General Commission on Religion and Race
Racism in Rural Areas Task Force Report
I
Introduction
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ from your sisters and brothers of the Racism in Rural Areas Task Force, which was mandated by the 1992 General Conference to identify specific strategies to address the manifestations of racism in rural areas. [1992 Calendar Item 247]
The Task Force affirms efforts by concerned persons and congregations in rural areas who are confronting racism in their individual and corporate lives. Yet the Task Force concludes that racism continues to be a pervasive and systematic force within the rural church and community. Racism diminishes self-worth and denies equal opportunity. The elimination of racism must remain an important concern for the United Methodist connection and for the 1996 General Conference.
This Report and the following strategies and recommendations are commended to the Church, with our prayer that God's continued mercies will abide as we seek to insure justice, and mutual respect, trust, and equality for all.
Mandate
The 1992 General Conference approved a resolution which directed the General Commission on Religion and Race to "establish a Task Force for the study of the manifestations of racism, both personally and institutionally, in the rural areas" of the United States of America. The Task Force was charged to "identify specific strategies to address the manifestations of racism and note recommendations for action through the General Commission on Religion and Race to appropriate agencies of rural conferences and general agencies." The General Commission on Religion and Race was charged to "report to the 1996 General Conference on the accomplishments in this area."
Grant funds were received from the World Service Contingency Fund. The funds were to cover operating costs for the Task Force, necessary consultant work, the writing team and for regional hearings and meetings with constituency groups in rural areas.
The resolution called for task force representation from the Commission on Religion and Race members, the General Board of Global Ministries, the General Board of Church and Society, and the United Methodist Rural Fellowship. Four at-large members were added to the original nine members for the purpose of inclusiveness.
Five meetings of the task force were held between June 1994 and October 1995 in Tennessee, Colorado, Mississippi, Delaware and Virginia. The first meeting, held in Tennessee, was an organizational meeting. The first Hearing, held in Colorado, afforded the opportunity to hear from members of the United Methodist Rural Fellowship, in a national gathering. Testimony was heard from all five jurisdictions, with a significant number coming from the North Central. Also, testimony was heard from episcopal leadership and others from the Denver Area. For the second Hearing, held at Gulfside Assembly in Mississippi, invitations were sent to leadership of the Southeastern and South Central Jurisdictions. At that hearing, testimony was heard from leadership in the Mississippi Annual Conference and from community leaders in the Southeast who are working on black family farm issues and community economic development. Leadership from the Northeastern Jurisdiction was invited to the third Hearing in Dover, Delaware. Testimony was heard from the episcopal leadership and others from the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware annual conferences, from New York and New Jersey, and representatives from the farm workers support committee for migrant workers in rural segments of the eastern shore.
In each hearing, opportunity was provided for testimonies describing the racist event or incident and whether it happened to the individual or to someone he or she knew; reflecting on how the church was or was not involved either as a part of the problem or a part of the solution; and indicating what steps have been taken to ameliorate the situation.
In addition to the task force hearings, designated members of the task force held hearings with members of the National Federation of Asian-American United Methodists gathered in California, national Black Methodist for Church Renewal gathered in South Carolina, and national Hispanic lay and clergy rural leaders gathered in Texas. The task force was privileged to have, among its membership, four rural chaplains, who provided information from two national consultations on "rural ministries in the face of terrorism" with rural chaplains. Also, two task force members gleaned information from a national Consultation on "Christian Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence," held in St. Louis sponsored by GBGM. Further, letters, reported interviews, and other resources were contributed by task force members.
Background and Context
This quadrennium has marked a new upsurge of racially motivated bigotry and violence across the United States. There have been hundreds of incidents in which racial/ethnic minority persons have suffered violence through intimidation, shootings, assaults and murders. When the task force set about its work, the activity of paramilitary and militia groups was not on the agenda. One day in April 1995, changed all that: the bombing in Oklahoma City. Belief that the "covenant of privilege" has failed has driven many "angry White males" (and females) to hate groups and militia, most of which have their roots in the white supremacy movement. White supremacist groups, such as, but not limited to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Christian Identity, Neo-Nazi, Possé Comitatus and Skinheads, have spread north, south, east and west in the United States, especially in rural areas.
While mobs of all ages and gender want to reemphasize white supremacy over and against racial/ethnic minority persons, some of those groups have adopted nonphysical tactics that are equally as "deadly" strategies, for example, by producing and distributing cable television programs to promote racist ideology. Humorless, angry, demonizing, paranoid and scared people are finding community - even "on line" with a Home Page on the Internet. The task force gathered a disturbing variety of such material.
The Bottom Line? In times of economic hardship or high unemployment, people in communities often come together to help each other. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many farm families took in the homeless or let hoboes stay in their barns. Churches and civic groups operated soup kitchens. Rural churches held a "pounding" for their neighbors. People tightened their belts and endured the hard times together.
But a troubled economy and diminishing farming acreage can also tear people apart. Competition for scarce jobs and resources can narrow our perspective. The world and our feelings about it can shrink to the scale of our next meal or our child's worn-out shoes. It is easy to look for someone to blame, to scapegoat.
As a result, our sense of community and loyalty also narrows. A new provincialism emerges. This is especially true where differences like race and language and religions have never really been bridged. Under the pressure of the economic uncertainty, these differences become more threatening. The difference between "us" and "them" can seem like a matter of survival. It can stir us to hate.
White company owners brought Chinese workers to Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, in the 1880s to break a strike by White persons. Officials knew full well that they were setting up a racial conflict. The self-sufficiency of the Chinese community only served to anger White miners more. But who could have bridged such a gap under these circumstances? From the outset, the situation was marked for disaster.
Our laws today make it more difficult for anyone to exploit racial divisions for economic gain. But the fault-lines in our society can still rupture under economic stress, as victims of hardship search for someone to blame. This happened in the Midwest in the 1980s, when low crop prices and high production costs forced many farmers out of business. At farm auctions around the region, posters and fliers and public speakers blamed the crisis on Jews in the financial industry. In the 1990s, an Oklahoma City bombing emerges from a climate of hate and violence espoused by various hate groups, many based in rural areas. The fear and paranoia in many isolated and rural areas provide a seed bed that extremist groups exploit to serve their own bigoted agenda. They merely tap into the existing undercurrent of prejudice once this has been inflamed by widespread economic failure and social discontent.
Further, racial/ethnic minority farmers are even less likely than White farmers to benefit from any changes in the rural/farm economy. According to the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/emergency Land Fund, if present land loss continues, there will be virtually no Black farmers by the year 2000. Surveys of Native American farmers suggest that their situation may be nearly as bleak as that of Black farmers. Farming is the leading occupation among Native Americans living on reservation lands. Asian-Americans and Hispanics have historically been excluded from significant farm ownership.
The rural Latino presence has grown significantly since 1964 when the United States government ended the bracero program (Spanish for "working hand") initiated during World War II. Migration continued toward low-wage jobs. Today, tens of thousands of migrant workers and their families continue to make their way to harvests around the country. In some areas, they have created a permanent presence. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the work and the fact that a substantial number of workers are undocumented, no exact figures are available on this population. Migrant workers must contend with racial prejudice in their new homes. Building more community networks to bring together Latinos in rural areas is necessary. Farm labor organizers have strived to speak and act on behalf of migrant workers. The United Farm Workers is the most widely known example of a migrant worker's organization, as the union is comprised solely from a community which has chosen to organize itself. Greater proportions of rural Latinos live in poverty compared to other rural residents. Information is lacking that tells the full extent of this problem. Rural living often means limited access, if any, to health care, education and other social services. Migrant and seasonal workers, as well as their children, suffer from a lack of formal health care and fewer educational opportunities. In addition, language barriers discourage many from obtaining needed services. Fear of government officials also impedes contact. Because of the immediate nature of migrant workers' problems and fewer available resources in rural areas, long term solutions will make a substantial change in lives of the workers and their families.
II
BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Racism is sin. Sin separates us from God and from one another. Sin does not afford us peace and without peace we are alienated from God. Christ came that we might be reconciled to God; however, the church and the world continue to sin. A manifestation of sin is injustice, abuse, and violence, often consequences of racism and a distortion of God's love for all people. (Colossians 1:21-23a)
There can be no healing without justice. Healing, healthy human relationships and peaceful associations are imperative for reconciliation. Reconciliation involves confession and repentance. Forgiveness engenders reconciliation.
The vocation of reconciliation is an expression of the Christian gospel and discipleship. "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to him through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us." (II Corinthians 5:17-19 NRSV).
