Naming Donald Trump's and Steve Womack's Racism

ELCA Presiding Bishop responds to reported racist comments

I am very disappointed and disturbed by the remarks that President Donald Trump is reported to have said yesterday – and confirmed by others who were present – in the context of a discussion about immigration.

Regardless of the context, references of that kind have no place in our civil discourse and, if true, reflect racist attitudes unbecoming any of us, but especially a president of the United States.

Instead, we should be fostering a world where each of us sees every person – regardless of race, origin, ethnicity, gender or economic status – in the image of God and, therefore, worthy of dignity and respect. Our church has relationships and partnerships with Christians and others on six continents. These are our sisters and brothers. We strive to accompany them and they us, across boundaries and cognizant of our diversity, yet all seeking the common good. In working for a healed, reconciled and just world, we all should faithfully strive to participate in God's reconciling work, which prioritizes disenfranchised, vulnerable and displaced people in our communities and the world, bearing witness – each of us – to the love of God in Jesus Christ.

"We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization" —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

God's peace,

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton 

At the local level, here was Representative Steve Womack's response, equally racist in its perspective:

What I think the president is saying is that if you're only appealing to people from countries that are behind the times, depraved countries, if that's the element that you're appealing to, and of course a lot of those folks are wanting to come to America and pursue the American dream, then he feels like that we should make the same or a better appeal to people from other European countries et cetera that can come in here and actually fit into the society as we know it and do the kinds of things that will make America a prosperous nation. (http://www.4029tv.com/article/rep-womack-responds-to-pres-trumps-comments/15072136)

Together with my presiding bishop and many world leaders, I condemn and reject these racist, nativist comments from Trump and Womack. If our elected leaders would like guidance on how to speak of our neighbors around the world, they might consider the widely respected priest James Martin.