Part of General Assembly 2018 Event 203: General Session II

The following final draft script was completed before this event took place; actual words spoken may vary. Unedited live captions of General Session II (TXT) were created during the event, and contain some errors. Captioning is not available for some copyrighted material.

Barb Greve: The Commission on Institutional Change is charged with long-term cultural and institutional change that redeems the essential promise and ideals of Unitarian Universalism. Appointed by the UUA Board of Trustees in 2017, the Commission will analyze structural racism and white supremacy within the UUA through General Assembly 2020.

Leslie Takahashi: Good morning. The Commission on Institutional Change was appointed by the UUA Board of Trustees to analyze structural racism and white supremacy within the UUA.

We have been working since August of 2017 to address our collective starting assessment that the Unitarian Universalist Association’s legacy of racism must be addressed to end harm to individuals and to ensure that we remain viable as a faith. We envision a liberating Unitarian Universalism and are designing interventions that move us dramatically closer to that work.

We begin with the premise in all our work that the values of Unitarian Universalism cannot be realized in a system which is centered around one cultural expression. In fact, the centering of white culture and values has stymied the development of a full range of cultural expressions. In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, two “pillar” principles invite us to covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people and to acknowledge the interdependent web of existence of which we are all a part. Systems, policies, practices and expressions of Unitarian Universalism which bias one racial or cultural group above others make a mockery of these two core values and so we are called into efforts to name and change them as acts of witness to a fuller and more authentic expression of this faith.

In our first year of work which will continue through General Assembly 2020, we examined the events surrounding the Southern Regional Lead Hiring decision in spring 2017. We found this to be but one eruption of the seismic tensions around race which illustrate the depth of the disillusionment and tension faced by religious professionals of color in our faith. A few highlights of that report which is available through our website:

• When the Southern Regional Lead hiring process took place, racial tensions were already at a breaking point in the system, especially for religious professionals of color who endure countless insults and aggressions as part of their work.
• Our governance structures are outdated and designed for a system which centers white culture and is bifurcated in ways that do not allow for good governance. Widespread disregard of existing systems and policies shows a lack of trust in existing systems which have not been intentionally redesigned to reflect the complexities of an emerging multicultural Unitarian Universalism • Assumptions growing out of “colorblind racism,” ignorance of racial bias and white supremacy culture led to conclusions that harm people of color, those who work every day within it and those who would attempt to find a spiritual home within Unitarian Universalism.
• The skills and perspectives of religious professionals of color are not valued within the culture of our institutions, especially our congregations.
• A fear of open conflict and assumption of “good intentions” increased the damage done by institutional racism and other forms of oppression within our Association.

Truth must come before reconciliation and transformation and truth-telling is still dangerous for religious professionals of color. We began planning for a racism assessment across Unitarian Universalism writ large. We are looking at what it will take to build a Unitarian Universalism centered around a diversity of experience and capable of inclusion, equity and true multiculturalism.

We are examining data and collecting stories of how racism and oppression have affected those within our faith and have several opportunities for dialogue at this General Assembly.

Truth must come before reconciliation and transformation and truth-telling is still dangerous for people of color within our faith. Religious professionals are still demeaned and treated as if they are without competency.

People of color within our membership, or those who are friends, risk loss of community among us if they speak out about the aggressions they face and so many choose to quietly exit.

The Board charged the Commission with examining the relevance of “truth and reconciliation” processes to key events in the Associations’ recent past. While we spent some time researching these processes as they have been used in a number of nations and municipalities to resolve issues related to damages from racial conflict, we find that the circumstances of the UUA may require a different kind of response. Some observations from our report:

• While the Commission was charged includes: “Establish a ‘truth and reconciliation’ process to create a climate of honesty, accountability, and disclosure essential to our learning and multicultural growth as an institution,” most religious professionals of color do not feel safe to tell their truths because of what they have experienced from congregational leaders, colleagues and many of the systems set up to support them.
• The lack of true anti-oppressive, anti-racism orientation on the part of regional staff and “good officers” through the Ministers’ Association has been particularly damaging to religious professionals of color which is, in part, why the events around this hiring decision became such a lightning rod for criticism. As part of the conversations we have elicited, it has become clear that the Association’s credentialing system for religious professionals and its systems for developing lay leaders do not take into account the dynamics of oppression and its systemic effects.
• No process exists for redress when damage due to institutional racism is done whether that damage is done to people of color or white participants. Trial in the court of social media is not a healthy alternative to a real process.
• No consistent resources are available for religious professionals of color (or others) who experience traumatic stress as a result of the lack of clarity of mission around racial inclusion and the gap between our aspirations and our actuality.
• No data is available on the number of religious professionals employed at the congregational level or the types of positions, other than in the ministry and these statistics are also not easily obtained. That an Association which claims to wish to become more diverse does not track data which most corporations now track is puzzling.
• Since we began our work, more religious professionals have lost their positions or are in conflict with congregations and the existing systems remain inept and inadequate at offering them help. The loss of any religious professionals of color among us is costly.

The time for “reconciliation” may be passed. What may be needed is what author Melvin Bray calls a “truth and transformation” process which looks at not reconciling us to equity under an outmoded system but reimaging a new system of equity, inclusion and innovation.

We begin with truth-telling. If you have an observation we need to hear, please visit the DRUUMM booth in the exhibit hall where information about us, our work and how to share your stories and perspectives with us. Thank you.