In 2021 I published a book called “The White-West: A Look in the Mirror” with the naive objective of trying to encourage discussion of the systemic discrimination carried out by the West. The book consists of a series of articles illustrating, across very different political systems and geographical locations, how systemic discrimination took similar forms and follows similar objectives. The main goal was to move past talk about political reforms and diversity workshops and recognize the deeper cultural mindset that we have been imposing on the world.
In that context, I got an email with an invitation to watch a discussion called (De)Facing White Supremacy: A Panel with Pax Christi USA. I was a little reticent to watch, afraid that the discussion would be about January 6 and Trumpism, in themselves more a consequence than a cause of the problem. Instead, it ended up being a learning experience and a really fascinating 90 minutes. Pax Christi was able to look itself in the mirror, opening up a discussion by white people for white people. Each panelist brought their social or historical knowledge, talking about themselves and their own Christian religion, going all the way back to slavery.
I wish every institution could do this work, to have this attitude. We would be in a very different country right now. This presentation expanded upon my superficial intuitive observations and deepened on my “White-West” concept by presenting it within a larger historical process. It was really refreshing to see people mature enough to have this type of honesty.
My proposal to Pax Christi is to do another panel, this time including people from European Christian institutions, in order to understand how the same mentality is found within different social and political forms.
Die Übersetzung aus dem Englischen wurde von Alina Kulik vom ehrenamtlichen Pressenza-Übersetzungsteam erstellt. Wir suchen Freiwillige!