As "new creations" with the responsibility and authority of reconciliation we believe:
- in a divine Creator of all humanity. God is our Creator who made the world and everything in it . . . has made "from one blood every nation of human beings to dwell on all the face of the earth..." (Acts 17:24a, 26a) We, therefore, recognize a common parent--God. All Christians make that claim, whatever their color, culture, or language.
- that we are a family. This family, from a Christian perspective, is not based on race, color, or ethnicity. It is one which transcends nation and station. This is why early Christians called one another "brother and sister."
- in the creative genius of God. Our diversity is God's gift and should be affirmed and celebrated.
Racism is alive and active in our society and in the church. We reiterate, therefore, our church's affirmation in our Social Creed that, "we commit ourselves...to the rights and dignity of racial, ethnic and religious minorities... We dedicate ourselves to peace . . . to the rule of justice and law . . . and to individual freedom for all people..." (`92 Book of Discipline, pages 106-107.) Further, "Racism plagues and cripples our growth in Christ, inasmuch as it is antithetical to the gospel itself. Therefore, we recognize racism as sin and affirm the ultimate and temporal worth of all persons." (`92 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 72 The Social Community, pages 93-94.)
We desperately need to receive God's forgiveness and healing for us and for our land. (II Chronicles 7:14) To paraphrase Bishop Woodie White, ". . . attempts to lessen and eradicate racism can only be ultimately successful, to the extent that we recognize this is a spiritual as well as ethical battle." We can rid our land of racism only by the grace of God. God can help us, and heal us, and claim us as redeemed and faithful people.
III
Findings
Testimony Excerpts - What We Heard.
The Task Force on Racism in Rural Areas held hearings across the nation to gather information about racism in rural settings. Below are representative excerpts from testimony at the hearings, in gatherings of racial/ethnic minority groups, and from members of the task force who participated in other types of meetings.
Denver
"I see racism as a problem in my little rural church," said a pastor in the southwest. "They don't consider themselves racist." He said he personally works cooperatively with a Black church nearby, but has felt unable to invite ministers of color to preach.
A district superintendent from the rural Midwest told of a church that had indicated willingness to accept a South Korean woman minister, but soon complained that her speech was difficult to understand and that she lacked understanding of the area's culture. A few members who had served in the Korean War objected to the appointment because of her nationality.
A Black woman assigned to a rural Midwest charge "is doing well" despite the departure of some members, according to her district superintendent.
A Native American woman tearfully testified that her reservation has been split by a repugnant style of evangelizing that has characterized various expressions of Indian culture as "the way to hell."
A rural chaplain from the Midwest testified that pastors failed to comprehend the depth of distress of farmers who experienced hard times. A subsequent successful Ku Klux Klan rally led the chaplain to conclude, "Somebody was listening to the farmers, and it was the Klan."
A lay person from the North Central Jurisdiction perceives "hatred toward anyone who is different" and sees stereotyping, labeling, and name calling as a part of racism. Examples were given of ways in which youth and children of different ethnic backgrounds are labeled and belittled in rural areas. Some children in schools are called names, even by teachers, a step that can be the first in a chain of hate acts that can lead to genocide and murder. The lay person feels "it is critical that we as a church identify this kind of name calling and labeling as the start of the highway of hatred that entices our society onto a long journey." The person feels "the church is a place where we can address the origins of hatred and racism."
One pastor testified about the antagonistic relationship between an annual conference and an ethnic conference. When challenged to become involved collaboratively, the majority White conference finds excuses which alluded to historic problems.
A new pastor was assigned to a cross-cultural cooperative parish including Hispanic persons was interested neither in a cross-cultural appointment nor in a cooperative parish ministry. If the director had been provided with the opportunity for input into the appointment, as provided for in The Book of Discipline, this fact would have become evident prior to appointment. The director went on to say, "in summary, I feel the conference is systemically racist in its decision making both for appointments made and for positions filled within the conference."
A pastor from a Southwestern conference believed that "racism dwells safely in many rural settings" He named the problem as a problem of injustice, which could be rectified if we learned to live according to the example of justice which scripture shows us in regard to God's justice. He stressed the need for reconciliation. "For racism to be properly addressed it will require reconciliation, full reconciliation with God and with brothers and sisters regardless of skin color."
A person of mixed race who lives in a "border town" (a White town on the edge of a Native American Reservation), gave an account of numerous racist incidents. Crimes against Native Americans were not given serious consideration by local authorities, according to this person who went on to state, "At least one Native American per month is murdered and no one seems to care." This testimony also noted that the elderly suffered the most.
One Native American told the task force that the annual conferences need to really hear the needs and concerns of the Native-American people and to develop plans together, not paternalistically. Native American ministries are not "missions" of the church but "ministries" within Native American communities. The church through annual conferences and districts also needs to know how to help Native American ministries to become self-sufficient within their level of income, rather than fostering dependency.
A clergy person from a South Central conference testified to the racism experienced within the churches served. The pastor spoke of being asked by a church member about inviting "them" [African-American children] to Sunday School. The pastor was warned that there would be members who would want "to have a talk" if African-American children came. The pastor was also told that it "was treading on thin ice" to speak of attending worship in an African-American church. However, one church member told of an experience he had earlier in his life when he turned "a Black lady" away from that church because people wouldn't like her being there. He went on to say he now wished, fifteen years later, that he could invite her to come and sit with him and his wife.
A district superintendent from the Midwest testified about a number of cross-racial appointments within the conference. There was conflict in each situation though some worked out better than others. The cabinet and Bishop acted in accordance with the Discipline in the spirit of open itineracy. He concluded that "very few persons in our congregations . . . would say they are racist. Many will go to great lengths to say or show they are not racist. While strides have been made, much remains to be done to overcome a very ingrained racism in our area. It is difficult to deal with because it is masked. For the most part it is not overtly violent, yet it does harm to others and to those who continue to harbor such attitudes."
A clergy member of a Southern conference testified to the racist climate in his area. He names a major problem as "a general lack of involvement." He talked about his own experience with racism as a teenager and how he considers himself a "recovering racist." He talked about the use of inappropriate language in referring to persons of a different ethnic background. This person said he believed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s statement about eleven o'clock on Sunday morning being "the most segregated hour in America" is still true. He cited the small town where he lives. "I serve in an integrated rural community where Blacks and Whites have lived, literally, side by side since the early 1800's. Today these neighbors are friends and are always offering a helping hand to one another. They live together, work together, play together, but worship in separate church buildings."
The blatant omission of a reference to the Black Jurisdictional group which was a part of the merger into United Methodism during a historical report by a member of the Commission on Archives and History to an annual conference disturbed one African-American. The omission of the Central Jurisdiction was called to the historian's attention and he stated that "the information was in the book and could be read." An apology was later issued to the Bishop, but not to the Annual Conference.
A bishop reported that appearances can be deceiving, that racism is "alive and well" in the conference. Geographical isolation and disconnection are problems in addressing racism in rural areas. Often, churches are not advocates of change and more needs to be done on both conference and local levels. Pastors being sent to rural parishes need to receive more training.
At one annual conference session, in response to an inclusive theme and banner, White male rage surfaced.
An Associate Director of a Conference Council on Ministries reported a racial incident when the Associate Director's car broke down in a Western rural area while transporting African-American youths to camp. A truck full of White males harassed them while walking back to their stranded vehicle. No one was injured, but the group felt endangered because it was subjected to intimidating behavior by the Whites.
Gulfside, Waveland, Mississippi
A district superintendent for the Southeastern jurisdiction said, "The plain nature of rural life lends itself to segregation and racism. Race relations are slower to change in rural areas. Close knit racial families feed into that." "Our cabinet is working toward open itineracy so that every time we meet, we review possibilities and opportunities for cross-racial appointments, although most White congregations are resistant to it."
The fact that one Black pastor had been appointed to a White church was a point of pride for one conference.
Other superintendents reported a program of Clustering of Churches. This strategy lends itself to interaction, fellowship, cooperation and pulpit exchanges, but with minimal interracial exchanges. Many larger White churches have not readily participated in the clustering.
Strong racism toward migrant farm workers continues. Racial/ethnic minority persons are hired for seasonal jobs with subsistence pay. The church has no program to support racial/ethnic minority farmers or agricultural workers.
Some towns are segregated; the utilities, housing and services are below standard in economically depressed racial-ethnic minority neighborhoods..
While blatant outward racist practice may be absent, racist attitudes are deeply ingrained.
In parts of the Southeast, public school attendees are predominantly Black because Whites send their children to private schools. Consequently, funding for public schools is inadequate, and therefore public school facilities and programs are substandard. Bond issues for schools are generally voted down. Racial/ethnic minority persons are not encouraged or recruited to become teachers. Ninety-two percent of kindergarten teachers are Whites.
The church/conference is slow to react, let alone to be productive in eliminating racism.
