Why Now?

 
  • The UUA has just gone through a crisis related to inclusive hiring practices, especially related to whites being hired over highly qualified Latinx candidates, resulting in the resignation of the UUA President.

  • In response to this crisis, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU) and Diverse Revolutionary UU Ministries (DRUUMM) endorsed the 8th Principle.  BLUU’s main point is that the UUA voted in 1997 at GA to commit to intentionally becoming an ARAOMC institution.  Initially good progress was made, with programs including the Journey Toward Wholeness, the Jubilee Anti-Racism Training workshops, process evaluation at meetings, and multicultural consulting services.  In the early 2000s, funding and support for much of this work began to decline.  The recent hiring crisis is not surprising in light of this decreasing support and lost focus.  BLUU is holding all of the UUA accountable to that commitment, and expresses disappointment that the 8th Principle has not already been supported and midwifed by UUA leadership.  Allies for Racial Equity (ARE - the UU white ally group) support BLUU in BLUU’s endorsement of the 8th Principle.  The White Supremacy Teach-In April 30th and May 7 included the BLUU endorsement of the 8th Principle with their resources for planning for the Teach-In. See: http://www.blacklivesuu.com/teachin/.

  • UU funding and focus in the last decade shifted toward shallow diversity rather than deep multicultural Beloved Community and structural change.  UU support of the Movement for Black Lives has been encouraging; the best way for us to truly support racial justice in a significant way is to purge ourselves and our institutions of the culture and exclusive practices of whiteness and white supremacy.

  • The New Jim Crow (mass incarceration and the criminal justice system replacing the older systems of slavery and Jim Crow laws), police violence against people of color, recent Supreme Court decisions on Voting Rights and Affirmative Action, and the election of Donald Trump with advisors and followers (including Attorney General Jeff Sessions) openly supporting white supremacists show that the country is moving quickly and dangerously in the wrong direction.  UUs need to take strong leadership to reverse these trends.