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Known by its German initials KÖME, the conference brings together the ecumenical officers of the EKD’s 20 regional churches, as well as representatives of German Protestant mission and development agencies.
“I guess you could have chosen any topic but the fact that you have selected to speak about anti-racism speaks volumes about your desire to talk about what matters in the world today,” said Pillay. “I come from South Africa and many of you are acquainted with the history of my country and its legitimised policy of apartheid.”
Pillay defined apartheid as a systemised policy of governance based on racialisation and skin colour.
“Though the apartheid policy is no longer in the country`s laws yet it continues to live in people’s minds, hearts, and behaviour,” he said. “Racism is still alive in the world.”
He reflected on the many racial conflicts that continue to pervade the world.
“One of the most depressing and challenging attitudes today has to do with the global economic landscape,” Pillay said. “Racialized women and children are the greatest victims of this economic framework.”
Pillay also noted the current epistemological pandemic that continues to give oxygen to racial discrimination in our world. “The rise of European imperialism and colonialism was undergirded by an epistemology that gave primacy to western knowledge and ways of knowing,” he said. “This epistemology became a fundamental tool in making enslavement and colonization acceptable to wider societies from the enslaving and colonizing empires as well as the enslaved and colonized societies.”
In short, our world is still running on racist, gendered systems, Pillay added.
“Anti-racism obliges us to scan and interrogate our family, school, church, college, work, and general community environment to understand how racism, xenophobia, and discrimination are enabled in policy and practice,” he said. “To be anti-racist is intentionally choosing to be uncomfortable with the norm unless the norm is anti-racist at its core!”
Anti-racism looks at the inner workings of power and authority, Pillay said.
“WCC takes seriously the production and distribution of theological and biblical resources to help us bring to the table an appropriate Christian response to the quest for racial justice in the world,” he concluded. “In mission we do not only bring our resources but whole selves into God's purpose.”
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