Trinity Community for Racial Justice

TRINITY COMMUNITY FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

The Trinity Community for Racial Justice was formed in July, 2020, with the following objectives:

• To celebrate Trinity Church’s diverse membership and ensure that all persons are welcomed and supported, including in their personal struggle with pervasive racism and injustice in our society
• To learn from the resources of the Episcopal Church In Connecticut (ECCT) Ministry for Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation and to become active participants in that ministry
• To develop as a team of parishioners dedicated to working for racial justice within our parish, our communities and the nation, as a way to put our faith into action

If we are to be effective in fighting the racial injustice that permeates our society, we must be informed and knowledgeable about the ways that systemic racism and white supremacy affect all of us, whether we are members of the dominant white culture or Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. To facilitate our learning and growth, the Community for Racial Justice will, on a rotating basis, highlight specific areas in which racial injustice is evident, and provide links to a variety of resources including documents, podcasts, and videos. 

The current focus is Racial Disparities in Housing. Please look at our Resources page for further information.

One element of systemic racism is Implicit Bias, which is a term that describes the human tendency to evaluate people using criteria we are not even aware of.  Some organizations and businesses offer training to their staffs so that they will become aware of their own implicit biases. Prior to interviewing candidates for the position of rector at Trinity, our vestry was required by the diocese to take Implicit Bias training. If you would like to begin exploring this concept and ways in which implicit bias affects you, here is a link to an Implicit Association Test put together by Harvard University.

 (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html)

The members of the Trinity Community for Racial Justice are

The Rev. D. Littlepage

Martha Freimuth

Heather Kramer

Kitty Peterson

Cathy Rowe

Suzanne Blancaflor