Evangelical Lutherans Attack Racism
Racism is a sin that remains embedded not only in individuals but in the nation’s institutions and social structures, according to a proposed social statement by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Lamenting that “the United States seems far from the day when people of all nations and tongues live in harmony,” it calls on churches to name the “white American sin of racism.”
The paper gives strong support to affirmative action programs and to a controversial quota system in the denomination that ensures leadership roles for minorities. But the 15-member task force that prepared the statement rejected the charge that only whites can be racist because only whites hold power.
“Prejudice and hostility on the part of African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans must be recognized as such,” the statement says.
The proposed statement, “Race, Ethnicity and Culture,” a 17-page booklet, is being circulated among the denomination’s 11,000 congregations for comments. It is expected to be presented next summer to the denomination’s Churchwide Assembly, its highest decision-making body.
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