Dismantling Structural Racism

Our vision: We advocate and act to breakdown the systems, practices, and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice, and oppression of people of color.  Click here to see the FPC Anti-Racism Policy. 

Structural Racism is the normalizing of racism within institutions and structures. Once racism is structural and institutional (as it is in the United States), it creates ongoing, persistent inequality. Inequality occurs in accessing money, land, housing, education, health, information, and social power. Because inequality is a part of the structures and institutions that we interact with every day, it often goes unquestioned and unchallenged by most of society or the dominant culture. In the United States, structural racism particularly advantages white people while producing negative impacts for people of color.

• Racism is measured not by intent, but by its impact on those who are oppressed.
• Racism can be overt or covert, individual or systemic, intentional or unintentional.
• Racism grants privilege to some and sustains the dominant group.
• Racism exists everywhere in our society, and in all institutions, including our church.

Some of our efforts and our partners' efforts:

Courageous Conversations - As a predominately white community, we strive to increase awareness of white culture and to decrease discomfort with speaking about race through ongoing conversations. See educational resources and opportunities on the Adult Education page.

Exploring the History of Race in Haddonfield - We seek to explore the lack of racial diversity in our town, using the resources of the Haddonfield Historical Society.

Reaching Out in Healing Ways to Support and Partner with Other Organizations - First Presbyterian's Session recognizes that throughout U.S. history African American composers have not been compensated equitably for the music they have created. To remedy this in “our little way,” the congregation is invited to make a donation whenever we sing an African American Spiritual, whether it’s the choir anthem or a hymn. This donation goes directly to The Essence of Harmony Choral Society to assist them in purchasing music, supporting professional musicians, and paying venue fees.

The Essence of Harmony Choral Society focuses explicitly on celebrating the works of both classical and under-recognized African-American composers. In addition, the group presents classics and anthems, spirituals, and contemporary gospel music. 
To donate to the Essence of Harmony Choral Society: 

To Find More Information About What You Can Do to Dismantle Racism Go to:
·       PC(USA) Office of Public Witness under Ministries/ Justice and Advocacy at pcusa.org.
·       Embracing Race- the Conversation at embracingraceconversation.org for events to attend and actions you can take (click on the "calendar" tab for dates and times)

Voting Rights

Members of the Justice and Advocacy Committee work with the League of Women Voters to help open pathways needed to end the systemic racism and political forces that have barred millions of Americans from registering to vote and having free access to polling places.  We encourage every member of our congregation to prayerfully discern how God wants our country to function and vote accordingly.

The League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. We empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels.

  PC(USA) issues statements on relevant legislative issues at votervoice.net/PCUSA/home.

  The League of Women Voters provides bipartisan up-to-date information at VOTE411

ENDING GUN VIOLENCE

First Presbyterian Church's Session has adopted a resolution to observe the first Friday in June as Gun Violence Awareness Day. Read the resolution here.

 TAKE ACTION TO END GUN VIOLENCE

We need to do more than wear orange one weekend.

• Start conversations with family, friends, community leaders and neighbors. 
•  Find resources on this webpage. 
• Be informed.  Listen.  We all have things in common.
• Share information on BeSMART, One Thing You Can Do and the 988 crisis hotline. 
• Take extra copies of the handouts on the table in the hall. 
• Help set up presentations on these important initiatives for your civic organizations, school boards, work place or anywhere.

You can take these three easy steps to tell lawmakers to take action:

1. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) finalized a life-saving rule expanding our background checks—but now, gun extremists in Congress are attacking it. Send a message urging your representatives to protect background checks.

2. Assault weapons have no place in our communities—and multiple bills in Congress would regulate these deadly weapons. Make sure your lawmakers know that banning assault weapons is a priority.

3. Every year, tens of thousands of guns are trafficked across state lines. Our lawmakers must put a stop to gun trafficking: Tell your U.S. Representative to hold gun dealers accountable by co-sponsoring the Federal Firearm Licensee Act.

Gun violence is the number one cause of death for children in America. Gun violence includes suicide, accidental and deliberate injury from a gun, and the trauma inflicted on victims, families and communities.

Read  “The  PC(USA)’s  Office of Public Witness Asks Presbyterians to Take Action to End Gun Violence" for an action alert. Link here to PC(USA)'s gun violence policies and resources. PC(USA)'s 10 Things You Can Do to Prevent Gun Violence

Ending Gun Violence Resources and Organizations:

The Be SMART campaign was launched to raise awareness that every adult can play a role in keeping children and communities safe from gun violence such as suicide, mass shootings and accidental shootings.  It’s based on verified research data and public records in a non-partisan, non-judgmental fashion and three things most people can agree on.
1. We all want kids to grow up happy and healthy.
2. We each have the right to make responsible decisions about how to
protect our homes, families and communities—including whether or not
to have a gun in our home.
3. If we can prevent even one child gun death, or injury, it’s our (the adults’ not child’s)
responsibility to do so.

It’s not about laws or policies.  It’s important to remember that even if YOU are practicing secure storage, or if you don’t have a gun in your home, you can’t be sure about other homes. You can’t be sure about how responsible other people are being. And that’s where the Be SMART program becomes helpful. What can we do?  Attend a Be SMART presentation for help with the more challenging components and open discussions and go to besmartforkids.org to learn more.  We can learn to Be…

Secure guns in homes and vehicles.
Model responsible behavior.
Ask about unsecured guns in other homes.
Recognize the risks of teen suicide.
Tell your peers to be SMART. 

The Extreme Risk Protective Order  (ERPO - OneThingYouCanDo.org) is a New Jersey law that helps families protect loved ones who pose a significant danger of causing injury to themselves or others. Extreme risk protective orders are designed to help law enforcement and concerned family members intervene quickly in dangerous situations. The OneThingYouCanDo website gives state by state information on how to take this protective action.

MOMS DEMAND ACTION for Gun Sense in America (momsdemandaction.org) is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. "We pass stronger gun laws and work to close the loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our families. We also work in our own communities and with business leaders to encourage a culture of responsible gun ownership." The website gives information about local chapters.