One southern pastor observed "benign neglect" by society and the Church which goes without saying that the status-quo racism is supported. The social and political climate fosters racism. There is strong covert racism.
Racial/ethnic minority pastors are generally appointed to smaller congregations with lower salaries, indicating economic racism. Many are without parsonages and must drive great distances to minister in the parish.
One chair of a conference Commission on Religion and Race (CORR) noted that a Bishop, through Racial/ethnic Local Church Concerns, Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) and CORR is beginning to impact the conference. This bishop is exerting leadership through the cabinet and the appointive process, among the pastors, the churches, in addressing racism. CORR is also proactive in advocating for the dismantling of racism, and in rectifying injustices, for example the case of a racial/ethnic minority District Superintendent who on leaving the superintendency was appointed to a very low paying appointment compared to his White counterparts. Such monitoring is possible because of the Bishop's support.
Some conference structures are still not inclusive of racial/ethnic minority persons, nor of gender and age. The participation and empowerment of racial/ethnic minority persons need to be addressed.
Involvement in the Parish Lay Associate Program is mostly Black laity.
Racism is evident in the Southeast when the house and land of a Black person are easily taken away when induced to sign it off as collateral for the purchase of a vehicle he could not afford in the first place.
Taxation is also used to take a Black person's land and house away. A Case: the city limits are moved farther out to include racial/ethnic minority persons who have always been outside the city limits. They could not afford to pay their higher property taxes and after a few years their land would be published in the paper for sale for tax assessment. In other cases, the tax bill is never sent to the home of the low income racial/ethnic minority person. When they do not pay their taxes for several years, without personal notification, their property is published for sale in a newspaper--often not their local paper.
A racial/ethnic minority person working for a landlord is bound to his employer if he or she happens to be living on the landlord's property.
Toxic dumping has been done close to concentrated areas of racial/ethnic minority housing.
A booklet listing businesses and resorts along the Gulf shore did not include Gulfside Assembly and other racial/ethnic minority holdings like it.
The gas company cut off the line before reaching Gulfside Assembly only to resume it for White customers beyond the Assembly. Now that their number of customers has been reduced, they want to supply the Assembly. The same conditions hold true with the cable company.
Racism Indicators and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives:
* The FBI had the Federation investigated in 1979 only to clear them in 1982 of any wrongful use of funds in 1982, but the damage was done in slowing the work of the Federation.
* The high number of acres owned by Black farmers was in 1910--19 million acres. To date only 130,000 acres of land belong to Black persons.
* There is much exploitation by using Black owned land for collateral and selling it when payments are not kept. Some banks withhold credit from Black landowners. Loans will not be granted to them.
* There is a big problem with substandard housing for Blacks in the South.
* Federal grants which would benefit Blacks are often shifted to other projects.
* Many Black farmers face discrimination by the U.S. Department Agriculture in accessing programs available at the county level.
Dover, Delaware
From the Northeastern jurisdiction, a pastor told about a cross burning incident in a rural community at housing where a Polynesian family and an African American family lived. Although the police responded rapidly and arrests were made, both families relocated. The African American mother revealed that her children had been subjected to harassment at school. Despite the departure of the victims, area residents later united to show their desire to live together peacefully, creating "Harmony Days." The pastor appreciated guidance from conference personnel, quoting this counsel, "You don't debate hate. You counter it with goodness and love."
Another pastor testified that the changing rural environment, with the exit of traditional industries and stiff competition for farm jobs, along with a new diverse mix of peoples provides a climate for hate. Poverty and unemployment could lead to trouble.
A racial/ethnic minority pastor told of an incident of swastikas and racial slurs painted just a few days before Christmas on the exterior of one of the small membership rural churches he served. The conference chair of CORR came to the church to preach and encourage the small congregation. In a show of support, the County Ecumenical Association held their Good Friday service at the church. Many from the community offered words and gifts of love. The church has become energized for ministry.
Another pastor related the incident of an African/American grandmother who lived alone and had a cross burning outside her home. A college student from the pastor's church was among those who committed the crime. The pastor experienced a sense of isolation in responding to the incident. White neighbors of the victim tended to withdraw from her. The pastor noted the awkwardness of dealing with a situation where an active church family is involved.
Agricultural workers in the Northeast gave gripping testimony about their experience of racism. Most were able to give day time testimony only because of work related injuries. They told of difficulty getting release time even though injured. Farms like to keep good safety records and doctors comply with a system which sends the workers back to the fields though clearly unable to work. Housing is over crowded, and this may cause communities to discriminate and try to avoid renting to migrant workers. Farm worker camp housing is overcrowded, unsafe, and lacking adequate water and sanitation. Many federal regulations for these camps are not being enforced. On local, state and federal levels there is structural racism against farm workers. Those in power, who create the problems by encouraging migrants for cheap labor, do not deal with the consequences of their presence.
In addition to housing and medical problems, legal issues and representation, and transportation are problems. When asked about the Church's role, it was suggested the Church can help by:
Providing space for workers to organize;
Taking stands publicly in denouncing injustice;
Standing against and working to prevent abuse.
A conference chair of Commission on Religion and Race noticed the tendency to believe "We don't have a problem." This is particularly true when racial/ethnic minority persons do not live in the community. While many express concern, racism is not personally owned as a problem. He noted the attitude, "If it's not in front of me, it's someone else's problem."
One pastor and family were threatened when the pastor, an activist in a committee working for community unity, spoke out against hate group activity. The pastor asked for protection from the local police and was told, "You brought this on yourself." Only later, when the Justice Department and state police got involved was local protection provided. The Anti-Hate Task Force, created by the conference, sent a representative to attend worship the Sunday the service was threatened to be disrupted. The proposed Klan rally did not take place nor was the service disturbed.
Racism was found in one church camp in the relationship between camp staff and a racial/ethnic minority church group. Lack of sensitivity toward the campers combined with poor service from the camp medical facility brought about a confrontation. Since the incident, the camp staff has received training involving cross-cultural communications. Both parties were brought together for conflict resolution by the bishop and the situation has improved.
Several pastors cited incidents where White majority local police were unresponsive to racial/ethnic incidents. In one case, a young Black person working in a mostly White town in a rural area was harassed by local police and questioned as to his frequent trips "into our town." In another case, when a Black person stopped to get directions from White police officers who had pulled another car over, the man was treated as if he had threatened the officers. The man was pushed against the car, handcuffed, arrested, while occupants of the car, including children, watched horrified. When taken immediately to court, the judge threw out the case and reprimanded the officers for their poor handling of the incident.
Blacks were also reported to receive an inferior education. Black persons were directed by guidance counselors away from pre-college track into vocational tracks. When such students wished to attend college, they encountered problems due to lack of proper course work.
A confrontation with Skinheads in one rural community was the incident another pastor reported. Christian Identity advocates made numerous attempts to "enlighten" this pastor to their viewpoint. In this community two persons, one Black, one White, were burned to death in a car. Efforts to address the problem through community meetings and forums were not supported by prominent persons who did not want bad publicity about their community. Privately, people were concerned about hate activity, but gave no vocal support. Educational events focusing on understanding the Jewish religion were somewhat successful.
A conference staff person raised the concern that racism not be reduced to hate groups like the KKK or militia groups. Doing so lets the rest of the White community off the hook. The cultural racism in which we were raised needs to be addressed.
A native African, whose college and seminary experience had been quite positive, encountered problems in a cross-racial appointment, receiving letters to "go back where you came from." Some members did not attend during his four-year appointment at their church.
A college chaplain warned that people are more comfortable talking about "hate crimes" than talking about personal racism.
One pastor in the Northeast reported that the KKK is evangelically recruiting in his area. A KKK march was planned. The community responded by holding an ecumenical worship at the time the march was to have taken place. With lack of leadership, the event fell apart. The leader had been arrested for the beating of an interracial couple.
A cabinet member was told by a congregation in a Northeastern rural community, "We would rather shut the doors of this church than accept a racial/ethnic minority person as our pastor."
A conference chairperson of the Commission of Religion and Race expressed the concern, "Our annual conference sessions in recent years have become more segregated by race. With the convention style seating and the separation by district seating arrangements, segregation is obvious to everyone willing to pay attention to racial issues."
Problems found in Peninsula-Delaware in particular accentuate the problems of rural areas in general, needing to be taken seriously to receiving the necessary resources and support. Racism is not just an urban problem.
Racial/ethnic Minority Gatherings--Task force members attended a variety of other settings where testimony was gathered.
The increased climate of hate was noted by the national Hispanic Ministries rural leaders consultation meeting in San Antonio.
A couple from Mexico, who had been sent on a mission to a Southeastern annual conference, told about disparate treatment by the church and the community. Law enforcement incidents were mentioned, including police offering beer to a Hispanic man, then arresting him for drunkenness.
