“Just as the studs and joists and beams that form the infrastructure of a building are not visible to those who live in it, so it is with caste. Its very invisibility is what gives it power and longevity.”1
The Racial Justice Working Group in our congregation is committed to making visible those structures in our society that divide, demean, and degrade under the guise of race. In the past few months we have taken opportunities to educate ourselves and our community by offering a series of discussions (via Zoom) on institutional racism, offering updated resources that can be accessed on our church website, and sharing brief quotes on the weekly Friday all-church email. We have written letters to the editor in response to those running for election to the Elizabethtown School Board who have criticized the teaching of racial justice issues and would block our students from learning about them.
We are currently planning to research and share the history of racism in Elizabethtown and organize a learning tour of local historical sites. We are also connecting to others in the community to work together to make visible those things that degrade not only our neighbors, but all of us.
We encourage you to join us in these and future projects by contacting the church office or any member of the Racial Justice Working Group: Paul Brubaker, Ralph Detrick, John and Linda Hope, Pam Hudson, JulieAnn Keith, Marilyn Muston, Gina Strouse, and Pat Williams.
Submitted by JulieAnn Keith
1Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson, p. 23