History

Throughout its history, the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church has engaged in efforts to achieve social justice in the greater Washington area and beyond (see MVUC’s Our History). In 2020, the need for us to become even more involved was underscored by the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black people. These events reinforced the urgent need for everyone to work together to address and dismantle racist systems and to become actively anti-racist. 

To help focus this effort MVUC established an Anti-Racism Committee/Team to lead a multi-year initiative that will continue the challenging work of transforming MVUC into an Anti-Racist community and identifying actions that can be taken to dismantle white supremacy and structural racism.

Areas of Focus

Systemic racism is found in every facet of our lives. As part of MVUC’s Anti-Racism Dialogue Sessions in 2020, participants explored some of the most significant areas where systemic racism is both prevalent and immoral. Members identified areas that they were concerned with, researched that topic, and produced the class project, Structural Racism Report. This report provides specific examples into how deeply entrenched racism is in this country on the following topics:  

• Cultural Appropriation
• Education
• Environmental
• Financing
• Food Source
• Hair
• Health Care
• Incarceration
• Increase of Hate and Violence
• Policing
• Reparations
• Voting Rights

Meetings

The Anti-Racism (ARC) Committee, as well as all ARC programming, is currently meeting on Zoom because of Covid-19 precautions. The meetings are scheduled periodically. If you would like to be included in our mailing list, please sign up here.

Contact

Please use arc@mvuc.org for all communications to the MVUC Anti-Racism Committee, including inquiries, general information, and contact with focus group coordinators. Include the reason for your email in the Subject line and it will be directed to the appropriate individual.