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Executive Board provides safe place to explore
racism, dismantle white privilege.
Executive Board Web designer integrates technical
and pastoral gifts.
News archive
Contact: Laurie L. Oswald (316) 283-5100, E-mail: LaurieO@MennoniteUSA.org
Executive
Board provides safe place to explore racism, dismantle
white privilege
by Laurie L. Oswald
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NEWTON, Kan. (MC USA) - As Elaine Bryant, executive board
member, spoke during an introductory anti-racism workshop
April 13 about her struggles to find an apartment in St.
Louis, Mo., in the 1960s, Mennonite Church USA Executive
Board members grew quiet and reflective.
The board had discussed racism and watched a video on the
subject. But it was Bryant's story that most deeply struck
them, some board members said. The board ended April 11-13
board meetings in Newton with the workshop, led by Bryant
and four other board and staff members.
"Elaine's story really hit home in a new way,"
said Harold Miller, board member from Corning, N.Y. "No
longer was I reading about racism, or seeing it on television.
Here I was in the same room with someone telling me face-to-face
about the pain of racism in her own life, and that hugely
impacted me."
Bryant's storytelling followed the watching of a video,
"True Colors," an ABC Prime Time television program
from 1993. An ABC crew with anchor Diane Sawyer sent a white
man and black man into St. Louis to rent an apartment, to
buy a car and to purchase shoes. On hidden cameras, the
crew captured how the white man in each instance was given
preferential treatment, based on a societal system of white
privilege.
"As I was watching the video about St. Louis, I had
a de-ja vu experience," said Bryant, now a resident
of Chicago. "We had moved to St. Louis, and I was eight
months pregnant. We had been given a list of places where
we could rent an apartment. But as we looked at these places,
we ran into all kinds of challenges.
"First we were told we would have to put down two months
rent as a deposit. We said we had that, but that wasn't
enough. We were then told we had to put down a deposit for
the carpet."
The video and sharing were part of the workshop, which explored
the theme, "Racism is real, racism is present. I'm
either part of the problem or part of the solution."
The board discussed how Mennonites have benefited from racism
in the past by willingly buying land taken illegally from
Native Americans and by not using their power and position
to protest slavery or Jim Crow laws. Today, Mennonites benefit
economically in a variety of ways.
"Racism is a systemic power problem, and Mennonite
Church USA must work diligently and continually to be anti-racist,"
said Susan Mark Landis, another workshop leader and peace
advocate for the Executive Board. "Being anti-racist
is not a matter of correcting prejudice attitudes or being
intentionally multicultural in worship. It's a willingness
to dismantle white privilege."
Those joining Landis and Bryant in helping the board to
begin to dismantle white privilege were Kenyetta Aduma,
director of the Executive Board Office of Cross-Cultural
Relations; Roy Williams, at-large board member and nominated
for MC USA moderator-elect; Ron Byler, associate executive
director of the Executive Board; and Jim Schrag, executive
director of the Executive Board. They led the board in sharing
in large and small groups and writing down personal thoughts.
Reflection questions included: "What do you hear about
racism in our society? What are your personal resistances
to working on this issue?" Board members Jane Hoober
Peifer from Lancaster, Pa., and Leslie Francisco III from
Hampton, Va., gave input to the material but were not present
at the meeting.
Board members shared what they've heard about racism --
whether true or false -- including that those who belong
to the majority ethnic group of a nation tend to be oblivious
that racism exists; that racism exists only in big cities;
that racism is less of a problem today and therefore we
don't need to spend so much energy on it; that one often
hears the statement "I am not racist"; that we
are working hard at putting different racial-ethnic groups
on our church boards; and that having separate racial-ethnic
groups in the church exacerbates racism.
After large-group sharing, Schrag offered personal reflections
by using the Matthew 5 story of Jairus and his sick daughter.
"Jairus was the man in charge of the synagogue, and
I have some similarities with Jairus," Schrag said.
"He had one daughter. I have three. ... I can feel
his utter dismay at being out-of-control with his little
girl. He would probably risk it all if God would grant life
to his little daughter.
