimination as the disparate treatment and lack of full access and equity in resources, opportunities, and participation in the Church and in society based on race or ethnicity.

We recognize racism as sin and affirm the ultimate and temporal worth of all persons.

  • We rejoice in the gifts that particular ethnic histories and cultures bring to our total life.

  • We commit as the Church to move beyond symbolic expressions and representative models that do not challenge unjust systems of power and access.

  • We commend and encourage the self-awareness of all racial and ethnic groups and oppressed people that leads them to demand their just and equal rights as members of society.

  • We assert the obligation of society and people within the society to implement compensatory programs that redress long-standing, systemic social deprivation of racial and ethnic persons.

  • We further assert the right of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic persons to equal and equitable opportunities in employment and promotion; to education and training of the highest quality; to nondiscrimination in voting, access to public accommodations, and housing purchase or rental; to credit, financial loans, venture capital, and insurance policies; to positions of leadership and power in all elements of our life together; and to full participation in the Church and society.

  • We support affirmative action as one method of addressing the inequalities and discriminatory practices within the Church and society.

Click here learn more about what the United Methodist Church says about racism.
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