For a number of years October has been designated as Black History Month with articles, exhibitions, and resources detailing aspects of the history of black people. This year, with all that has gone on since the death of George Floyd, it is particularly pertinent.
As Christians it is important that we understand racism, our part in it and how we can expose and eventually eradicate it. As part of our response, the PCC has set up a group to help lead our response.
One of the lessons we as a group has learnt is that we need to educate ourselves first before expecting someone from BAME background to do it for us, so we can understand the different shapes of racism and then listen to those who have experienced racism first hand.
This month national television has produced many programmes to help us and there is a wide selection of books and articles. Last week in these notices we invited you to take a look at the Black History Month Annual Magazine. https://issuu.com/sugarmediaandmarketing/docs/blm_2020_4oct .
A book which has caused a bit of a stir recently is Ghost Ship by an Anglican priest A D A France- Williams who takes a critical look at Institutional Racism and the Church of England. When reading it I was struck particularly by the following comment.
I read an article the other day from a woman living in an overwhelming white area and she said, ‘I am drowning in whiteness.’ She was talking about all the micro-aggressions she has to experience on a daily basis like people touching her hair or asking ‘where are you really from?’ or telling her ‘you’re very articulate. You don’t sound black.’ Everyone has a responsibility, particularly Christians, to examine their church spaces and their community spaces and ask the questions: if a person of colour walks in here how would they experience us? Would the church be somewhere they could feel safe, for example show up with natural hair and not have everyone come over and start touching it? Or would they try our church for a couple of weeks and just get exhausted by having to interact with us and not come back?
Has this anything to say to us in Busbridge and Hambledon where 97% of the local population is classified as being white according to the 2011 census?
Andy Spencer
Busbridge and Hambledon PCC group on the Response Racism and Cultural Bias in the local church.