The Jesuit Conference of U.S. and Canada, an order of the Catholic Church, has announced the goal of raising $100 million to benefit the descendants of enslaved people historically owned and sold by Jesuits. The money will go toward a new 'Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation' created by the church in partnership with the GU272 Descendants Association, a group of descendants of enslaved people who were sold by Jesuits in 1838.

Fr. Tim Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference said: "Jesuits have always known our history of slaveholding, but it was not until 2016 that we met the descendants of Jesuit slaveholding and that completely changed our understanding of this historic sin. I think for a church which preaches forgiveness and reconciliation, this is an incredible opportunity to model what true reconciliation is." The ultimate vision of the foundation is to raise $1 billion. The Jesuit network is committed to raising the first $100 million.

Read more here.

'Dismantling Whiteness' is an online day conference where various speakers will explore the theme of Deconstructing Whiteness as a response to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Hosted by the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture and the first of its kind, the conference is seen as beginning the vital work of examining the implications of White Studies for Theology.

The conference is on Saturday April 17, 10am to 4pm. It free, but spaces are limited and must be pre-booked. Book online here. 

"Whiteness is a claim to power, it’s a claim to rightness, it’s a racialised claim and there is no such thing as being white and being a Christian, you have to resist that identity." (A.D.A. France-Williams, 2020)

"White English Christianity must commit to a radical and ruthless critique of its Whiteness". (A. Reddie, 2020)

Following the interview of Harry and Meghan by Oprah Winfrey and the storm of reaction to claims of racism at the highest levels of British society and indeed as a motivator of much press coverage of the couple, particularly Meghan, the chair of MJR, Rev Alton Bell, has issued a statement calling on the Monarchy to take this opportunity to bring about real and lasting racial reconciliation. Read the full statement here.

A Press Release "Has British racism been exposed yet again by the Sussex interview? Alton Bell believes: “This is an opportunity for reconciliation.” has also been issued today.

At an extraordinary meeting on March 2 Bristol City Council voted in favour of a motion for "Atonement and Reparations for Bristol’s role in the Transatlantic Traffic in Enslaved Africans", becoming the first city outside London to do so. The cross-party motion passed by 47 votes to 12 and was the result of a grassroots campaign dating back many years.

Cllr Cleo Lake said in the meeting: “Reparations, as I hope was made clear in this motion, does include but goes beyond monetary compensation. The contribution of African civilisation, culture and people versus how we have been treated is one of the world’s great paradoxes". She added later: "I want to be very clear this is not about rewriting history, but rather about casting a bright light on it. Instead of clinging to comforting myths about Britain’s heritage, let’s face up to the reality of our history – let’s talk about it – and let’s learn from that to create a better future for all of us.”

Mayor Marvin Rees acknowledged the complexities in conversations around race, class and social immobility and spoke of the need for discussions around reparatory justice to be attached to real policy. He added: “I’m not just a mayor, I still experience the world as a black man and, even within this organisation, I experience the consequences of having black skin. Race does not disappear just because we want to wish it away.”

Read more here. Watch a recording of the meeting here.

'Facts Don't Lie: One Working Class: Race, Class and Inequalities', a new report from the Runnymede Trust, claims government failure to fully enact the 2010 Equality Act has exacerbated inequalities in England in the pandemic. Section 1 of the Act requires authorities to carry out their functions having “due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage”. This puts a legal obligation on education authorities in England to ensure working class children on free school meals were fed properly while schools were shut and had access to laptops for remote learning.

Instead, according to the report, the government is "choosing to pursue a politics steeped in division" (quoting the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Minorities, Samuel Kasumu,). "From the heart of Whitehall, Kasumu’s words leave no doubt that a government facing unprecedented challenges in unifying a nation has instead chosen a moment of national crisis to divide us, not least by seeking to drive a wedge between constituent groups within the working class, framed around the notion of white marginalisation." 

Report co-author Dr Halima Begum, accuses the government minister for women and inequalities Liz Truss of making a "false equivalence" in claiming white working class children were being neglected because of a focus on protected characteristics such as race. This simply because a substantial number of the working class are BME people. Speaking of a "calculated government strategy", Dr Begum claims "such rhetoric only pits one vulnerable community against another, while doing little to assist anyone to escape the shackles of their privation and poverty.”

Read more here. Read the 'Facts Don't Lie' report here. Read about "The Weaponisation of the Working Class" by report co-author Nick Treolar here.

A report from the police watchdog HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICFRS)  has said that the police “still cannot explain” why officers use force and stop and search powers disproportionately against black, Asian and other people from ethnic minority groups. 

In the year to March 2020, ethnic minorities were more than four times as likely to be stopped and searched as white people in England and Wales – with the figure almost nine times higher for black people specifically. Black people were also over five and a half times more likely to have force used on them than white people, and the use of Tasers has been rising. The watchdog claims to have been concerned with this issue for years, and the death of George Floyd and resulting Black Lives Matter protests in the UK had highlighted it further.

The report calls for an evidence based national debate on the much-debated effectiveness of the use of stop and search on people suspected of possessing drugs and that while racial disparities do not necessarily mean police are racist or misusing their powers, forces should be able to explain the figures. “Over 35 years on from the introduction of stop and search legislation, no force fully understands the impact of the use of these powers. Disproportionality persists and no force can satisfactorily explain why.”

HM Inspector of Constabulary, Wendy Williams said the unfair use of police powers made people less willing to give cooperation.“Police forces must analyse their data and either explain, with evidence, the reasons for disproportionality, or take clear action to address it. The police must be able to show the public that their use of these powers is fair, lawful and appropriate, or they risk losing the trust of the communities they serve.”

The report made eight recommendations, including the recording of all stop and search encounters on body-worn cameras, improved data collection practices, regular reviews of the power and greater external scrutiny.

​Read more here. Read the report here.