Justice and Racism

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Chapter Six

• Justice and Racism

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When Night Ends

• Q What does it mean?
• A An old Jewish tale meaning it is still night
  when you can look on the face of any man or woman
  and it is your brother or sister.
• Q What is racism?
• A The Church defines racism as awareness of the
  biologically determined superiority of ones own
  race or ethnic group with respect to others.

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When Night Ends
Racism leads to mistreatment of people based on

• race
• color
• national origin
• religion
• place of origin
• ancestry

Remember. . .
Racism can be person-to-person or institutional
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Institutional Racism
Q What is it?

• A Racism that infects every aspect of society

A Racism that favors the majority and hindering
the success of the minority
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Institutional Racism
Members of other minorities
Affirmative Action is the policy and programs
established to correct the past discrimination in
education and employment opportunities
b l a c k s
wo m e n
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Racism Against Certain Groups

• African Americans
• Slavery continued until the Emancipation
  Proclamation in 1863 and the 13th Amendment
  outlawing slavery
• Segregation continued and blacks were treated as
  second class citizens until the civil rights
  movement in the 1950s and 1960s
• In 1954, the Supreme Court decision of Brown
• v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregated
  schools

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Racism Against Certain Groups
African Americans
Did you know that blacks

• suffer more from violence
• are incarcerated disproportionately
• have shorter life spans
• lack educational opportunities
• have a large number of
  families headed by
  single women

Also, keep in mind. . .
There still is a large income gap between African
Americans and whites
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Racism Against Certain Groups
African Americans
Racism against African Americans is, in part, a
result of apartheid
Apartheid was a policy of South Africa from
1948-1991 of strict segregation, prejudice and
racial inequality against blacks.
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Racism Against Certain Groups

• Hispanic Americans
• Descended from Spanish-speaking people
• and now represent a mix of cultures, national
  groups, and races
• Predate English-speaking colonists in America and
  helped discover the Americas.
• Comprise the largest minority group in the
  United States (One of every eight residents
  in the US is Latino

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Racism Against Certain Groups
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic Americans of Mexican ancestry
Chicano
braceros
Manual laborers
barrios
neighborhoods
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Racism Against Certain Groups
Hispanic Americans have a history of working
low-paying jobs in ranches, farms, mines and
railroad have lost their jobs due to cheap
labor of the braceros Children of migrant
workers cannot get a decent education
many Hispanic Americans face immigration
problems. Suffer from low wages, lack
of health care and decent education, unsafe
and congested housing
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Racism Against Certain Groups

• Nearly 73 of Hispanics in the US are Catholic
• 64 of Catholic Hispanic Americans go to church
  regularly
• American Catholic Bishops challenge parishes
• to find ways to embrace Hispanic Catholics

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Racism Against Certain Groups
Native Americans
Did you Know that the Native American suffered
because

• Once numbered from 4.5 to 10 million when
  Columbus discovered American, by the end of the
  19th century decreased to a quarter of a million
  people
• Diseases that the Native Americans had no
  immunities
• Loss of cultural identity as Native American
  religion and customs were stamped out
• Vicious wars by the English
• Destruction of the buffalo
• Expansion of the railroad
• Lands taken over by Anglos as they moved West

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Racism Against Certain Groups
Housing
Homelessness
Negative Effects of Reservations
Poverty
Education
Death rates among youth
Unemployment
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Racism Against Certain Groups

• Although the Church was prejudice in the past
  trying to Christianize Native Americans, it has
  become more sensitive to defending their rights

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Being Inclusive
Things to Consider about Racism

• During Jesus ministry, he included everyone

St. Paul encouraged his converts to see through
the external differences that separate us
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Being Inclusive
Racial Justice
Support efforts to eradicate discrimination
Root prejudice out of own lives
Empathize with others
Celebrate diversity
Learn from others
Appreciate our common humanity
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Vocabulary

• racism
• affirmative action
• institutional racism
• apartheid
• Chicano
• braceros
• barrios
• encyclical