Whereas: White supremacy perpetuates the assumption that white people and their culture are superior to other races, and those in power use this assumption to dominate others and to serve their economic, political and social interests;

Whereas: White supremacy and colonialism have had adverse impacts: on indigenous people, beginning with the Doctrine of Discovery; on subjugated African peoples rooted in the transatlantic slave trade; on dominated and exploited Hispanic and Latinx peoples, beginning with the “discovery of the Americas” and on other historical colonization and domination events; and on other communities of color through discrimination, subjugation and exploitation.

Whereas: Domination and supremacy also manifest beyond race to other groups based upon such characteristics as ability, age, ethnicity, education, class, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, and religious affiliation.

Whereas: The UUA Seven Principles are intended to affirm and promote worth, dignity, interconnectedness, justice, acceptance, and equity. Despite these Principles, white supremacy and privilege endures and UUs have been unable to establish the necessary institutional change.

Whereas: Oppressive systems and actions violate the human dignity of both the oppressed and the oppressor, hindering deeper and more genuine relationships for everyone. The result has been that marginalized communities continually remind BUF that it has not followed through on promises to be diverse, inclusive and equitable.

Whereas: Our UU Principles guide us to an ideal of Beloved Community as a faith-based guide to our thoughts, words, and practices in:

• Journeying toward spiritual wholeness as individuals who seek right relationships based on honesty, trust, mutual respect, and love, and who are willing to re-examine habitual expressions of prejudice and exclusion.
• Journeying towards right relationships as members of the BUF community by practicing radical hospitality with all people including those with different races, abilities, genders,sexual expressions, gender orientations, educations and experiences, ethnicities and traditions, and socio-economic classes.
• Journeying towards truth-telling and accountability and justice, equity and peace in relations in BUF, and in our wider community by re-centering:
  • truth-telling and accountability by seeking out and listening carefully to the experience, wisdom, and leadership of people that historically have been oppressed or marginalized; and
  • justice, equity and peace by identifying forms of domination, oppression and exploitation in BUF and in our wider communities, and by working to achieve just and equitable alternatives.

Therefore, we resolve to adopt and implement the Covenant of Beloved Community which states that:

We, a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.