In response to the 2009 General Convention Resolution A-143, the Episcopal Church Executive Council’s Anti-Racism Committee has called for facilitated conversations and video viewing by dioceses and congregations to combat the sin of racism.

Resolution A-143 called for dioceses “to continue over the next six years a process to gather information in its community on (1) the complicity of The Episcopal Church in the institution of slavery and in the subsequent history of segregation and discrimination, (2) examples of resistance to slavery and discrimination and (3) the economic benefits derived by the Episcopal Church from the transatlantic slave trade and the institution of slavery…”

To that end, the Anti-Racism Committee approved a resolution recommending the viewing of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, a PBS documentary in which producer/director Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors, the DeWolf family, were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. 

The Anti-Racism Committee also recommended the utilization of facilitated dialogues offered by Dain and Constance Perry, members of the DeWolf family who participated in the preparation of Traces of the Trade and who facilitate conversations on racism and racial reconciliation. 

The Rev. John Kitagawa, Committee chairperson, said of the action, “The Anti-Racism Committee feels that using the Traces of the Trade video along with the Perry’s considerable skills at facilitating conversation offers the Church a realistic and manageable way to begin the very difficult work of responding to Resolution A-143 and addressing the lasting effects of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade.”

For more information contact Kitagawa at john.kitagawa@stphilipstucson.org

Links:
Resolution A-143:  http://gc2009.org/ViewLegislation/view_leg_detail.aspx?id=848&type=Final
Traces of the Trade: http://www.tracesofthetrade.org/
The Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery at http://www.tracingcenter.org
The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org
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