The BCC is committed to racial equity and the fight for Civil and Human Rights of all non-white communities, though particularly invested in Black Power and Liberation. The historic Black Church in America was born out of resistance to White supremacy and White Christian terror. The original vocation of the Black Church is the preservation and liberation of Black life in the face of White Christian macro- and micro-aggressions. Racial equity is a prerequisite for racial equality. Racial equity lens takes account for the differences in opportunities, resoources, and impediments along the line of race.
Racial Equity Education
The BCC Racial Equity Education attempts to develop a shared framework for all parties to understand the history, institutions, policies, and practices of structural racism, and how racism operates in our culture, while giving a level of consideration to the issues of gender, sexual orientation, and class from a theological lens.
The experience
- Builds the capacity amongst clergy leaders to have racial equity conversations within local contexts (ex. Their congregations and communities)
- Develops the ability of clergy leaders to work towards building racially equitable communities, beginning with their congregations
- Provides clergy with the tools and guidelines for engaging in this work
- Builds relationships and secure commitments of clergy leaders for continued learning and promotion of racial equity
- Resources participants to collaborate in public policy advocacy for racial justice
Our Approach to Race
- Race is a social and political construct, not a biological reality. Nonetheless, racism has very real impact on all of our lives.
- Racism (and indeed, all the “isms,” like sexism, ableism, etc.) operates not only at the personal level, but perhaps more importantly it has been structured into our communities and institutions systematically over hundreds of years and continuing today. This means that inequity persists even if individual feelings and behaviors change for the better. Thus, we must address inequity structurally, not just personally.
- Structural racism interrupts the relationship between individual efforts and results, creating inequitable access, opportunities, and outcomes solely on the basis of racial identity. Personal responsibility and effort matter, but alone cannot overcome structural barriers.
- Racial inequities grow both from the accumulated under-advantages directed to people of color (as a class) and from the accumulated over-advantages directed to white people (as a class) because of racial identity. Thus, both structural disadvantage and privilege must be dismantled for true fairness to take root.
- Structural racism harms everyone, even as it strategically doles out privileges to white people (as a class). Racial equity is good for everyone, even those who have received some benefits from an unfair system.
- Achieving racial equity requires an honest examination of how structural racism operates and intentionally building the skill and will to close gaps and improve outcomes for all
The BCC:
- Hosts online town halls—the #BlackChurchAgenda—on a range of issues related to race and racism and race and racism at the intersection of class, gender, sexuality and citizenship
- Offers racial equity education to clergy, namely interracial clergy roundtables
- Facilitates training sessions on messaging, grassroots organizing and advocacy on racial equity and Civil Rights
- Assists clergy in preparation for media engagement and opinion editorializing
- Develops user-friendly toolkits for sermon preparation, social media engagement and direct action.
- Advocates for legislation from a Black liberationist and racial equity lens