"I wonder if the crowd parted for Jairus -- because
of his privilege -- when he came to ask Jesus to come heal
his daughter. ... Humility is something we must have. I
know that people make way for me when I speak, and I must
know that I am blind to that privilege."
Schrag gave an example of white privilege when he caused
a car accident with an African-American man in Cleveland
in 1988.
"When we got to the police station, the white police
officer didn't ask to see any of my papers, even when I
explained to him that it was my fault," Schrag said.
"Instead, he demanded to see the insurance documents
of the black man. He gave that man a dressing down and said
nothing to me for having caused the accident. That situation
clearly included white privilege and bigotry, and I was
the benefactor."
Schrag listed some of his hopes in dismantling racism in
MC USA, including the fact that Jesus is our Lord and model;
that we are beginning to develop strong leaders of color;
that people of color on our board are willing to share;
and that MC USA has named racism as an issue and has set
goals for dealing with it. After the workshop, Bryant said
she believes MC USA is meeting some of those goals.
"I am so grateful that our church is making efforts
to speak the truth in love because our world seems to be
getting more bold and hard-hearted in racism and is taking
us back to bygone eras," Bryant said. "But the
sincerity I see in leadership for dealing with these issues
in our church has really helped develop trust and helps
me be as transparent as I can be. And it's one of the reasons
I remain in the Mennonite Church.
"Christians have access to Jesus, the one who can change
hearts and minds. And as Mennonites -- because of our emphasis
on being Christ's disciples and living as he lived -- we
have a strong foundation from which we can speak out and
act out on the issue." Photos available.
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| Kenyetta Aduma, director of the
Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Office of Cross
Cultural Relations, and Sue Miller, Executive Board
member from Middlebury, Ind., participate in an introductory
anti-racism workshop April 13 at the denominational
offices in Newton, Kan. |
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite
Church USA.
Executive
Board Web designer integrates technical and pastoral
gifts
by Laurie L. Oswald
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ELKHART, Ind. (MC USA) -- Alex Naula, quarter-time Web
designer for the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board, is
fulfilling a longtime dream -- integrating his technical
and pastoral gifts -- through an internship at a worldwide
radio engineering facility.
In November 2002, the HCJB
(Heralding Christ Jesus' Blessings) World Radio Engineering
Center in Elkhart accepted Naula for an apprenticeship as
a radio planter. He is training to be a liaison between
churches and other Christian organizations and HCJB.
Naula, who moved from Ecuador to the United States and now
lives in Goshen, will train until July 2005, at which point
he'd like to become a full-time missionary, he said.
"This was a big decision for me because my desire was
to find a mission organization that would allow me to combine
my technical skills with my pastoral gifts," Naula
said. "In addition, HCJB has a broad array of ministries
around the world, including Latin America, where I would
like to work as a missionary in the near future."
"I'm excited to be trained in this role, because the
combination of my technical skills and love for people are
ideal for meeting the needs."
At the center in Elkhart, engineers will train Naula to
troubleshoot, to become familiar with design and to assemble
broadcasting equipment such as short wave and FM transmitters,
antennas, satellite communications and radio automation
equipment. These tools are used around the world in a ministry
known as radio planting. It's much like church planting,
except that it uses communications technology to reach large
numbers of people in every corner of the world with Christian
programming, Naula said.
"We are pleased that Alex is able to continue his work
for Mennonite Church USA while completing his internship
program with HCJB," said Cindy Snider, director of
the Executive Board Office of Communications. "He brings
an ability to combine technical expertise with creative
solutions and is an important member of the Executive Board's
Web ministry."
Naula's Web design work can be seen at two MC USA Web sites:
www.MennoniteUSA.org
and www.Atlanta2003.org
Naula is a member of Iglesia Menonita del Buen Pastor in
Goshen, Ind., and a graduate of Associated Mennonite Biblical
Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., and Goshen (Ind.) College. He
formerly worked at Mennonite Mutual Aid in Goshen as Web
designer. Naula is available to share about HCJB's ministry.
Contact him at 574-970-4279.
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