[Sac-news] From UUA Secretary Paul Rickter concerning a GA Responsive Resolution on Racism and Classism

[Unitarian Universalist Association]

UU Congregational Leaders:

In my role as a member of the Board of Trustees and Secretary of the
UUA, I am writing to notify congregational ministers and leadership of a
resolution passed on June 25, 2006, by the delegates at the General
Assembly in St. Louis. The text of this resolution is the following:

"Resolved, that the Delegates to General Assembly are charged to work
with their congregations to hold at least one program over the next year
to address racism or classism, and to report on that program at next
year's General Assembly."

The bylaws of the UUA
(http://www.uua.org/administration/bylaws.html#section4.16.) provide for
responsive resolutions in response to a substantive portion of a report
delivered at the GA either by an officer of the Association or a
committee. The resolution above was moved and passed in response to
reports presented by officers at the 2006 GA and the report of the
Special Review Commission appointed by the UUA President and Moderator
to review the events surrounding the 2005 General Assembly in Fort
Worth, Texas (http://www.uua.org/TRUS/apr06/D2a-src.pdf). Both the
relevant 2006 officers' reports and the Special Review Commission report
concerned events at the General Assemblies that affected Unitarian
Universalist communities of color, especially youth of color.

Some of our member congregations have done significant work on issues of
racism, classism, and multiculturalism using resources provided by both
the UUA and other sources of expertise. If your congregation has done
such work, this resolution provides an opportunity to share your efforts
and accomplishments with other congregations in your cluster or district
so they can benefit from your experience. Resources and suggestions for
programs provided by the UUA can be found at
http://www.uua.org/actions/responsive/06racism/.

This resolution was not on the GA agenda. It was written by a GA
delegate, offered as a responsive resolution, and overwhelmingly
supported by the delegates from over 600 UU congregations. I urge you to
use this resolution as an opportunity to reflect on how your
congregation is engaging with the issues of anti-racism,
anti-oppression, and multiculturalism. When delegates representing our
congregations gather at 2007 General Assembly in Portland, Oregon, we
will have an opportunity to share our experiences in
congregationally-based programs on issues of racism and classism.

As we approach the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we are
reminded that racism and classism remain problems in our society that
we, as people of faith, are called to address. Our experiences together
in community show that we have much work to do to live our UU principles
more fully.

In Faith,

Paul Rickter
UUA Secretary