Statement of Commitment to Anti-Racist Action in Society and in the Church

 
Photo by Rebecca Kiger. Used with permission. (https://www.rebeccakiger.com/)

Photo by Rebecca Kiger. Used with permission. (https://www.rebeccakiger.com/)

The Catholic Committee of Appalachia (CCA) joins our voices with so many others mourning the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers, and we condemn these and all continuing acts of racist violence against Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color in the United States. We reiterate our words from our 2014 Statement on Systemic Racism and Police Violence Against People of Color that “Black Lives Matter and that people of faith cannot merely keep silence at the foot of the crosses of our crucified sisters and brothers.” We also reiterate that statement’s insistence that white Christians undergo continual conversion away from the distortions of “whiteness” and that our communities think beyond “policing” as an approach to public safety.

However, this current historical moment compels us further to make additional demands for this society and for our church, and to make deeper commitments on the part of CCA.

First, we are currently witnessing not only a resurgence of intense, justifiable anti-racist protests, but the widespread eruption of resistance across this country and throughout the world. We express full, unconditional solidarity with these resistance movements. As we said in our 2014 statement, “peace without justice is a false peace, a farce,” and we insist upon the need to look to Black-led movements in Appalachia and beyond as movements of the Spirit in our times.

Together with these movements, we insist upon full accountability for the actions of the officers responsible for these racist executions and for those officers engaging in violent suppression of protesters. We follow the suggestions of Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Amber Hughson, Alex Vitale and others calling for the creation of life-affirming and anti-racist approaches to public safety beyond “policing.” We call for new, non-violent approaches to grassroots, community-based public safety which address the underlying social and economic factors that contribute to violence, theft, and substance dependency.

Such solutions that could serve as alternatives to policing might include, but would not be limited to, investment in and training for:

  • emergency and affordable housing for those experiencing homelessness,

  • safety shelters for persons in crisis,

  • urgent responders trained in providing behavioral and mental health intervention and support,

  • trauma-informed intervention to address intimate partner violence,

  • substance use services that provide healthy outcomes for drug users, and

  • de-escalation training for conflict resolution.

Second, we call on church leaders to resist the sin of silence in the face of racist injustice lest our church become an instrument of it. As we said in our Statement on White Supremacy in Charlottesville, “When the church neglects or refuses to rebuke white supremacy explicitly, we enact and exemplify it.” We acknowledge and celebrate Black Catholic leadership—including bishops such as Archbishop Wilton Gregory and the late Bishop George Murray—for their challenge to white Catholic consciences. We also see how much work we still must do as a church. We insist that each of our region’s bishops develop a plan for integrating anti-racist training into the formation of our priests, deacons, and lay church leaders. As theologian Fr. Bryan Massingale of Fordham University rightly says, “[I]f seminarians and candidates for ministry and religious life are unwilling or unable to be actively anti-racist, then they do not have a vocation for church leadership since they haven't embraced a fundamental requirement of Christian discipleship.” In the absence of diocesan peace and justice offices and offices of racial justice ministries in our region, we insist that plans for instituting such offices be made immediately and that the voices and experiences of Black Catholics in Appalachia be welcomed and celebrated.

Finally, as a predominantly white organization, CCA recognizes that white Catholics in particular are called to a long process of individual and collective conversion, which seeks to listen rather than lead and to apprentice ourselves, quietly and humbly, to Black leaders in both our communities and our church. It is essential that solidarity move beyond mere statements and “performative” online activism to offer concrete support to Black-led movements.

CCA issues a challenge to its white members, and to all white people of good will, to begin this apprenticeship by:

  • reading books and articles by Black authors, including theologians, that allow us to educate ourselves about the historical and ongoing reality of systemic racism;

  • celebrating the work of Black artists and musicians;

  • supporting Black owned businesses, especially local ones when possible;

  • joining and/or offering financial support to grassroots organizations on the frontlines of work against racism and white supremacy, such as Appalachian Black Lives Matter organizations, the Appalachian African-American Cultural Center, the Appalachian Community Fund, the Highlander Center, and Our Future West Virginia;

  • checking in with our Black friends and colleagues to offer emotional and material support (e.g., a listening ear, a meal, help with errands, childcare, or household chores);

  • participating in and/or supporting anti-racist protests and other acts of public witness

  • refusing the temptation to “center” white feelings and actions in our discussions with others; and

  • calling out racism when we see and hear it and being willing to have difficult conversations with family and friends who are white, so as not to place the burden of these tasks on people of color.

CCA acknowledges our need to undergo anti-racist conversion as an organization as well. Although we have expressed anti-racist commitments in our pastoral letters and other statements over our 50-year history, we confess that, as an organization, we have not always followed through with explicit or consistent anti-racist action. Indeed, even after focusing our 2018 Annual Gathering theme on racism and white supremacy in Appalachia, we regret that we have not implemented specific suggestions given to us by our Black facilitators and colleagues.

We know that the process of organizational conversion demands more than words and promises. It demands continued discernment of appropriate action, and we commit to diligence in this discernment. At this time, CCA commits first and foremost to building and deepening relationships with, lifting up, supporting, and learning from Black-led organizations in our region. We also commit to building a set of resources for anti-racist praxis that is specifically applicable to the Appalachian region and to make these resources available on our website. Finally, since racism is not just “one more issue” among many but intersects deeply with all issues of injustice CCA addresses, we commit to examining and revising our organizational structure in order to transform CCA into a deliberately anti-racist organization at its very heart. This is all the more crucial for organizations like ours whose explicit context and frame of reference is the Appalachian region, because “Appalachia” is and has always been more than a geographic region but a racialized idea that has historically been mobilized in support of racism just as much as against it.

Many of us see this time of global pandemic as an important “interruption” of life and an opportunity to slow down, to reflect, and to revolutionize the way our systems work (or do not work) for people and Earth. At this historical moment, we are called to listen deeply to the voices of those who are oppressed and, in response, to create our communities and our world anew. Those of us who are white are called to sit in the discomfort of being confronted with the reality of our own racism in prayer and reflection and then to offer support and give abundantly to further the common good in solidarity with the oppressed. Each member within CCA will need to discern the individual actions to which each one is called, but the challenge of the Spirit to dismantle white supremacy in concrete ways is shared by us all. Together, we commit to continued education, action, and transformation as individuals and as an organization. We strive for real solidarity with Black lives. We ask our members, the people of the Appalachian region, and all communities of faith to hold us accountable to these commitments.

Approved by the CCA Board of Directors
June 20, 2020
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
West Virginia Day

 
CCA Staff