Interpreting the vision and mission of Women of the ELCA is a community task. Our executive board, churchwide women's organization staff, and other constituents are resources. The language we use is carefully selected. Board resolutions, official language adopted by the ELCA, and definitions offered by the National Council of Churches of Christ are three sources. When there is a question about a word's meaning, we ask for the opportunity to clarify. Not only does this help us to be clear; it improves our work in the development of subsequent materials.

These written materials are only one part of an informal training series we hope to compile into a larger resource at a later date. It is hoped that this information will be helpful and that it will be presented and in other ways shared within synodical women's organizations and beyond.

The First Dialogue of Words
Cross-cultural
Anti-racism
Racism

A dialogue is "a conversational passage" between two or more people. The word dialogue is used purposely here. Here, the dialogue is between the words or phrases used in our programming. This exploration is basic. Much more could be written. This is not a neutral report; the usage and the dialogue make clear that we are proclaimers and workers of God's peace.

The "Dialogue of Words" resource consists of several parts:

• introduction of terms
• the definitions of the terms discussed (Textbook definitions are taken from the National Council of Churches of Christ's Diversity, Pluralism, Multiculturalism and other definitions are either common or identified.)
• several paragraphs on how the terms function apart from each other, and
• how you can expect to see these terms used in Women of the ELCA programming.

Definitions
Cross-cultural
Most writers treat this term as synonymous with intercultural, referring to some sort of relating, or attempts to do so, between cultural groups. Others use the term to highlight the differences between cultures. Women of the ELCA uses cross-cultural as a relating across the barriers that separate as well as define us as people. We affirm those things that make us a part of one culture or another.

Racism
The definition gaining common usage is "race prejudice plus the power of institutions and systems to support that race prejudice." Race privilege and race power are central to racism. Institutions and systems are established using the values, norms, language, societal expectations, aesthetics, and religion of one race over and above that of other races.

"Any attitude, action, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of their color ... racism is not just a matter of attitudes: actions and institutional structures can also be a form of racism." (Racism and How to Combat It, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights)

Anti-racism
Meaning opposed to racism, anti-racism as used in fields of justice and advocacy adheres to the opposition to the results of racism (see above). It means actively combating racism as it appears in institutions and systems. The goal of anti-racism is that of having equal and reasonable privilege granted to all people regardless of race.

There are many devastating "isms" in the world. Racism cuts a broad swath across the fabric of life and all other isms. For example, a person with a physical disability has to deal with prejudice and exclusion simply due to her or his disability. Were that person a person of color, she or he also would have racism to suffer as well.

Racism is the one ism within our church and society that has its own program area: anti-racism. The other isms alongside racism will be dealt with in cross-cultural programming and resources in the coming years.

How do these words sometimes function apart from each other? And how will they function within Women of the ELCA programming?

Cross-cultural gets substituted for multicultural by many. Yet, they are not the same. In the language adopted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in continuing resolution 5.01.C89, multicultural is defined as people of color--namely, African American, Black, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Arab and Middle Eastern. Women of the ELCA uses the word multicultural in the same way.

Cross-cultural is a much larger word that includes groups not included in the word multicultural as the ELCA has defined it. Women of the ELCA recognizes culture as being the values, language, and symbols people use to define and understand life's experiences. Culture is a filter through which we identify and value people, situations, and events.

Using this definition, gays and lesbians, and those with physical disabilities (or differently-abled) are included, as are ethnicities, gender, and age. These along with race are the primary dimensions of diversity.

Racism is misused when applied to racial prejudice alone. Racism has to do with the privilege and power of one race over other races. Several things can fog our view of the systemic issues surrounding racism. Two of these are racial bigotry and overt and violent acts of racial hatred, both of which can be owned by a person of any race.

Anti-racism is misapplied when it is reduced to the presence of good will or good intent alone. Anti-racism is a community commitment resulting in conscious and strategic action(s). Anti-racists seek to dismantle racism.

The connections between cross-cultural and racism and between cross-cultural and anti-racism often go unnoticed. Yet, there is a world of difference between cross-cultural programming within a racist context and cross-cultural programming within an anti-racist context. Anti-racism is identifying racism and the intentional dismantling of it. Enriching cross-cultural relations is the first fruit of anti-racism.

Women of the ELCA recognizes that

• We were all born into a racist society comprised of racist systems and institutions without our permission or prior consent.
• This existing system dehumanizes us all even though the systemic benefits are for one race above all others. It is in response to our Baptism that we address this evil. Our hatred of racism flows from our worship and knowledge of God.

For further information, please contact staff working with cross-cultural programming.