UUCE 8th Principle Task Force

The UUCE 8th Principle Task Force is charged with informing and educating the UUCE congregation about the proposed 8th Principle before a vote in to adopt it at our May 2022 annual meeting. We welcome your questions and invite conversations about the meaning of this principle and how implementing it might change us.

NEXT OPEN CONVERSATION
Congregational members are invited to an open conversation
on adopting the 8th principle on  Tuesday, May 17th, 5 – 6 pm (via Zoom).
Contact uucellsworth@gmail.com for link.

Members of the 8th Principle Task Force are Barb Acosta, Haydée Foreman,
Cecily Judd, Marta Rieman, Jana Robinson, and Karen Volckhausen, Rev. Sara Hayman.

What Does the Language in the Proposed 8th Principle Mean?

The task force held a series of open conversations in March and April exploring the language of the 8th principle. We asked members to talk with us about each of the following:

  • Journeying toward spiritual wholeness
  • Building a Diverse Multicultural Beloved Community
  • Dismantling Racism & Other Oppressions in Ourselves
  • Dismantling Racism & Other Oppressions in Our Institutions
  • Holding Ourselves and Our Church Accountable

Excerpts from these conversations are below: 

Journeying Toward Spiritual Wholeness

“Journeying Toward Spiritual Wholeness to me says we are traveling, in motion not in stasis, spiritual means filled with the wonder of the unknowable and yet placing my faith in LOVE. And what is wholeness? Parker Palmer speaks to welcoming divided parts of ourselves.”

“To become an anti-racist multicultural institution requires commitment, analysis, strategy, and willingness to risk, grow, and change. The benefits of embarking on this journey are to experience a spiritual change of heart and to enter into what some anti-racist theologians and organizers describe as a “politics of conversion” to create the beloved community.”

What is spiritual about antiracism?

Building a Diverse Multicultural Beloved Community

“Multiculturalism means nurturing a religious community where people of all races, ethnicities, and cultures see their cultural identities reflected and affirmed in every aspect of congregational life—worship, fellowship, leadership, governance, religious education, social justice, etc. Multiculturalism means that we create religious homes where encounters between people of different cultural identities intersect with Unitarian Universalism to create a fully inclusive community where, in the words of a vision statement adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) Leadership Council, “all people are welcomed as blessings and the human family lives whole and reconciled.”

This video that was put together by the Fair Housing Justice Center, who asked religious and civil rights leaders what beloved community means to them:  https://youtu.be/vkx93HksF4I

What would it look like for UUCE to be diverse, multicultural, a beloved community?

Dismantling Racism & Other Oppressions in Ourselves

The following words are taken from an interview of Layla Saad, an East African, Black British Muslim author and journalist talking about her book, Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World and Become a Good Ancestor, a personal anti-racism tool for people who think they are not racist.

“White exceptionalism is this idea that I, as a white person, am actually one of the good ones. I think white exceptionalism is actually what drives a lot of people to buy my book in the first place, because I think that they have this belief that they’re one of the good ones. An ally buys a book like this.

I think white exceptionalism is very dangerous because it separates the “good” from the “bad.” And there is no good or bad. This isn’t about your inherent goodness as a person. We’re talking about the ways you’re unaware of causing harm to other people. Because you’re not aware. And so that’s what we’re bringing into the light.”

How do you react to the thought of hidden prejudices and assumptions in yourselves?

Dismantling Racism & Other Oppressions in Our Institutions

Let’s start with the definition of Institutional Racism:                       

“Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, education, and political representation. In contrast, individual racism is often easily identifiable, institutional racism is not as easy to spot because it is more subtle in nature. In the United States there are multiple forms of institutional racism.”

And a definition of white supremacy:

“White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people.”

What examples can you provide of systemic racism or white supremacy?

Holding Ourselves and Our Church Accountable

For Sherri Mitchell, member of the Penobscot nation of Maine, author of Sacred Instructions, and speaker the Healing Turtle Island spiritual gathering, accountability means asking ourselves, “What kind of world do you want to create? Can it be a world where future generations can live with a sense of dignity, belonging and purpose? Enough food and water. Including our relatives in the natural world. How do we reclaim the power we have to co-create a world we would want to live in?”

