Discrimination at a progressive church employer
I work for the Pension Boards United Church of Christ. The United Church of Christ is a far left progressive Protestant denomination that is among the most political church groups that exist. There are lots of positive aspects of working there and it pains me to say this: the Pension Boards has become racist. Identity (race and gender) drives almost every business decision now. For employment matters, identity is now more important than other factors such as ability or merit. If you are a white male you are clearly put in a penalty box. Your career advancement is limited and you feel at times as though you are only tolerated. If you identify as anything other than white male, you are celebrated and every effort is made to show the outside world how Pension Boards is hiring and promoting non-white, non-male employees. The white male employee is essentially invisible unless he is a member of the board of trustees or the executive management team. To make matters worse, white males are strongly encouraged to attend lengthy annual conversations "to end racism" where every culture but white culture is celebrated and white males are blamed as scapegoats for all the ills in the world. Given cancel culture, the white males are expected to sit there silently and take their beating.
There are hundreds of other churches to choose from.
Why do you work at a church 💀
Let me guess - you’re a white male? Let me take that further - May I venture a guess that the majority of people in a position of power at your organization are white male? For centuries, white males have held the majority (if not all) positions of power. Any effort at diversifying that balance has been seen as anti-white. Racist. Unethical. Biased. White fragility is legit. It’s the equivalent of a toddler crying because one of their 40 toys is being played by another kid who has none. If you do the math, there is no possibility of equity being reached for 300+ years even if representation increased every single year across this country. So I invite you to dig a little deeper and identify what is really concerning you?
Progressive church. 🙄 What’s next, a vegan cannibal?
You can leave and find a different job if what you say is true. There are more/less fair, more/less effective, and more/less legal ways to diversify companies. But no one really cares when companies take it a little too far, as long as they’re not overtly breaking the law.
You’re already working for a “god”, why have a problem with the apparatchiks that see themselves as Gods in our secular progressive world order?
You mean this same pension board where 15 of 29 white males are on the Board of Trustees and Executive Staff? Cry me a river. Can't take white blind bois crying about iNjUSTiCe bullshit seriously.
To be fair, they may want to start with the board. I get annoyed when I see woke washing. Some all white board deciding to “pull up the ladder” on the lower level whites. If you all have identified a problem of your creation, then step aside. Don’t penalize the people who look like you and are at lower levels.
My issue is that discrimination is discrimination. How can we move beyond racism if we continue to focus and make decisions on race? I want to be treated as an individual and not a label, not an "identity." I don't want my fate (or anyone else's for that matter) to be determined by the lottery of birth. At my workplace there is a lot of talk of justice. But I watch the actions and see many instances of selfishness and revenge masquerading as justice. The same bad system exists, only now we have swapped positions. I have always treated my coworkers with respect. I have always been there for advice, for a helping hand, for encouragement. I have been genuinely happy when anyone moved forward in their careers on hard work and success. Now I feel betrayed for all of that. Clearly I do not deserve the same because I have been deemed unworthy due to my race and gender given current circumstances.