FIGHTING RACISM in ourselves and others
Seeing through the eyes of a child By Monica Gatlin Contributor
“At that time, the disciples’ approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-3).
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FALL 2020
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In asking what the Church is doing, we must ask all ask ourselves, “What am I doing?” We, you and I are the Church. It seems simple enough, but the reality is some of us have made our own sinful mistakes, allowed barriers to remain in place, remained silent, and quite frankly have become desensitized to the real pain racism creates.
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acism has been a big discussion in my family since my husband left his childhood home to marry me. Early in our dating relationship, my Hispanic ethnicity became a barrier that my husband’s mother would not cross. It was made very clear that I would never be accepted. But we would marry anyway. We would create our own family, and our children would know the obstacles, the hurdles and the sacrifices we had to face because of racial ignorance and indifference. We have now been married 32 years and have four children raised in the same loving Catholic home, but as the world labels them, they are also Gen Y (millennials) and Gen Z. We have had some fascinating, thought-provoking and, at times, emotional questions and discussions. The recent death of George Floyd and the racial divide that came back to light brought us into some deep conversations with our children. Three questions seemed to be on their minds, and our kids were coming to us for answers: 1. “Where is the Catholic Church during this time of racial divide?” 2. “Why don’t we see and hear what the Catholic Church is doing?” 3. “Why are we still dealing with racism in 2020?” which bordered on “Why are the boomers not getting it?”. I have found that most often, when people ask, “Where is the Church?” they are searching for a clear definition of Church teaching. The 1979 U.S. Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on Racism, entitled “Brothers and Sisters to Us” clearly defines racism as a sin. A sin that ultimately leads to the division of the human family. The 2018 United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love a Pastoral Letter Against Racism” goes even further and defines the racial acts of exclusion, ridicule, mistreatment and discrimination as sinful acts that violate justice. The definition is clear: Racism is a sin, and it’s clear that it violates the right of human dignity.
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