Racism is a persistent moral evil that wounds individuals, communities, and societies. Its systemic manifestations have led to widespread injustices that cannot be ignored. However, addressing racism in a way consistent with Catholic teaching requires caution, particularly in rejecting ideologies like Critical Race Theory (CRT), which often promote materialistic, relativistic, or divisive frameworks. This article explores a Catholic and Thomistic approach to combating racism that integrates justice, natural law, and the common good, while avoiding the pitfalls of CRT.

I. Defining Systemic Racism in Catholic Terms

Systemic racism refers to societal structures, laws, and institutions that perpetuate racial inequities. While CRT emphasizes power dynamics and often pits groups against each other in a dialectic of oppressor and oppressed, the Catholic view roots systemic injustice in sin, particularly sins against charity and justice.

In Thomistic terms, systemic racism can be understood as the collective result of personal sins of omission and commission, which distort the proper ordering of society to the common good. St. John Paul II noted in Reconciliatio et Paenitentia that social sin arises when personal sins accumulate, becoming entrenched in institutions and cultures. Thus, systemic racism is not an abstract force but a consequence of human actions and inactions.

II. The Catholic Framework for Addressing Racism

A. The Principle of Subsidiarity

Catholic social teaching emphasizes subsidiarity—the idea that larger entities should not usurp the roles of smaller ones but should instead empower them. Addressing systemic racism begins at the grassroots level, fostering personal and local accountability while engaging larger institutions only as necessary.

Practical Applications:

1. Empower local communities to identify and rectify injustices, such as disparities in education, housing, and employment.
2. Encourage parish-based initiatives for intercultural dialogue and community-building.
3. Advocate for localized reforms to address inequities, ensuring they align with the dignity of the human person.

B. The Principle of Solidarity

Solidarity recognizes the shared dignity and unity of all people as children of God. Pope Benedict XVI in Caritas in Veritate emphasized that solidarity requires action: “To love someone is to desire that person’s good and to take effective steps to secure it.”

Practical Applications:

1. Foster relationships between communities of different racial and cultural backgrounds through shared projects, worship, and dialogue.
2. Promote mentoring and education programs that empower marginalized groups to overcome systemic barriers.
3. Work for fair laws and policies that respect the dignity of every person, such as criminal justice reform or equitable access to healthcare.

C. The Thomistic Notion of Justice

Aquinas defines justice as giving each their due, rooted in both commutative and distributive justice. Systemic racism often involves failures in distributive justice, where resources and opportunities are unequally allocated.

Practical Applications:

1. Conduct audits of public and private institutions to ensure that policies and practices are equitable.
2. Support initiatives that address economic inequalities, such as fair wages, affordable housing, and access to education.
3. Challenge laws and practices that disproportionately harm racial minorities, emphasizing reform rather than revolution.

III. Addressing Systemic Racism Without CRT

While CRT raises awareness of certain racial injustices, it often promotes division by framing issues solely through power dynamics and group identity. A Thomistic approach rejects this relativism and instead upholds universal truths about human dignity and the common good.

A. Rejecting Reductionism

CRT reduces individuals to their racial identity or socio-economic status. The Catholic response affirms the intrinsic dignity of every person, seeing race as a significant but not determinative aspect of identity. As St. Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

B. Upholding Objective Truth

CRT often denies objective truth, asserting that knowledge is socially constructed and bound to power. Thomism, by contrast, affirms that truth is grounded in reality and discernible through reason. Racism is objectively wrong, and solutions must be grounded in moral truths, not ideological constructs.

C. Promoting Reconciliation Over Resentment

CRT fosters resentment by focusing on historical grievances and framing all relationships through conflict. The Catholic approach prioritizes reconciliation, drawing on Christ’s call to forgive and seek unity. Efforts to address racism must aim to heal divisions, not deepen them.

IV. Practical Catholic Solutions to Systemic Racism

1. Education Rooted in Truth Catholic schools and universities should emphasize the Church’s teachings on human dignity, natural law, and justice. Curricula can include the history of racial injustices without adopting the ideological frameworks of CRT. St. John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor offers a foundation for moral teaching grounded in objective truth.
2. Reforming Institutions Catholics can advocate for reforms in areas such as:
   
• Criminal Justice: End discriminatory practices like racial profiling and ensure fair sentencing laws.
• Healthcare: Address disparities in access to care, guided by the principle of the preferential option for the poor.
• Economic Policy: Support initiatives that provide equitable opportunities, such as vocational training and entrepreneurship programs.
3. Fostering Dialogue and Community Building Bishops and clergy should lead initiatives for intercultural dialogue within parishes, creating spaces for honest conversations about racism. Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti encourages this spirit of fraternity.
4. Charitable Works Catholic charities can address systemic inequities by providing direct support to underserved communities, offering services like tutoring, job training, and housing assistance.

V. A Call to Authentic Conversion

Systemic racism cannot be addressed solely through policies; it requires a conversion of hearts and minds. Aquinas teaches that virtue is cultivated through habituated good acts (Summa Theologica, I-II, Q. 55, Art. 1). Catholics must cultivate virtues such as justice, charity, and humility, recognizing their own complicity in social sins and committing to personal and communal transformation.

Prayer and sacramental life play a crucial role in this conversion. The Eucharist, as the sacrament of unity, calls Catholics to live as one body in Christ, rejecting all forms of division.

Conclusion

Addressing systemic racism without resorting to Critical Race Theory requires a robust Catholic framework rooted in Thomistic philosophy, natural law, and the social teachings of the Church. By emphasizing subsidiarity, solidarity, and justice, Catholics can work toward a society that reflects the truth of the Imago Dei and the unity of the human family. This approach offers not only a critique of racism but a hopeful vision of reconciliation and the common good.

References

1. Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province.
2. Augustine of Hippo. City of God. Translated by Henry Bettenson.
3. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.
4. Francis. Fratelli Tutti. Encyclical Letter, 2020.
5. John Paul II. Veritatis Splendor. Encyclical Letter, 1993.
6. John Paul II. Reconciliatio et Paenitentia. Apostolic Exhortation, 1984.
7. Benedict XVI. Caritas in Veritate. Encyclical Letter, 2009.
8. Sacred Scripture: Genesis 1:27, Galatians 3:28, Romans 12:5.
9. Vatican II. Gaudium et Spes. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 1965.