In National Black Catholic Congress workshop, Baltimore Black Catholic director confronts racism

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Adrienne Curry, director of the archdiocesan Office for Black Catholic Ministries, didn’t hold back any punches in her talk about the Catholic Church’s response to racism that she gave at the recent 13th National Black Catholic Congress.

When she began her talk to a packed room, she explained the importance of Catholic social teaching, how it seeks to apply the Gospel and the convictions of Christian faith today, thereby offering hope for transforming lives once applied.

“It is the promise of Catholic social teaching that keeps me going,” she said, especially when one looks at the insidiousness of racism and what it has left in its wake: “The massacre of Native Americans; the enslavement of Africans … Reconstruction … Jim Crow … lynchings, police brutality; the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII … the Civil Rights Movement … the recent Supreme Court rulings, and laws enacted by states over voting rights, book bans” and more.

Curry focused on three of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching: The Life and Dignity of the Human Person, which she called “the cornerstone and foundation of Catholic social teaching”; solidarity, “a way of ‘being with’ our sisters and brothers around the globe”; and The Common Good, “a principle that states that the good of each human person is intimately related to the good of the whole community.”

In her speech, whose text ran more than 20 pages, Curry gave documentation of what the church has said down through the ages – backed up with quotes and sources – about racism being an “evil,” a “sin of injustice,” a “stain on this country ever since its inception.”

Then the petite woman who is quick to flash her broad smile launched into ways that her workshop will attempt to “overcome resistance to the conversation on racism” and equip participants to help their parishes to implement strategies to dismantle racism.

But first, some things had to be said that could make some people uncomfortable if their focus drifted too far from the issues.

Racial prejudice becomes racism, she explained, “when one group’s racial prejudices are enforced by the structures, institutions, mores and values of a society, giving power and privilege to the group in power and limiting voice and access of the groups that are not in power.”

Curry expressed that she thinks church documents written by the U.S. bishops should do more to name white privilege and challenge white Catholics to consider their role in systemically racist society and church.

Curry went on to contend that “the American Catholic Church teaching on race often assumes that racism can be overcome by education, dialogue and moral persuasion alone.” But “this approach fails to consider that racism is not merely or primarily a sign of ignorance but one of advantage and privilege.”

Curry was frank in stating that “racism is a white problem because whites hold the power, establish the institutions and set the social norms. … While systemic racism affects everyone, it benefits white people to the disadvantage of the people of color. …

“There is no mention (in church documentation) that those in the position of social and cultural dominance must change if there is any hope for a difference to be made.”

She went off script and momentarily spoke reassuringly to whites present in her workshop, including Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Adam J. Parker, from her own diocese.

Among the actions that the church should take to eradicate racism, she recommended, are to foster vocations, increase representation in the hierarchy, provide just conditions for employment, care for undocumented workers, provide leadership training programs, support minority associations and continue to expand inner-city Catholic schools.

“Teaching on race suffers from a lack of passion,” she emphasized. She drew applause when she observed that “there should be as much passion around racial justice as there is against other life issues, like abortion.

“To change the lack of passion, there needs to be a genuine conversion of heart … that will motivate change. In order to do so, the leaders of all religious institutions need to be consistent in teaching and action against racism. …

“The church must not simply suggest actions but also model actions” that confront inequities.

She concluded that “a strong pastoral statement is needed that encourages frank and honest conversations about systemic racism and its long, complex, painful and ongoing history.

“Pastors and deacons need to preach about it even if it makes whites uncomfortable. Avoiding discomfort is an abdication of pastoral responsibility.”

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