wfn.org | NCCC Vows to Combat Racism, Support Public Schools

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

15-November-1999 
99386 
 
    NCCC Vows to Combat Racism, Support Public Schools 
 
    Assembly agrees to back COCU initiative 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
    National Council of Churches Newsroom 
 
CLEVELAND-The General Assembly of the National Council of Churches of 
Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCC) signed on to a Consultation on Church Union 
(COCU) commitment on Nov. 11 to combat the scourge of racism in the 
country. 
 
    By joining the commitment, the NCCC's 35 member churches pledged to 
make a compelling theological case against racism, to share among member 
churches anti-racism resources and programs that are already taking place, 
to incorporate anti-racism concerns into worship and Christian education 
programs and to advocate for changes in church and society that will serve 
to combat racism. 
 
    Elenora Giddings Ivory, chair of the Council's National Ministries Unit 
(NMU) which brought the racism proposal to the Council, announced that 
gospel singer Kirk Franklin has provided funds for an NCCC-sponsored 
conference on combating racism to be held sometime next year. 
 
    In other NMU-recommended actions, the Assembly adopted a policy 
statement on public education and a resolution supporting universal health 
care and calling on member churches to work at the local and national level 
to place universal health care back on the political agenda during next 
year's election campaign. 
 
    Native American theologian links growing violence to racism 
 
    Addressing the phenomenon of racism in America, "Tink" Tinker, a member 
of the Osage Nation and theology professor at Iliff seminary in Denver, 
said the violent effects of racism "have invaded all of North American 
society."  As a result, he continued, "we now have to talk about not just 
redress for Indians, but the salvation of white America." 
 
    Tinker, who noted that the Osage used to own all of Missouri "until we 
generously ceded it to the U.S. government so it could be used for Lutheran 
refugee resettlement," said culpability for the racist structures that 
still predominate in the country belongs to churches as well as governments 
and other institutions of society. 
 
    "The structures of power are still in place - male privilege, white 
privilege - subtle layers of racism and privilege that are frequently not 
conscious but are still sin that is thrust upon us," Tinker said.  And it's 
not enough for people of color to raise issues of racism and privilege, he 
added.  "White theologians have to ask, `How did it get to be like this?'" 
 
    The effects of racism eventually affect perpetrators and their 
children, Tinker said, "and we cannot let bygones be bygones because as 
people of the Book we know better - God is just." 
 
    Churches and Christians must challenge the structures of racism in 
society, Tinker said. "If we accept the world as it is, we give in to a 
malaise that eats away at the souls of our people and our churches.  This 
is a serious theological, social, political and spiritual problem that is 
going to take a generation to correct." 
 
    Citing the Lord's Prayer - "Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven" - Tinker urged NCCC delegates not to give up on the vision of a 
just society.  "God's will is not sickness or death for anyone," he 
concluded. 
 
    Longstanding NCCC support for public schools reaffirmed 
 
    The policy statement on public education - "The Churches and the Public 
Schools at the Close of the 20th Century" - reaffirms the NCCC's 
longstanding commitment to the public school system and urges member 
communions to become and active voice in their children's education. 
 
    The policy urges the church to "remember first and foremost our 
children" and affirms that "the public schools are the primary route for 
most children ... into full participation in our economic, political and 
community life." 
 
    The statement does not try to resolve the longstanding debate over 
public versus private education.  It affirms that "parents have the right 
to select home schooling or private or parochial schools for their 
children."  However, it insists, "with that personal right comes the public 
obligation to support public schools for all children."  And the statement 
declares that "as a general rule, public funds should be used for public 
purposes." 
 
    The statement urges local churches to become better informed about the 
public schools in their communities, to support school reform efforts, to 
emphasize reading and literacy programs, to work with public schools to 
provide after-school and other tutoring programs, to provide parenting 
classes and to advocate for adequate funding for their public schools. 
 
    "We have said before that we care about our children and schools," the 
policy concludes.  "Now we must do something about it." 

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