2006 Canadian Churches' Racial Justice Week: God So Loved the People of the World

Book, 2006, 37 pp
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The title of this resource, For God so loved the people of the world, comes from one of the lectionary texts, John 3:16. As we compared versions and translations of the text, we settled on this phrase from the Chinese Kuo-yu Bible, an ecumenical translation done in the 1930s and still in use in most Chinese congregations.

On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a peaceful group of young students demonstrating against the apartheid laws, killing 69 people. In 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed that date to be the “International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.”

In Canada, the Day has been recognized annually since 1989, supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage of the Government of Canada. The goals of the campaign include heightening awareness on a national scale of the harmful effects of racism. The Canadian campaign is focused on youth, as the Canadian government believes that youth “have the energy, commitment and creativity to advance the struggle against racism. They are the voice of the present and the future.”

Since 1989, the government of Canada has taken action on racism in a number of different ways. The Canadian Race Relations Foundation was created in 1996, in accordance with the terms of the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement, signed in 1988. It continues to work towards “building a national framework for the fight against racism in Canadian society.” At the moment, it has two foci for its work: racial profiling and redress.

Canada, and Canadian churches, also participated in the United Nations’ World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. Recently, the Department of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism released Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism which details the plan for combating racism in Canada.

In proclaiming the Day, the United Nations condemned “all policies and practices of apartheid, racial discrimination and segregation, including the practices of discrimination inherent in colonialism.” It is good for Canadians to remember this, as we acknowledge the ongoing impact of Canada’s heritage of colonialism.

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