Addressing issue of racism

[Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on forums and discussions about the issue of racism that have taken place in the Paterson Diocese.]

MADISON  Eradicating racism in society and the Church in the U.S. requires purposeful action, both external — engaging in honest dialogue about this divisive issue and reaching out to victims of discrimination and poverty — and internal — asking the Holy Spirit to change our hearts so that we see everyone as a child of God.

That was the suggestion of Father Alonzo Cox, coordinator of the African American Apostolate and Ministry to African American Catholics for the Brooklyn Diocese, during a virtual convocation with Catholic attorneys and other faithful, “America’s Founding Principles, Catholic Social Teaching and Racism: An Initial Conversation,” on Oct. 28.

The African-American priest was joined in conversation by Karol Corbin Walker, a partner with Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, LLP in its Hackensack office and chair of its New Jersey Employment Department and a parishioner of Assumption Church in Morristown, and Teresa Stanton Collett, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minn. and director of its Pro-life Center.

The livestreamed convocation was sponsored by Advocati Christi — Latin for “Advocates of Christ,” a fellowship of Catholic lawyers and judges who are committed to their profession and faith and seek to mentor other legal professionals, at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization here. During the two-hour event, 70 people of various backgrounds listened to the discussion, which the fellowship hopes will jumpstart further discussions in the Diocese about racism, including about some of the subjects tackled that night: bias, discrimination, institutional racism and police brutality.

“We are all made in the image and likeness of God as brothers and sisters united in Christ. Racism occurs when this fundamental truth is ignored,” said Father Cox, who quoted two pastoral letters about racism by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: “Brothers and Sisters to Us” (1979) and “Open Wide Our Hearts: the Enduring Call to Love” (2017). “As a disciple of the Lord, the Church needs to continue to preach equality and reach out to people who are struggling, especially black families that are having a hard time putting food on the table and a roof over their heads. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts so we can welcome all people into the pews of our churches with a love that can empower us every day in our communities and hopefully permeate into our society,” he said.

The convocation was moderated by Andrew Anselmi, a founder of Advocati Christi and, like Walker, a past recipient of Advocati Christi’s St. Thomas More Award. He is a founding partner of McCusker, Anselmi, Rosen & Carvelli, P.C. in Florham Park. Each speaker delivered a presentation on an aspect of racism, followed by probing questions by Anselmi.

Father Cox suggested that dioceses around the U.S. hold listening sessions on racism like the ones that took place on four occasions in the Brooklyn Diocese, where Bishop Kevin Sweeney served as a priest for 22 years before being ordained and installed as the eighth Bishop of Paterson on July 1. Father Cox sympathized with recent protests by African-Americans against police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by the hands of Minneapolis Police on May 25.

“We need to acknowledge that racism exists and talk about it,” said Father Cox, pastor of St. Martin de Porres Parish, which consists of three churches in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and is home to African-Americans, Caribbean-Americans and people from the West Indies. “When we have these conversations, something good happens from them,” he said.

In her segment, Walker presented a timeline of the historical development of African-American’s rights in the U.S. To help dismantle racism, people should be sure not to make generalizations about entire races of people. In addition, they should “call out” others who tell off-color jokes or utter stereotypical, politically incorrect or racist statements, Walker said.

“Hold people accountable and bring awareness to change the narrative,” said Walker, who noted, “The Black Lives Matter movement is not meant to divide people but instead to raise awareness of injustices against African-Americans. Unarmed, they are three times more likely to be killed by the police or by vigilantes. We also must deal with institutional racism.”

An expert litigator with trial experience in the State and Federal Courts, Walker represents clients in business, commercial and employment litigation matters. She has built a reputation in the state’s legal community, marked with a series of “firsts,” including becoming the first African-American woman to make partner at a major New Jersey law firm in 1995. In practicing her faith, she serves as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Assumption and is a Dame of Malta in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, whose lay members seek to achieve spiritual perfection, defend the Catholic Church, and take an oath to spend their energies serving the sick and the poor.

In her talk, Collett said that the slave trade, which has been called “America’s Original Sin,” “keeps tainting the history of America.” A noted advocate for the protection of human life and the family, she repeated the popular idea that racism “is simply the use of race as a means to power.”

At the end of the convocation, Anselmi thanked the three presenters and called racism a “difficult issue” that can be addressed through “dialogue and listening. Evangelization is listening in social relations — and in the Church.”

Brian Honsberger, St. Paul’s director of programs and operations, called the lively dialogue “a model for how to discuss this subject — very amicably!”