Stereotypes & Racism (& St. Anne)

Part One

• Stereotype : An individual belief about a group of people

• Racism : Societal policies and practices that are grounded in beliefs about different groups of people

• What does the Bible say about what we would call “discrimination”?

• Galatians 3:28 –– There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither

slave nor free, there is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

• 1 John 2:9 –– Whosoever says he is in the light and hates his

brother is still in darkness.

• Genesis 1:27 –– So God created man in His own image, in the

image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

• James 2:9 –– But if you show partiality, you are committing sin

and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

– Romans 2:11 – For God shows no partiality.

• John 13:34 – – A new commandment I give to you, that you love

one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

• 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 –– For just as the body is one and has many

members, and all the members of the body though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

• 1 Samuel 16:7 –– But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his

appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

• Luke 10:25-37 (abridged)–– On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”– In response to Jesus’ question “How do you read the law?”

the lawyer replied, “Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

– Jesus said “You have answered correctly…Do this and you will live.”

– The lawyer wanted to justify himself so he asked “And who is my neighbor?”

• Luke 10:25-37 cont.– In reply, Jesus said: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho

when he was attacked by robbers They stripped him, beat him and left him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan…came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds…Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and cared for him…

– Jesus asked “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

– The lawyer replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”– Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Diocesan Initiatives• Bishop’s Task Force on Racial Profiling– Online survey (now closed) : over 1500 responses

collected from all 50 states and one Sioux reservation

– Data collected and analyzed by Merelyn Bates-Mims, Christ Church Cathedral

– Inspired by shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, 2012

More on Profiling• “Stop and Frisk” – NYC

– Per NYCLU, analysis of the PD’s own records shows that innocent New Yorkers have been subjected to police stops and street interrogations more than four million times since 2002

– Nearly 9 out of 10 of persons thus detained have been completely innocent of any offense

– Stats for 2012 – 532,911 stops/473,644 totally innocent– Of these half million stops, 55% were black; 32% were Latino; 10% were

white– Thus 87% of persons stopped were either black or brown, even in areas of

the city where they were no more than 24% of the population – discriminatory on its face

– Floyd v City of New York, 2013 US Dist LEXIS 113271 – 195 page opinion holding that NYPD practices violated Fourth & Fourteenth Amendment rights

Episcopal Church Initiatives• Forum: “Fifty Years Later: The State of Racism in America”,

TEC in collaboration with the Diocese of Mississippi – Nov. 15 & 16, 2013

• The first day of the forum – Live webcast at 2 pm Eastern time, TEC website: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/state-racism (90 min.)

• Two panels: 1) Why does racism persist; 2) Where is there hope for change?

• Second day of forum – workshops to create curriculum and teaching tools based on the previous day’s work

What does this mean for TEC?

• Reportedly, 90% of churches are less than 20% diverse

• Dr. King’s quote: “The most segregated hour of the week in Christian America is 11 a.m. on Sunday” (1962)

• Data indicates there has been some change toward greater inclusion but divisions remain

• Any thoughts on how this affects the Church as a whole?

What does this mean for St. Anne?

• Discernment process –• Thoughts?

Coming Attractions• Gladys Gossett Hankins, Ph.D. (Nov. 3)– Ph.D. in Organizational Management– Global Management Consultant – Former Manager of Supply Diversity, P&G– Author of Diversity Blues– Experienced facilitator on issues of race and

diversity