Raising Awareness of Racism

2008 Declared "The Year of Reconciliation" by the

Ministerial Alliance

Click for more information.

Raising Awareness of Racism

During the General Chapter of 2001 the Springfield Dominicans began the process of examining our structures for institutionalized racial bias. A team of sisters partnered with people of color who are colleagues in ministry or friends of the sisters. They began to study and analyze the structures of racism within the congregation and to design a plan for dismantling those structures.

Members of the Planning/Design
Task Force

Reggie Britton
Sr. Mary Clare Fichtner
Leroy Jordan
Doug King
Sr. Marcelline Koch
Classie Murray
Sr. Katherine O'Connor
Sr. Rose Marie Riley
Sr. Phyllis Schenk
Daphne Skretvedt
Sr. Mary Jean Traeger

Above: some members of our first anti- racism planning design team:
The Planning/Design Task Force

More...

As a first step toward implementing the chapter’s mandate, the anti-racism team developed a time-line for continued study and planning and created this vision statement:
We, the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, are called by God to live and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a church and world suffering from the sin of racism. As an anti-racist institution we are accountable to people of color in mutual relationships based on respect, equality and justice. Together, we examine and redefine all aspects of our life, mission and ministry to incorporate and witness anti-racism. We commit, as a publicly identified anti-racist congregation, to work toward an inclusive and anti-racist church and world."

What is racism?
"Racism is not the same thing as race prejudice," says Sister Marcelline Koch. "Racism is a combination of the abuse of institutional power and race prejudice, so that, even if someone has worked to rid herself of a personal prejudice against people of certain ethnic or racial groups, she is still caught in the web of racism which is supported by institutional structures that were designed to privilege the group with social power and disenfranchise those without it."
In June 2005, the Springfield Dominicans, during their the general chapter, voted unanimously in favor of the following chapter proposal:

"We commit ourselves to being on the path to becoming an anti-racist congregation and authorizing the anti-racism team to help us get there by leading us through training and analysis."

Sister Rose Marie Riley, prioress general of the Springfield Dominicans, explained the decision: "The goal of this process is to heal the deep wound of racism that scars our world, our country, and our congregation, and because of that, also scars the body of Christ, the Church."

This process of examining the racist structures within our own community and the institutions over which we have influence is a humbling experience. Our purpose is not to point fingers at others, but, in the light of God’s love and with the assistance and dedication of our partners in the process, to change ourselves. We believe this is a mandate of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We may not do this perfectly, and, being human, we will undoubtedly fail at certain points along the way. By publicly declaring our intentions to engage in this process of becoming an anti-racist congregation, we desire to hold ourselves accountable for who we say we want to be. We ask for your prayers for our efforts.

Learn more about our journey toward dismantling racism in our religious community.