wfn.org | Churchwomen urge U.S. to participate in racism summit

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Aug. 22, 2001  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-30-71B{358}

By Kelly Martini*

The Women's Division of the United Methodist Church is urging the U.S.
government to send a high-level delegation to the upcoming World Conference
Against Racism.

As the conference date approaches, the Women's Division is asking why the
government has not made that commitment. Participation in the dialogue about
racism would open the doors for concrete action, according to the division.
The conference will be Aug. 31-Sept. 7 in Durban, South Africa.

"The bottom line is that people are still hurting because of racism," said
Lois Dauway, staff executive of the division's section on Christian Social
Responsibility. "They are brutalized, demeaned and dehumanized every day in
this country, and it stems from the legacy of slavery." A unit of the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the Women's Division administers the
million-member United Methodist Women. 

The U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance will explore what can be done to address the
inequities and oppression caused by years of slavery, slave trade and
colonialism. This is the third world conference against racism but the first
to which the United States has been invited.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has not made a final decision on whether to
attend the conference, according to news reports. However, the Bush
administration is cool to the idea because of the possibility that the
conference will address alleged racism by Israel toward Palestinians, as
well as demands that former slave-holding countries make reparations and
formally apologize for slavery. The White House is said to be considering
sending a low-level delegation instead.

Participating in the conference is part of the Women's Division's work to
eliminate racism. The division has sponsored briefings for African
non-governmental organizations this year as a way of rallying those
marginalized by racism so that they may have a voice at the conference.
	
The division also has produced a major public service announcement in Africa
to urge participation and dialogue, and it has funded various African
organizations that otherwise would not be able to attend because of
financial constraints.
 
The factors that keep people from attending and voices from being heard is
part of racism, Dauway said.

"The reality is that we can't rewrite history," she said. "We also can't
move forward to combat racism until we acknowledge the past. 
	
"That is what this conference is about. However, there are fears out there
that with acknowledgment of sins comes reparations and a fiscal
responsibility. So people are resistant to dialogue about the issue."

Ife Williams, executive secretary for racial justice with the Women's
Division, said that racism is everywhere. The host country -- also known as
"the rainbow nation" -- is an example of how racism is alive and present in
the world, despite being officially outlawed, she said.

"The results of racism can be seen in the country hosting this event, where
70 percent are unemployed and multinational interests are recognized above
people of color," Williams said.

Though the civil rights movement in the United States and the anti-apartheid
movement in South Africa created laws to eradicate formalized racism,
serious work remains, she said.

"There needs to be an international apology for past atrocities and a
worldwide commitment to address inequities around land, environment,
infrastructure, health care, and the criminal justice system, which have
been caused by racism," Williams said.
	
The United States is not immune to racism and taking responsibility for it,
she said. That is why it should send a high-level delegation and make an
effort to participate in the dialogue with open minds, she said.

The Women's Division is one of several United Methodist units sending
delegations to the conference. Division staff member Melba Smith will serve
on a panel to discuss the effects of racism on children. Williams, who has
been in Africa for the past half year, will be working as a liaison among
non-governmental organizations. 
	
"My biggest hope," Dauway said, "is that this conference will build bridges
among non-governmental organizations, allow them to begin the dialogue, and
bring to the forefront their various issues of racism, because so often we
have oppressed them."
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*Martini is executive secretary of communications for the Women's Division
of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

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United Methodist News Service
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