A racial incident was reported about a young man being tied up in a tree by a hate group, then shot.
During a house fire, an incident occurred where a man carrying a gun was shot when the firemen felt threatened. Actually he had the gun because he was frightened. This incident could have been avoided if someone from the fire department had spoken Spanish.
An Asian clergy couple from the Midwest, attending a conference of the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists, with an urban background felt discrimination by being sent to a rural setting. They have done well in difficult charges, but currently are in a two-point charge and are beginning to feel their capabilities are not receiving adequate appreciation.
Major topics addressed to a task force member by persons attending a Black Methodist for Church Renewal meeting included cross-cultural appointments and open itineracy. The member observed that many persons wanted to get out of rural areas and did not want to discuss rural racism.
Other Settings:
In the West, during a meeting on Hate groups the following incident was related: A racial/ethnic minority professor at a small technical college died suddenly before the new term was to begin. Students were speculating about who would be the replacement to teach their classes. One White male remarked, "I just hope we don't get another [expletive] foreigner." This meeting which was clergy initiated was poorly attended by members of clergy persons' congregations. Community professional persons, including a local politician and college staff, attended and were supportive. A person in sympathy with the Christian Identity theology also attended, raising objections to the presentation. The confrontation was not heated or disruptive.
In another community in the West, a stranger stopped a member of a United Methodist Church on the street. He was desperate for help; he had been informed the night before by his employer that he owed him $1,800.00. The worker had been in this country working at a dairy for several months, but now that he had arranged to return to Mexico for a visit to his family, his employer wanted cash. As the story unfolded, the congregation member discovered that the man unknowingly had been charged $300.00 per month as his part of the rent of a single-wide, one bedroom trailer he shared with three other workers on the farm. There was no running water in the trailer, only a stand pipe outside to serve all their water needs, even through the winter months. In addition, part of the money owed was for groceries that the worker thought the employer had volunteered to provide. The congregation successfully intervened on behalf of the worker, but similar situations are still common in the area.
A newspaper account from fall of 1995 sent to a task force member provides an example of institutional racism. The article revealed tribal schools are decaying under the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Out of the nation's 187 BIA-funded schools, there is an estimated backlog of $640 million to $800 million in needed repairs. The deteriorating conditions in some schools are dangerous as well as being an impediment to learning. "Schools are grossly under funded," an advisory committee to the Office of Indian Education programs concluded in 1991. In the 1994-95 school year, in reservations, funding per student fell to $2,515. Compared with the reservation figure, in South Dakota, off-reservation funding was $4,045 per student.
Task Force Observations: What we learned and concluded
The power of allowing people of color to tell their story was something not envisioned, but became a liberating experience for several participants. Persons who felt no one cared and no one heard, shed tears over the simple event of our listening. Providing listening posts where the White church is confronted by the culture of racism while allowing racial/ethnic minority persons a safe place to tell stories is a model for unmasking the racism in our midst.
When annual conferences allow a lower standard of parsonages to exist for racial/ethnic minority pastors and churches than for White churches that is an indicator of institutional and economic racism.
A recurring theme in the Hearings and in other meetings is that many White rural Churches hide from the fact that racism is still a problem, and that silence contributes to continued racism.
The work of the Task Force has made members of the group more aware of their own culpability to involvement in racist behavior/activity.
In the Hearings, far more Blacks offered testimony than any other racial/ethnic minority group. What does this say? Were some groups bypassed in the information channel about the hearing? Is it cultural to be less vocal? Are some intimidated and afraid to come out expressing their pain?
People across this United Methodist connection - rural and urban - are still being crippled and plagued by racism, racism that excludes, denies, deprives persons of color.
The church can be a part of the problem:
a) Appointments-nominating system: The "good ol' boys" system often operates in a way that simply provides a training ground for larger churches, neglecting both rural and small membership church settings.
b) There is a prevailing attitude to focus on church development in suburban areas, ignoring small towns and rural areas or leaving such development to others, such as leaving Black church development to the AME/CME/AMEZ, or Baptist groups, and/or Hispanic development to Roman Catholic churches.
c) The mind set of many church persons in rural areas is not prepared for the influx of diverse populations into rural areas. The church needs to prepare people for the new world and to challenge the local church mission statements to be intentional regarding inclusiveness. (A pastor in Ohio reported that people left when he attempted to write a new mission statement that was inclusive.)
We learned that some annual conferences block awarding grants to racial/ethnic minority ministries and programs doing significant work within annual conference boundaries.
We have come to learn that virtually all of the paramilitary and "patriot" groups operating in largely rural locations across the country have their roots in the white supremacist movement. Rural persons are particularly vulnerable. The groups use existing social, structural and environmental issues to gain entry and an audience. They make alliances with other groups and deal with "bread and butter" issues. They provide quick answers and sordid solutions and conspiracy theories from the ideology of white supremacy. They feed on the economic and social problems.
Conclusions regarding hate group activity:
a. The enemy to a peaceful and just community is not only the KKK or a Neo- Nazi organization, but the racial hatred, bigotry and division already found in the community at large, which hate groups then exploit, represent and promote.
b. To ignore the hate groups is to provide a comfortable and even welcoming atmosphere.
c. The key to setting a moral tone that will say "no" to hate group activity is to involve a wide spectrum of constituencies in an effort to achieve a unified, assertive but peaceful response.
d. White persons need to take responsibility. Demythologize the word "racism." Name and own the sin. Whites are victims of racism. Persons of color are not so much victims as survivors.
e. The continuing devastating economic changes in family farming, lumbering, fishing, mining, and other rural businesses and industries which lead to stress are not the cause of rural acts of violence and hatred but are the seed beds in which such acts may germinate.
f. Both clergy and lay persons need to be well-prepared biblically and theologically to counter the theology and influence of white supremacy.
While at times both acts of racism and stereotyping have led many people to think racism and racist acts are confined to the southern parts of the country, racism and racist acts are endemic to all regions of the country and in both rural and urban settings.
All racial/ethnic minority groups experience racism. Racism and racist acts are directed toward racial/ethnic minority persons of all ages. "Hate crimes" are just one form of racist behavior.
Personal and corporate expressions of racism are learned behaviors and can be unlearned and changed.
Inter-ethnic conflict is encountered throughout the country.
Racism exists in places where racial/ethnic minority persons do not live. The phrase, often heard by the task force, "We don't have any problems because we don't have any of `them' here" is an indicator of racism, not the lack of it.
Silence contributes to the problem of racism. If one is not willing to be part of the solution, then one is part of the problem.
It has been difficult to find people willing to talk about racism in their churches in the Western Jurisdiction. Many are aware that the prevailing feelings in their congregations are racist, but they are not willing to be identified. There seems to be a mixture of both fear and shame in their unwillingness to talk; fear of reprisal to themselves, their families, their businesses; shame in that it exists, but cannot be discussed. In other places there is complete denial that racism exists.
Blatant institutional racism is reflected by congregations who are unwilling to open their buildings to people of another ethnic group. This is coupled with the apparent inability of conference leadership to intercede on behalf of emerging racial/ethnic minority congregations.
The issue was raised by at least one hearing participant as to whether this would be just another study. We remember thinking as the task force began its work, "Why do we need to see if there is racism in rural areas? We know there is racism!" However, one of the recurring themes is that White churches hide from the fact that racism is still a problem. It has been sad to see the Church's self-willed denial of the problem with racism.
Church leadership is generally "culturally ignorant" and needs greater multicultural competency.
The conditions reported by the Del-Mar-Va area (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia coastal area) mushroom workers are usual occurrences for migrant farm workers throughout the United States. Farm workers need advocates who will work in partnership to improve their working conditions, housing, wages and health care.
Small farmers' financial status needs to be improved before racial/ethnic minority churches in rural areas can increase salaries and housing facilities for pastors. It is unfair to expect persons with a low economic base who live in rural areas to bear the responsibility alone for building a stronger community economic base. Cooperatives and cluster ministries should not be used as an economic strategy to provide a support base for pastors.
Professional mental health service is very limited in most rural communities and often unaffordable and unavailable.
The rural social structure is changing. The traditional chores and jobs are often not available. There is the usual lack of organized recreational programs for youth in rural areas. The multitude of negative social behaviors depicted in television programs are seen by children in rural areas as in urban areas. Commission of a felony is as apt to occur in rural areas as in urban settings.
25. Community-based economic and social networks are continuing to form in places across the country, particularly in central California, northern Alabama, southern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
IV
Signs of Hope
One non-church person working with agricultural workers shared that prior to her coming to the consultation, she decided to go to the local United Methodist church to meet the pastor, anticipating that the pastor would have no interest in the racial issues around migrant workers. She learned that the pastor is very committed to inclusiveness and gives attention to the biblical/theological grounding of her congregation. The worker with the migrant ministry made an intentional decision to network with the clergy person in the future.
