Now more subtle, racism still challenges America
The fact that television programs, school curricula and public media of
many types proclaim February as Black History Month stands as evidence
of progress in contemporary American culture.
Among school-age children, especially, but also in neighborhoods and workplaces
where African-Americans and Caucasians live and work, tolerance and respect
have become the rule of race relations.
Even so, as obvious as are the signs of tolerance that give root to genuine
respect, so the specter of racism also remains in many ways, often in
quiet, subtle forms. Strands of society, itself made up of peoples from
different foreign lands, today persist in viewing the other as alien,
and the different as unwelcome. In diverse ways, there is a presumption
of the inferiority of those seen as outsiders. “Outsiders”
may be Catholics from Latin America, Muslims from Asia or people from
a neighboring town. “They” may be people with different skin
color, or those who favor different cultural tastes and styles, or those
who lack a high level of education.
The Catholic Church has a major role to play in this struggle for human
dignity. Almost 30 years ago, the Bishops of the United States called
racism a sin because it “divides the human family, blots out the
image of God among specific members of that family, and violates the fundamental
human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father.”
The willingness to hold up to society the Gospel demands of justice and
charity helped move this nation from violent racial hatred toward mutual
respect today. Increasingly, it is flowering into love for our brothers
and sisters, regardless of their race or background.
That was the dream and life’s work of Philadelphia’s Saint
Katherine Drexel. From her love for Jesus Christ, she taught and served
African-Americans and Native Americans. The message she brought was the
same in the last century as it is today: All persons are loved beyond
measure by God our Father. In our own time, the Church again calls prophetically
for an economic system that supports poor people while providing to everyone
the opportunities for success. At the same time, it firmly rejects all
attitudes that perpetuate intolerance and bigotry. This struggle for true
progress in America must include every person, every Catholic.
In this Black History Month and always, the positive fruits of our efforts
to build a more tolerant, loving society point the way back to their origin:
Christ, our Redeemer, has made us heirs to the kingdom, brothers and sisters
before the one God.