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Statement
Regarding Racial Incidents at General Motors Facility
Social Justice Subcommittee, Toledo Chapter of the
Association of U.S. Catholic Priests
The Social Justice
Subcommittee of the Toledo chapter of the Association of
United States Catholic Priests (AUSCP) stands in solidarity
with current and past victims of racial harassment at the
General Motors Toledo Transmission Plant. Acts of overt
racial hatred occurring there persistently over recent years
are to be condemned unequivocally, and measures to eradicate
this social evil – both at GM and elsewhere – must be
undertaken with absolute urgency.
As a Church, we have
been complicit in the sin of racial discrimination. The
U.S. Bishops in their 2018 pastoral letter against racism,
acknowledged that “All too often, leaders of the Church have
remained silent about the horrific violence and other racial
injustices perpetrated against African Americans and
others. We ask for forgiveness from all who have been
harmed...in the past or in the present”.
As a local Committee,
we pledge to renew our efforts not just to speak out against
the social sin of racism, but to join with other church and
civic groups to take aggressive action to eradicate this
blight on our community.
We encourage the
actions being taken by GM’s Transmission Plant managers to
begin to address these issues. For our part, we have
contacted all priests and pastoral ministers within the
Toledo Diocese, urging them to speak more forcefully in
their parishes to denounce racial and ethnic bias.
We can become
discouraged at the ongoing intractability of this problem.
Indeed, thirty-nine years ago, the Catholic Bishops wrote in
their 1979 letter “Brothers and Sisters to Us” that “Racism
is not merely one sin among many, it is a radical evil
dividing the human family”. We lament this marginal
progress toward respect for all, but, with God’s help, will
not allow ourselves to tire in the struggle.
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