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference has a task force in place to respond to hate crimes and racist incidents within their conference. This conference created a staff position in Human Relations which includes monitoring and responding to interracial problems. The conference has initiated a program to develop support teams for pastors and congregations involved in cross-racial/ethnic appointments.
Peninsula-Delaware Conference adopted a conference resolution relating to "When Ku Klux Klan, and Other Hate Groups, `Come to Town'." The resolution calls for clergy and laity education on the "Christian Identity" movement and other hate groups which claim Christian values, to develop special programs to support victims of hate crimes, and discourage children and youth participation in hate group activities.
At least two conferences are looking at their seating arrangements at annual conference sessions and are monitoring the inclusiveness of leaders, song leaders, speakers, etc.
In several conferences, chairpersons and members of the Commissions on Religion and Race have been supportive and responsive to churches and their communities in the midst of racial incidents.
Some churches and communities have developed specific community/ecumenical events to respond to hate crimes and racial incidents.
Since the Oklahoma City bombings, committees are being formed in many communities to establish ways to respond to hate crimes, specifically militia recruitment and activity, even before an overt incident has occurred.
In the summer of 1995, one hundred rural chaplains, both clergy and laity, participated in a national consultation on "Rural Ministry in the Face of Terrorism." Several of the Rural Chaplains reported that professional leaders in their communities - among them doctors, judges, school administrators, and teachers - had requested copies of the book studied by the chaplains, When Hate Groups Come to Town. Among the commitments made by the rural chaplains as follow-up to the consultation were:
* A professor at a seminary will offer four seminars at the Local Pastors Course of Study School on ministries with regard to racism, extremism, etc. in rural areas;
* A lay man will work with the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to motivate them in countering classism and exclusion;
* A pastor will begin to educate youth and children through an after school program.
* Numerous pastors will make available the information learned to community leadership, including local law enforcement officers. One director of a cooperative parish plans to place copies of the book, When Hate Groups Come to Town, in the local sheriff's office, the library, and the school system;
* A lay person will look for ways to interact with the several churches in the cooperative parish ministry to conduct forums and workshops, both to provide information and to formulate plans on what to look for and how to recognize and respond to hate issues;
* A pastor who serves as a police chaplain will develop a training program for police officers;
* Using music and skits, one pastor will deal with reconciliation through an outreach puppet ministry;
* A district staff member will offer training for district clergy to raise awareness regarding race and hate issues in rural churches and communities;
* A conference president of United Methodist Women will use the information gained in the consultation in her work with conference officers, Church Women United, the Commission on Status and Role of Women, and other groups.
* Numerous participants in the consultation, both clergy and lay, resolved to engage in more personal and group Bible study time and theological reflection.
V
Models and Strategies For Developing an Inclusive Rural Church and Community
Cooperative Parish Ministry
Cooperative Ministry is an intentional plan of a team ministry which enables groups of congregations and pastors, in a defined geographic area, both as United Methodist and ecumenically, to work together to be in nurturing, outreach and prophetic ministries. Cooperative ministry provides the opportunity to develop a relationship of trust and mutuality among congregations of different racial/ethnic minority composition. Working together helps these congregations to get to know one another, and to show concern for one another while dealing with issues of ministries that congregations cooperatively should carry out. Leaders from the various congregations learn from one another and their insights and strengths contribute to the collective sense of responsibility for involvement in ministries that respond to community needs and issues. As pastors of differing racial/ethnic minority heritage meet for sharing and planning, they come to know one another in more meaningful ways, to appreciate and value one another, and to provide mutual pastoral support.
In addition, when community or church issues arise to which congregations feel they should make a witness, the probability of being listened to by local communities, states, districts and conferences is increased significantly when messages are sent collectively by all of the churches of a cooperative ministry. This is particularly true for racially diverse cooperative ministries whose experiences have indicated that their concerns have not been heard, either because they are not racially dominant congregations or because they are small.
Shalom ministries offer a powerful base for building community life and moving faith communities and secular communities toward more compassionate justice-based ministries in response to God's love for all humankind. Cooperative parishes have the potential to create the support base and enabling structure that encourage pastors and lay persons to be in peace-making ministries. These ministries can change individuals, church organizations, communities, political processes, and economic systems. Two models of rural Cooperative Parishes follow that are Shalom ministries:
The Bennetsville-Cheraw Area Cooperative Ministry, South Carolina, composed of thirteen small-membership rural African American churches, have been reaching out across racial and ethnic lines. It has had a church and community worker, US-2 missionary, and three Summer Investment Program conference youth workers all of different racial/ethnic minority backgrounds.
While all churches are United Methodist, the Cooperative Ministry is ecumenical in its nurture and outreach ministry. It offers ministries to all people, which has resulted in other racial/ethnic minority groups participating in and benefiting from its tutorial program, Vacation Bible School, transportation, meal delivery and most recently the "Tennis Anyone" summer tennis programs. The tennis program for ages 8 - 18 provides the opportunity for interaction and cultural experiences among Native American, African American and White persons. It offers opportunities for working relationships between churches, the city recreation department, and the South Carolina State Extension Service to foster better communications among all racial/ethnic minority groups and to build community.
The Meigs County Cooperative Ministry, located in an Appalachian area in southeast Ohio, is composed of twenty-five small membership United Methodist Churches in the county. When the cooperative parish heard that the Ku Klux Klan was coming to their county for a rally, the cooperative ministry worked closely with the county ministerial association (ecumenical) body to divert attention away from the rally. The two groups called upon the Appalachian Peace for Justice Network based in Athens, Ohio, to work toward a peaceful resolution of conflict. The book When Hate Groups Come to Town was used as the basic resource for response. Training events, hymn sings, prayer meetings, and other types of gatherings were held in other parts of the country away from the area where the KKK was meeting. As a result, only a handful of persons came into the county to listen to the Klan.
Rural Church Leadership Development
Leadership in rural areas can be more effective in ministry if:
1. Orientation class (12 - 16 hrs) is porvided for all pastors new to rural ministries (i.e., similar to course developed by Western Small Church/Rural Life Center).
2. Each conferences develop a list of racial/ethnic minority leaders who can be resource persons available to pastors who will have their first appointment to an ethnic church.
3. A racial/ethnic minority church that will have its first non-racial/ethnic minority pastor is informed by the District Superintendent of the expectations of the local church and members.
Provide for Supportive Consultation in
Cross-racial/ethnic Appointments
Submitted by the Commission on Religion and Race
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the UMC
Proposal
Select and train lay and clergy persons from within the Conference to serve on teams that provide support to pastors and congregations involved in cross-racial/ethnic appointments. The Commission on Religion and Race oversees the work of these teams and, with the help of the Cabinet, pastors and congregations, identifies areas where additional training would be helpful.
Objective
The objective of this program is to have trained support teams available to churches and pastors prior to the beginning of the appointment process.
Implementation
1. Authorization for this program is sought from the Bishop and Cabinet.
2. Persons to be trained for these teams are selected on the basis of interest and expertise. All racial/ethnic minority groups in the Conference are represented in the trainee group.
3. Training sessions and group-building for the teams is planned after discussion with persons who have been involved with cross-racial/ethnic appointments. Training may include: group process, conflict resolution, interviews with persons involved in cross-racial/ethnic appointments and other subjects as deemed necessary by the Commission.
4. Churches and pastors appointed cross-racially/ethnically are given the opportunities by the District Superintendent at the time the appointment is made to meet with a team made up of members selected for their appropriate racial/ethnic match to the pastor and congregation. The team, pastor and congregation's representatives discuss scheduling meetings quarterly or bimonthly for the first year of the new appointment. This group may decide to continue meeting into the second year by mutual agreement of the group members.
a. Team makeup is: three persons, one of whom is of the same racial/ethnic minority group as the pastor, one of whom is of the same racial/ethnic minority group as the majority of the congregation, and one of whom is of another racial/ethnic minority group whenever possible. Each team includes lay and clergy persons. Both men and women are represented on each team.
b. It is strongly suggested that the congregation's representatives not be the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. Rather, it is suggested that the congregation's representatives be five persons chosen by the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee Chairperson, the Lay Leader and the Administrative Board/Council Chairperson from the congregation at large.
c. All discussion which takes place during the meetings of the team, the pastor and the congregation's representatives is privileged information. It is not to be shared with the District Superintendent, other members of the Cabinet, the Commission, or anyone else. The one exception to this rule of confidentiality is that the pastor and congregational representatives may choose, upon agreement of all persons involved, to share insights with their District Superintendent.
