In response to the Church of England report, ‘From Lament to Action’, Christians in Birmingham and the West Midlands are working together to promote racial justice and eliminate racism.
In partnership with five other dioceses, Birmingham has received funding from the Racial Justice Unit to recruit a team of 11 people. The team, who will work across the West Midlands, will help the Church to make sure that the ways we think, speak and act allow us to welcome and embrace people of global majority heritage backgrounds and enable them to flourish.
One member of the new team has been asked to think about what it means to ‘deconstruct whiteness’. This phrase can be misleading. It has nothing to do with knocking or demeaning people who have white skin. ‘Whiteness’ refers to a way of thinking about the world in which being white is seen as ‘normal’ and everything else is different. This member of the team will help us to imagine a world in which, whatever the colour of a person’s skin, all are seen as ‘normal’ and are welcomed, included, and given access to opportunities in every sphere of life. The Regional Collaboration, I was pleased to learn, was well underway when I was Installed as Bishop of Birmingham at the beginning of March. It is an important opportunity for the Church to tackle the sin of racism and to ensure that, whatever the colour of our skin, everyone is accorded full dignity and opportunity as those created and loved by God.
22 March 2024
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