Re: Why I'm Not Changing Parishes... Yet...
I really hope this is a parish-thing and not a Lansdale thing (oh, the optimism). I'm profoundly dissatisfied with my home parish, and living up here in Lansdale makes me think. maybe I should get to know my local parish.
Erm, nope. Not only is the average Sunday service much paler than its census indicates (I found out that most of the ethnic minorities hide out at the 10:30 Mass), but they don't know how to TALK about race and ethnicity with any kind of, I dunno, cluefulness?
Their parish materials, their annual bulletin, their flyers, etc. don't even pay lip service to diversity in word or photo. They have a Vietnamese priest in the parish - woudl it have KILLED them to profile him in the annual bulletin? And why are the materials provided by the diocese showing only white people, when my home parish shows a diversity? Makes me think that either the parish or the diocese are choosing which "version" based on demographics. Either way, repulsive.
And then there's this: Their little PDF registration questionnaire for new members of the parish (I'm not joining, I was just curious). Of course it asks for religion (for families/couples where one person is not Catholic), sacraments received, name, occupation, NATIONALITY...
And here are those example categories for that last one...
Nationality: ___________________________
(please specify African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic,
Native American, etc.)
Funny, I've been out of school for 8 years now, but I try to keep up. Tell me, when exactly did ASIA become a country? Has anyone visited the wonderful frosty land of Caucasia? How about Hispanica? The kicker is of course that Africa is not a country, not matter what MSM, self-involved celebrities, and faux-concerned fashion mags would tell you. And a country for Native Americans? Damn, that would be good, even if it means we all (most of us) trudge onto reservations in a massive do-over.
What this says to me is that whoever composed and approved this form does not have the language to deal with ANYTHING ethnicity-related that my family (and every family) will deal with and be aware of. They don't have the language to consider race-as-a-social-construct, the non-biological, fluid, and fickle nature of race, the core sociological elements of ethnicity, and the concept of nationality as the COUNTRY of which you are a CITIZEN.
It shows an uncomfortableness with the language, and if you can't talk about it, how can you discuss and embrace it? How can you work to celebrate unity in diversity? How can you stand up for all people, when you can't even show them the respect of using the right words to describe their human experience?
Not a major detail, sure - one line in a form? But a telling one.
Erm, nope. Not only is the average Sunday service much paler than its census indicates (I found out that most of the ethnic minorities hide out at the 10:30 Mass), but they don't know how to TALK about race and ethnicity with any kind of, I dunno, cluefulness?
Their parish materials, their annual bulletin, their flyers, etc. don't even pay lip service to diversity in word or photo. They have a Vietnamese priest in the parish - woudl it have KILLED them to profile him in the annual bulletin? And why are the materials provided by the diocese showing only white people, when my home parish shows a diversity? Makes me think that either the parish or the diocese are choosing which "version" based on demographics. Either way, repulsive.
And then there's this: Their little PDF registration questionnaire for new members of the parish (I'm not joining, I was just curious). Of course it asks for religion (for families/couples where one person is not Catholic), sacraments received, name, occupation, NATIONALITY...
And here are those example categories for that last one...
Nationality: ___________________________
(please specify African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic,
Native American, etc.)
Funny, I've been out of school for 8 years now, but I try to keep up. Tell me, when exactly did ASIA become a country? Has anyone visited the wonderful frosty land of Caucasia? How about Hispanica? The kicker is of course that Africa is not a country, not matter what MSM, self-involved celebrities, and faux-concerned fashion mags would tell you. And a country for Native Americans? Damn, that would be good, even if it means we all (most of us) trudge onto reservations in a massive do-over.
What this says to me is that whoever composed and approved this form does not have the language to deal with ANYTHING ethnicity-related that my family (and every family) will deal with and be aware of. They don't have the language to consider race-as-a-social-construct, the non-biological, fluid, and fickle nature of race, the core sociological elements of ethnicity, and the concept of nationality as the COUNTRY of which you are a CITIZEN.
It shows an uncomfortableness with the language, and if you can't talk about it, how can you discuss and embrace it? How can you work to celebrate unity in diversity? How can you stand up for all people, when you can't even show them the respect of using the right words to describe their human experience?
Not a major detail, sure - one line in a form? But a telling one.