5. At the end of the first year of operation of this program and at the end of each year thereafter, general information which reflects what is or is not helpful in the dynamics of a cross-racial/ethnic appointment is compiled by the teams. This generalized information may be shared with the Bishop, the Cabinet, the Commission and others to whom it would be helpful.
6. After the first year of the program, the Cabinet may, if it so desires, make the service of a support team available to any congregation or pastor who is considering being intentionally open to a cross-racial/ethnic appointment.
Language Skill Development for Children
The Mission/Outreach committee of a local church was approached by a member of the congregation concerned about the disadvantages many of the Hispanic children were experiencing in the local rural public school. The committee worked with the concerned member, the school administration, elementary teachers in the congregation, the pastor, Sunday School teachers, parents, and other members of the congregation to develop a plan to provide an after-school experience two days per week for children (kindergarten through third grade). The primary emphasis was on school work and language skills.
The children were picked up at their homes, taken to the church for an hour and one half of tutoring, snacks, music, and reading. The program was staffed by volunteers from the local church. The program was extended to include students through sixth grade who were experiencing difficulties at the request of parents and teachers.
There was a marked improvement in language skills, school work and self-esteem by participants in the program. The church, too, experienced a marked growth in its understanding of Mexican culture and sense of mission to be "doers of God's word, not hearers only." The children and their adult church friends planned and conducted a Cinco de Mayo Celebration to which the congregation and parents were invited. Although not attended by all church members, those who did participate believed that they had gained much and expressed disappointment that more did not attend.
Ministry with Youth
White teenagers and young adults are particularly vulnerable to racist influence. White supremacist content and images may be very appealing to youth. At an age where they are expressing their independence from family, young people may commit hate crimes as acts of rebellion. Teens may also commit such crimes as a way of obtaining entrance to or approval within a particular supremist-oriented peer group.
When a youth who is a member, or whose parent(s)/guardian is a member, of a local congregation, the pastor and congregation may experience uncertainty with regard to an appropriate response. Uncertainty or embarrassment my result when no action is taken.
Pastors and congregations should seek training to prepare for counseling with youth offenders involved in hate crimes. Whether or not the youth is part of the faith community, the church is able to offer counseling and support both for the youth and the family.
An important component of such training would include information which counteracts white supremacist philosophy attractive to youth, and training in using such information. Teenagers should be provided facts which dispel the myths of racial/ethnic minority stereotypes which are part of the climate of hate.
Community Response to Hate Group Activity
Types of Events and Activities:
1. Public Events: Town meetings, church services, displays, showing films. These work when there is already community- wide interest, an "emergency," or when you have laid a lot of groundwork.
2. Media Work: Campaigns of letters to Editors, work with reporters, and editorial boards, press conferences, providing journalists with victims to interview (while protecting confidentiality, if necessary.)
3. Networking: Start by tailoring your presentation to specific audiences. Then ask each constituency to develop their own ongoing work against hate groups.
4. Dialogues: These are important between people that are being "divided" by the hate groups. It is critical to have dialogues between potential victims (Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews) and potential recruits (White farmers, youth, unemployed).
5. Victims Assistance: It is important that those who have been attacked by hate groups know they are not alone. Responses are needed (moral support, visible public solidarity, financial, legal).
Guidelines for Action and Change:
1. Federal, State and local authorities should develop workable reporting systems that will produce an accurate and comprehensive measurement of the extent of criminal activity that is based on racial and/or religious motivations.
2. The criminal justice system, especially law enforcement components, should intensify efforts to ensure that staffs who confront incidents of racial and religious terrorism are broadly representative of the racial, ethnic, and religious makeup of the communities that they serve.
3. Speak out. Silence breeds consent. Strong and unambiguous statements from community leaders and elected officials which repudiate racial and religious intimidation and violence are indispensable.
4. Develop a resource library and resource packets/brochures.
5. Provide training for police, neighborhood groups, prosecutors, and media.
6. Monitor hate group activity.
7. Develop legislation.
8. Build coalitions that are effective for the long term. They have a mission which moves toward systemic change (whether or not any crosses have been burnt lately). They monitor the police, law enforcement, business, schools, to see if they are reflective of the general population.
9. Have meetings, training, etc., by clusters of churches to bring it home and more local.
10. Work ecumenically and with secular agencies.
11. Develop a relationship with the media so that acts of racial and religious violence and intimidation are covered with sensitivity to the victims and non-sensationalism. Inviting media persons to be a part of the ongoing community effort is a good way to begin. The media need better sources of information and opinion.
12. Parents, educators, leaders of religious institutions, and other opinion-makers should work together to develop educational programs designed to produce cognitive and emotional change with respect to racism and religious intolerance.
13. Inform local authorities: police/sheriff, prosecutor, FBI, Human Rights Commission, NAACP, Klanwatch, Urban League, etc.
14. Keep careful records, evidence, documentation should legal action be pursued. Record or copy sermons and lectures, etc. Note suspicious activity and document in writing. Be willing to testify.
15. Within the church, expose the hypocrisy involved. Question known hate group persons involved in the church and be clear about the "XX Church or Synagogue" position (cite "chapter and verse" of judicatory statements, etc.) This is not saying a person cannot be a Christian or a Jew, but it is to ask that person whether he or she can, in good conscience, remain or become a member of that household of faith.
16. Within the community, expose the hypocrisy involved. How can the Klan, for example, be "pro-American" if it speaks and acts in ways that are undemocratic?
Cf. "Intimidation and Violence, Racial and Religious Bigotry in America," A Statement by the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Clearinghouse Publication 77, January 1983.
Monitoring Local Law Enforcement
The church in rural communities should ask the following questions in order to monitor local law enforcement and legal systems:
* When a crime is committed, are racial/ethnic minority persons more readily suspected of being the perpetrator?
* Do law enforcement officials treat racial/ethnic minority suspects differently than White suspects?
* Do racial/ethnic minority persons receive harsher sentences than their White suspect counterparts for similar crimes?
These same questions should be asked both for youth and adult offenders. Such monitoring is important in all communities, but is particularly crucial where law enforcement officials do not reflect the racial, ethnic or cultural diversity of the community. Where injustice or disparate treatment is found, the church should be vocal in calling attention to the problem and demanding just and equitable treatment for all persons.
Strategy for Affecting Institutional Change
Experience in working with educational, governmental and religious institutions has led to some useful conclusions in strategies to change institutions in rural areas, particularly in respect to their operating norms.
Approaches that rely upon making White people feel guilty about racism do not work in the long run. Those who do feel guilty about the way the social system subordinates racial/ethnic minority persons may be more interested in personal justification than in institutional change. Guilt might get persons' attention, but it does not produce lasting positive results. There is a difference between guilt for the past and assuming responsibility for the present and future.
Authentic institutional change needs to be based upon:
* Positive self images;
* Appeal to strengths and gifts of various groups, rather than weaknesses;
* Social values that uphold proportional distribution of power, open communities and institutions, and multi/cultural pluralism.
The decision-making style of different kinds of institutions must be considered when strategizing for change. Working with business, in which authority flows from the top down, calls for strategies to gain commitment to racial justice from the executive before employees can be expected to consider changes in politics, practices or behaviors. Laws can change behavior and can lead to change in values and assumptions. Voluntary institutions, such as religious or charitable, call for strategies which build a consensus for change from the bottom up. Here, the beginning point may be to relearn values and assumptions before a lasting behavior change or policy change can be affected. Regardless of the strategy variable, four ingredients are essential for significant and meaningful institutional change to result:
* The social analysis must be valid so that racism is actually confronted and changed, not finessed.
* The plan incorporating the change strategy must be integral to the ongoing institutional fabric, rather than marginal.
* The investment of time, money, energy, authority must be sufficient to make the plan authentic, rather than symbolic.
* Quality control must be built into the plan so that "easy-outs" are not taken when resistance occurs.
The following questions can be helpful in evaluating the effectiveness of change strategies.
* Is there change in awareness of interracial relationships, including:
-participants knowing more factual information and being able to use this knowledge to identify disproportionate distribution of power, denial of access to resources and ethnocentrism?
- participants recognizing racism as a White, not a "color" problem?
* Has commitment developed to change patterns of institutional operation which maintain White privilege? Two measurable ways to determine commitment are:
- the direction and intensity of affective response and
- the specification of change objectives that are significant and feasible.
* Has sufficient potency developed so that at least some change objectives specified by the participants are actually achieved within goal or timetable? In short, is enough energy created to maintain self-interest of everyone's desire to continue involvement in the effort?