What would need to change at UUCE if we took seriously the commitment to dismantle racism in ourselves and in our church?

Frequently Asked Questions

We held an after-church conversation on March 20 to discuss questions from the congregation and consider some of the most frequently asked questions by people in UU congregations talking about adoption of the 8th Principle.

Why do we need the 8th principle?

We need the 8th principle to help reinforce and clearly state the actions needed to live out our strong values and moral guides, to more effectively fulfill the potential of our existing principles, to evolve in our individual and collective understanding of our nation’s founding ideals, to expand their reach to those who are still marginalized, and to renew our commitment to the work of being a transforming spiritual community, where we recognize the power of love.

Can language of 8th principle be changed?

  • The proposed language has been approved by UU black organizations-like Diverse Revolutionary Universalist Unitarian Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM), Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), Allies for Racial Equity (ARE).
  • Language changes by multiple churches would become chaotic.

UUCE members will be asked to approve language as written.

What does “accountably” mean?

We hold ourselves responsible—for taking actions that truly reflect and make visible an equitable and welcoming environment, in ourselves, our churches, and the larger communities in which we live and work. Per the 8thPrincipleUU.org website, accountable means: “to make sure whites do what they say they will do. In practice, that can mean having a People of Color Caucus within congregations, districts, etc., to discern and express needs and concerns to the rest of the community. Black UUs hold each other accountable and help each other see and dismantle signs of internalized racism. We need an effective mechanism or structure to ensure this. Similarly for other oppressions.” We need to listen to the needs of people of color, to give them space in which to express their needs and concerns by and for themselves and in their own voices to the rest of the community, so that we all can help each other see and dismantle signs of internalized racism and other oppressions and build effective mechanisms and/or structures to achieve equity and end oppressions.

What’s the process for the 8th principle to become official?

Our UU principles are contained in Article II of our bylaws, a living document that is regularly reviewed and has been modified in the past. In 2020, the Board created and charged the Article II Study Commission to review Article II of the bylaws, and to consider the proposed 8th principle. The commission’s recommendations will be submitted to the board in January 2023 for consideration and then placed on the 2023 General Assembly business agenda. UU bylaws require a two-step process for amendments to Article II. Any vote taken at the General Assembly in 2023 will require ratification by the 2024 GA. 

The Study Commission has tremendous respect for what the grass roots 8th Principle movement is accomplishing in ongoing conversations about what it means to be accountable to each other, and how we must—through our actions—take on the work of anti-racism and anti-oppression as an inextricable part of our Unitarian Universalist faith.

What happens after adoption?

Like many other churches are doing, we will request that the UUCE board establish and charge a new task force to look at the various kinds of possible activities following adoption. These actions might include:

  • Establishing and holding church-wide discussion groups or education classes on topics like racism, history of racism, widening the circle, white supremacy, white privilege.
  • Conducting internal reviews of governance and structures.
  • Evaluating religious education; reviewing what it means to be a welcoming community.
  • Exploring how we use language.
  • Investigating opportunities for congregational-wide training

What actions can we take as individuals?

  • Participate in Black Lives Matter protests
  • Participate in discussion groups and conversations
  • Learn more about racism and white privilege
  • Write letters to your governmental representatives to protect actions that threaten the rights or people.

Library

The 8th Principle task force created a library that includes books and printed PDFs on or about anti-racism, black history, slavery, other oppressions, white supremacy, indigenous history and colonization. Library is in the Religious Education wing hallway. Books include some of those that have been the focus of reading discussion groups here at church.

Titles include the following (although there is far more on the shelves than what is listed here) . Please stop by to borrow a book that looks interesting to you. Additional donations always welcome. For complete list, click here. 

            White Fragility by Robin DeAngelo

            Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

            How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

For More Information

For more information on the UU 8th Principle, please see the many resources listed below or contact any of the Task Force members. This website has two further sections in addition to this opening section about what has been happening here at your church. They are:

  • Information about the 8th principle via links to UUA website, 8th principle website, Article II study Commission and other UU affiliate organizations.
  • Other broad resources, some of which have been used in UUCE conversations: about racism, civil rights, white supremacy, equity, and related topics.

UUA 8th Principle Information and Resources – Click HERE!

8th Principle Additional Resources Click HERE!