Racial Audit Team Reflection
Karen Nelson
When the MFSA Board voted to undertake a racial audit process, I offered my name as a potential team member from the MFSA board. I perceived this process to be important work for MFSA to undertake and felt that God was asking me to step up and volunteer. I knew from the beginning that there would be hard work ahead of us – tough questions to ask and even tougher answers to receive, an extended time commitment, and a willingness to make significant changes. I have since learned that I really didn’t know what that meant.
The process has taken longer than we expected, and we have dug deep into the culture and work of MFSA. That digging deep reminds me of removing a sliver from a finger. It is necessary to remove that sliver before it gets infected and causes more pain/harm. Sometimes that means digging deeper than you really want to in order to get it out. The digging deep causes some necessary pain. The digging deep into the culture and practices of MFSA has caused some necessary pain.
I think we all went into this audit process with an understanding that there is racism in MFSA. We have dug deep to find the places/causes of that racism and to figure out how to get it out to prevent further harm. So far, we have used two different tools to explore MFSA and its history. We have not liked some of the things that we have found. We have experienced a wide range of emotions and recognized the need to make changes for the better. We have identified ways in which white power and control have harmed others; and we have acknowledged our responsibility to change our system.
Changing the system also means changing ourselves as individuals. It means recognizing our own individual racism. It means acknowledging that we still have lots of work to do. It means identifying who has been left out and learning to work alongside people who have previously been excluded.
It also means creating a new way of doing and being that is more inclusive and listens more carefully to all voices and creates a much more diverse leadership base.
We aren’t done with the audit process yet. The next step, which we have been working on for several weeks, is creating a survey to find out how others perceive and experience MFSA. An effective audit requires us to look deeply at who MFSA is internally and how it functions externally with others. The survey will gather the input of many people to truly give us a realistic look at ourselves as an organization.
Once we have analyzed the survey results, the hard work of making recommendations to the board will happen. Throughout all this work, we have been blessed to have Crossroads working with us and helping us to dig a little deeper.
Living out our mission means being willing to make changes and we invite you, as a fellow justice seeker, to help us. Fill out your survey when it arrives and together we will make changes for the better. For God calls all of us to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with God.