VI
Recommendations
General Church : It is recommended that
1. The Rural Chaplains Association, a network of clergy and lay persons, be affirmed in its work with individuals, rural churches and communities in shalom ministries and that the General Board of Global Ministries continue to resource the rural chaplains.
2. Training be made available by the General Commission on Religion and Race to enable each annual conference Commission on Religion and Race to serve as a resource and support group for promoting cross-cultural understanding in rural areas.
3. New rural oriented resources on racism and inter-ethnic conflict be developed by the General Board of Discipleship, in consultation with the General Commission on Religion and Race. These resources should be developed for all age level educational work of the church.
4. Cross-cultural resources for local churches and annual conferences in rural areas be developed by the General Board of Discipleship in consultation with United Methodist Rural Fellowship.
5. Resources on racism, inter-ethnic conflict, and cross-cultural material be listed on pages or sections within the existing catalogs produced by the general program agencies in consultation with the General Commission on Religion and Race.
6. In each level of the Course of Study, material on racism and inter-ethnic conflict in rural settings be developed and included by the Division of Ordained Ministry, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, in consultation with the General Commission on Religion and Race.
7. Recommendations for course work and "field experience" to understand racism and inter-ethnic conflict in rural settings be developed by the Division of Diaconal Ministry, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, in consultation with the General Commission on Religion and Race.
8. Cross-cultural rural experiences be reflected in all dated curriculum for children/youth Church School material developed by the General Board of Discipleship.
9. Training for all national mission personnel related to the General Board of Global Ministries include a rural component on rural racism and multiculturalism.
10. The development and nurturing of Shalom ministries in rural areas be a priority of the General Board of Global Ministries, such as Upper Sand Mountain Cooperative Parish.
11. Cooperative parish ministry as a viable style of nurture, outreach, and witness, be undergirded and resourced by the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Discipleship.
12. Efforts of Black, Native American and other farmers of color to preserve and increase land ownership be supported by all general program agencies.
13. All general program agencies advocate to end discrimination against racial/ethnic minority farmers and rural organizations by local, state, and federal officials.
14. Advocacy supports be provided by the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Church and Society to organizations that are led by racial/ethnic minority persons, such as the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the Intertribal Agricultural Council.
15. The General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries work cooperatively to help local congregations, cooperative parish ministries, and annual conferences establish ministries with farm workers.
16. The General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries provide resources for local congregations and annual conferences to assist in combatting rural racism.
17. The General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries join national efforts to promote farm worker justice.
18. The General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries take legislative (political) action, ecumenically if possible, to direct the United States Department of Agriculture to decrease agricultural subsidies that are given mostly to huge corporate farmers. Further, that at least 15-25% of the subsidy money should be directed to racial/ethnic minority farmers and farm organizations to improve farming methods, try new crops, and provide loans to purchase needed farm supplies and equipment.
19. The General Commission on Religion and Race monitor the implementation of the recommendations to general agencies.
Annual Conference/district : It is recommended that
20. Support group(s) for persons active in anti-racism strategies and for persons ministering to victims of hate crimes be developed.
21. An immediate response-support task group to respond to bigotry and violence in the church and/or society be formed by the bishop and cabinet.
22. Cross-racial appointment orientation workshop(s) for local churches and pastors be incorporated and conducted by the bishop and cabinet in their operational policies.
23. Cooperative ministries be initiated and undergirded in rural areas that include diverse racial/ethnic minority congregations and encourage cross-cultural/racial cooperation and ministry.
24. Those applying to be Probationary Members in the Annual Conference be expected by the Board of Ordained Ministry to participate in a cross-cultural rural experience.
25. Individuals and congregations consult the conference Commission on Religion and Race and the conference committee with responsibilities for rural ministries for suggestions on places within the annual conference for cross-cultural rural experiences.
26. Training in each district/sub-district/cluster/ministirium to promote rural cross-cultural understanding be made available by the conference Commission on Religion and Race.
27. A working plan to provide for cross-cultural experiences in rural areas be developed and implemented by the Conference Committee on Ethnic Local Church Concerns.
28. A Response Team to deal with hate crime and violence, in church and society, especially in rural areas, be established by cabinets and bishops. (cf. Eastern PA model).
29. Congregations in rural areas be prepared by annual conference and/or district leadership for the new influx of diverse populations so that the church will model the new community of inclusiveness and shalom.
30. Concern and support for pastors in cross-racial appointments be demonstrated by the bishop and cabinet. The Conference Commission on Religion and Race train persons to be listener/advocates as part of a support team.
31. Listening posts be provided that allow racial/ethnic minority persons a safe place to tell their stories, thereby helping to confront the White Church with its culture of racism.
32. The identification and development of rural Shalom ministries be a part of a conference Comprehensive Plan for strengthening racial/ethnic minority churches and communities.
33. Each annual conference advocate to end discrimination against racial/ethnic minority farmers and rural organizations by local, state, and federal officials.
34. Advocacy support be provided by annual conferences to organizations that are led by racial/ethnic minority persons, such as the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the Intertribal Agricultural Council.
35. Annual Conferences and Local Congregations equally assume responsibility to:
* Establish a farm worker ministry to sensitize members of the concerns of farm workers and to advocate for farm worker justice.
* Join the Farm Worker Action Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry.
* Observe a Farm Worker Sabbath/Farm Worker Sunday to raise awareness of Farm worker issues, possibly being a part of Rural Life Sunday observance.
* Become informed about and advocate for support of organizations such as the National Farm Worker Ministry that focus on improving working conditions, housing, wages, and health care of farm workers.
LOCAL CHURCH : It is recommended that
36. Congregations be prepared to support open itineracy and experience workshops/seminars on inclusiveness, racism, and cultural awareness by local Pastor-Parish Relations committees.
37. Opportunities for the congregation to deal with the issues of racism and to experience varied styles and forms of worship be provided by the Council on Ministries/Administrative Council, through appropriate work-area committees.
38. When a pastor of a different racial/ethnic minority group is appointed, the pastor and the congregation together develop a covenant that enables the fulfillment of the new opportunity for ministry.
39. Planning and programing which include awareness of the surrounding community and its racial/ethnic minority composition be on the agenda of the Council on Ministries/Administrative Council so that the ministry of the congregation is enhanced and relevant.
40. Use of curriculum resources like The Language of Hospitality, Creating a New Community: God's People Overcoming Racism, and Building a New Community: God's Children Overcoming Racism be encouraged.
41. Congregations work ecumenically and with secular agencies on issues of rural racism.
42. Intentionally inclusive mission statements be written by local churches.
43. Advocacy supports be provided by the local church to organizations that are led by racial/ethnic minority persons, such as the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the Intertribal Agricultural Council.
44. Local churches support efforts of Blacks, Native American and other farmers of color to preserve and increase land ownership.
45. Develop a model counseling course to help rural pastors become confident and skilled to counsel parents of children who commit hate crimes or who are victims of hate crimes.
46. Encourage ways to provide more mental health services in rural areas that are inclusive and offer additional courses on crisis counseling to rural pastors.
Individual : It is recommended that
47. Persons not be silent. If you are subject to an act of bigotry or racial violence, tell someone. Tell your family, your friends, neighbors, the church, seek support for yourself. Report the incident to police. Insist that the crime be reported as a "hate crime."
48. Supports be given to the victim and encourage him or her to report the incident to the police. Enlist aid and support from the church and community. Witness to the law of love as exemplified in Christ's teaching or the Good Samaritan.
49. Persons teach children about other cultures and countries, opening minds that the church is GLOBAL.
Institutions of Higher Education: It is recommended that
50. The General Commission on Religion and Race and the Office of Town and Country Ministries, National Division, General Board of Global Ministries be invited by schools of theology to design and implement rural cross-cultural experiences for seminary students preparing to serve as Diaconal or Ordained Ministers.
51. Boards of Trustees be reviewed by all of the two and four year colleges with a relationship to the United Methodist Church, except historically Black colleges, for racial, ethnic and gender inclusiveness and, where necessary, begin to be reflective of all United Methodists of the annual conference in which it is located.
52. All Conference Elected Trustees of two and four year colleges related to the United Methodist Church, except historically Black Colleges, ask for admission statistics that include racial/ethnic minority makeup and encourage the college to reflect at least the racial/ethnic minority makeup of all high school students from which their student body is drawn geographically.
53. Training on racism appropriate for college trustees, administration, faculty, staff, and students be designed and made available by the General Commission on Religion and Race to all two and four year colleges related to the United Methodist Church.
54. Faculties be reviewed by all two and four year colleges with a relationship to the United Methodist Church, except historically Black Colleges, for racial, ethnic and gender inclusiveness and, where necessary, begin to be reflective of all United Methodists from which their student body is drawn geographically.
