ERACISM Minute 7/5/2020 Mike Betz

Good morning, I am Mike Betz, and I will be speaking about the 8th
principle.

What is the eighth principle? Simply stated:

We covenant to affirm and promote journeying toward spiritual wholeness
by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our
actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in
ourselves and our institutions.

Where does it come from

UUs and the UUA have done good work in fighting racism in the 1990’s
passing a resolution in 1997 at GA to become an Anti-Racist,
Anti-Oppression Multi-Cultural Organization. Although funding and
support began to wane in the 2000’s.

After working with congregations on the 7 Principles and Beloved
Community for over 15 years, Paula Cole Jones realized, as evidence:
most UU congregations are primarily European-American in membership,
culture, and leadership.  She realized that an 8th Principle was needed
to correct this, and she talked with Bruce Pollack-Johnson about the
components that should be in it.  Bruce put together an initial draft in
2013, and the two of them worked with a group of anti-racist activists
to refine it.  Bruce’s congregation incorporated it into their Covenant
at that time, then in May 2017 formally adopted it for themselves and
recommended that the UUA adopt it.

At that time the UUA had just gone through a crisis related to inclusive
hiring practices, resulted in the resignation of the UUA President in
March, 2017. In response to this crisis, Black Lives of Unitarian
Universalism and Diverse Revolutionary UU Ministries endorsed the 8th
Principle.

what is the eighth principle group at BUF?

Last year, members at BUF were invited to participate in an anti-racism
workshop. After the workshop, small groups continued to discuss issues
raised during the workshop. One of the actions agreed on was to work
toward adopting the eighth principle. The group is composed of Black
LIVES Matter members, members of the Social and Environmental Justice
Committee and consultation with Right Relations Team. We are still in
process

You can contact me with any questions.

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Michael Betz
mwbetz@comcast.net