Overcoming Racism Working Together

Working Together to Overcome Racism

The U.S. Catholic Church at all levels is tackling the sin of racism and working toward lasting justice and peace.

At the San Diego Diocese, the Office of Ethnic and Intercultural Communities hosted a series of community forums via Zoom to explore racism in various arenas and to identify long-term solutions that can be implemented locally.

Five forums, called “My Church, My Story: Listen, Dialogue and Action,” were held from August of 2020 to February of 2021. Each focused on the experiences of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders and immigrants and refugees.

Each forum featured speakers who shared their story and how racism had affected their life, particularly in the Church. Then participants were invited to propose ways their parishes, diocese and the Church itself could root out racism.

Videos of the speakers are presented on this page, as well as videos on related themes. The participants’ comments and recommendations were summarized in a report, also available on this page, which was shared with the Bishop, the diocese’s leadership and its clergy.

The Office organized special Masses to call attention to the pain two populations are enduring and to pray for racial healing. The first was held on June 7, 2020, for the African American community in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The second one was held April 15 to accompany the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, which have been the target of verbal and physical assaults and deadly violence across the country.