VII
Reflection on Racism
Racism is the combination of the power to dominate by one race over other races and a value system which 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 which accept the assumptions of a racist value system and which maintain the benefits of this system. Institutional racism is the established social pattern which supports implicitly or explicitly the racist value system. (`92 Book of Discipline, ¶72A)
"The issue of race . . . is still the unfinished agenda of the church." Bishop Woodie W. White.
I
There are two parts to understanding racism and how it operates: the characteristics of racism (what it is and does?) and its origin and development in our society (where it came from?).
A. What is racism and what does it do? Interracial relationships in America are marked by four different but related characteristics where White persons, generally as a group:
1. Retain most, if not all, positions of important decision-making power.
2. Maintain informal (sometimes formal) policies and practices that discourage racial/ethnic minority access to many societal benefits.
3. Assume the superiority of their cultural norms and values and, therefore, tend to be insensitive to alternative life styles and values.
4. Misplace the problem by focusing critically or paternalistically on racial/ethnic minority persons and not on themselves.
Thus, racism is both the conscious and unconscious perpetuation of a disproportionate distribution of power between races, the denial of access to resources on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, and the rationalization of racial superiority by "blaming the victims."
Institutional racism is the context in which individual racists and the victims of racism live, move and have their existence. Institutional racism can oppress persons without the active participation of individuals and racist behaviors. Laws, folkways, traditions, and language are so tempered and conditioned that no individual has to be a racist in order for the effects of racism to impact the lives of those living under the system. Racism, individual or institutional, is a social construction; it is not an inborn trait. It differs from the more common psychological construction, prejudice, in its focus on racial superiority and its ability to marshal the resources and power to support that assumed superiority. Prejudice is any attitude formed without adequate facts; racism is prejudice plus power.
The relationship between racist attitudes and racist behavior--which are personal expressions--is compounded by institutional racism. Ordinarily, one expects a person who has no racist attitudes, to have no racist behaviors. In the context of institutional racism, such a person may not hold racist attitudes and yet his\her social behaviors may be racist. Proper attitudes are of limited impact in themselves if they remain at the individual level. In other words, not being a racist privately makes little or no difference in the working of institutional racism.
B. Where did racism come from? Understanding the historical dimension of racism is important. Knowledge of how collective behavior emerged is helpful in understanding what must be done if it is to be intentionally changed. White politics, economic, and cultural domination began in America when the first colonists discovered the "heathen savages." Being present from the beginning, racism became a part of the cultural code for developing American society. As colonial society developed and expanded into a continent-wide nation, the institutions involved in this growth--education, finance, business, government, religion--all developed on the basis that generous amounts of racial subordination for "non-Whites" is normal.
Racism is so woven into the fabric of society that it is established as normal. It can now be maintained with relatively little overt effort. Intentions often do not matter. A racial/ethic minority person's career of subordination in one institution normally delivers him or her into subordination in other institutions. Where persons live in substandard housing, public education is often also inadequate. Poor education normally leads to a marginal job that supports only substandard housing. The cycle goes on. Racial/ethnic minority persons are involved to a greater degree in the cycle. Overt racist behavior is only occasionally needed to maintain this pattern.
The primary institutions in the United States of America are controlled by the values of the dominant group, White Americans. Racism is as natural to White Americans as breathing, so the climates of institutions of this nation are essentially racist. The court, the legislature, the government, the school, the work world, housing, and the church survive in the climate of racism, and uphold institutional racism in their routine operation.
Racism was in America's roots and has now become a self-perpetuating systemic societal distortion. As comedian Dick Gregory said, "racism is as American as apple pie." As long as Whites conform to the operating norms of school, community, church, business or profession--to "business as usual" -- these social institutions will automatically maintain the subordination of racial/ethnic minority persons.
II
Where do we go from here?
What makes a difference to institutional racism is the public and private action of people working toward a genuine multicultural and diverse society. Affecting the established social patterns that degrade and dehumanize people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds can change institutions. By raising questions about accustomed assumptions and values anti-racist people may initiate the process for reducing and eliminating institutional racism. Changing the institutions, the gap between attitudes and behaviors begins to close. One might even expect overt racism to weaken and die for lack of institutional support.
As racism is a pervasive strand in our social fabric, removing it will cause some gaps and require patience and skills. The patience, skills, and resources for the re-weaving the social fabric into a genuine multicultural and diverse society are available within and outside the church. More promisingly, as racism is so intertwined with other facets of our social life, removing it from our midst will initiate a profound reconciling process for our church and society.
True multiculturalism and diversity require us to increase our awareness, learn new behaviors, remove bias and barriers, change policies, practices, and structure and create new rules. The old ways of relating to one another are no longer acceptable (for example - paternalistic support for racial/ethnic minority persons) in the multicultural environment. For the White majority this change may seem frightening; it moves them out of their comfort zone. They know how to interact and be successful in the old culture.
People are different from one another in many ways--in age, gender, education, values, physical ability, mental capacity, personality, experiences, culture, and the way each approaches work. True multiculturalism and diversity mean acknowledging, understanding, and appreciating differences. An environment is created that recognizes, values, and employs the unique qualities and gifts of people who are working together to achieve a common goal. By being flexible enough to meet needs and preferences, such an environment enhances personal value and is motivating and rewarding. Diversity in an organization is a strength, an asset that maximizes creativity and productivity. Building a multicultural organization moves beyond recovering from the past toward building the future of organization and community.
VIII
CONCLUSION
The basic cause, the complex network of contributing circumstances, and the social and psychological dimensions that surround the increasing display of racially and religiously motivated violence and intimidation can be understood in a broad outline when:
* Persons or groups derive primary satisfaction or esteem in thinking themselves superior to others;
* A sense of group superiority is evoked to advance the group itself at the expense, disadvantage, or persecution of another group;
* A religious doctrine is wittingly or unwittingly used to place guilt or to establish hostility toward another group;
* Competition increases for shrinking numbers of jobs, economic resources, and government assistance;
* Government is perceived as either covertly supporting or unwilling to take punitive action with respect to entrenched discrimination;
* Some segments of society believe that the "American way of life" is about to be destroyed by internal and external "enemies."
When these conditions exist the circumstances are right for an unprecedented explosion of hatred and bigotry transforming the seemingly tranquil countryside into a cauldron of confrontation. Furthermore, when these conditions are perpetrated in a spirit of righteous indignation and fueled by an expectation of media exposure and public tolerance, violence is not surprising. What White rural people desire during these troubled times is exactly what urban/suburban people want: the security of a golden past that probably never existed. Persons living in rural areas remain among the most vulnerable and the most victimized.
What remains is the need for soul searching: "What can I do to bring about a more just, less racist society?" "What will I do?" If I am not a part of the solution, I am part of the problem. The interrelationship of racism indicates that the change can be initiated at different levels -- attitudinal, behavioral, individual and institutional. The task is not to wait for the most effective change; it is to begin or continue to change now.
IX
RACISM IN RURAL AREAS TASK FORCE
MEMBERSHIP
MEMBERS
GENERAL COMMISSION ON
RELIGION and RACE
Marcos V. Berbano, Jr.* (A)(NC)
Grundy Center, IA
Shirley Montoya (NA)(W)
Tempe, AZ
GENERAL BOARD of CHURCH and SOCIETY
Esther J. Angel* (W)(NC) Secretary
Butte, MT
UNITED METHODIST RURAL FELLOWSHIP
Chester R. Jones* (B)(SC) Chairperson
Pine Bluff, AK
Carol G. Thompson* (W)(W)
Filer, ID
GENERAL BOARD of GLOBAL MINISTRIES
Arturo Mariscal (H)(SC)
Corpus Christie, TX
Members at Large (4)
Carolyn W. Little* (B)(SE)Vice-Chairperson
McColl, SC
Fran Kirihara* (A)(W)
Livingston, CA
Thelma Barnes (B)(SE)
Greenville, MS
Karole Mitchell (NA)(NE)
Hogansburg, NY
STAFF
GENERAL COMMISSION ON RELIGION and RACE
James E. Taylor* (W)(NC)
Melinda Reed* (W)(NE)
Wesley Theological Seminary
Student Intern
GENERAL BOARD of CHURCH and SOCIETY
Mark W. Harrison* (B)(NE)
GENERAL BOARD of GLOBAL MINISTRIES
Gladys L. Campbell* (W)(NE)
* = Writing Team members.
(W 1st) = White
(W 2nd) = Western Jurisdiction
(A) = Asian
(B) = Black
(H) = Hispanic
(NA) = Native American
(NC) = North Central Jurisdiction
(NE) = Northeastern Jurisdiction
(SE) = Southeastern Jurisdiction
(SC) = South Central Jurisdiction
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 20971-IC-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference