Meeting for Sufferings: Trustees’ report
‘Racism exists within the Religious Society of Friends in Britain and we must tackle it.'
The first main item of business was the report from Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees. Caroline Nursey, clerk to trustees, told the meeting that trustees spent quite a bit of time on racism, minuting, ‘Racism exists within the Religious Society of Friends in Britain and we must tackle it. This is a hard thing to admit, but recognising the problem is an important step in addressing it.’ Caroline said, ‘We realise that’s a shocking way to start a minute, and it was intentional,’ adding that a lot of work still needs to be done on the issue within BYM. ‘I expect that we are all aware of examples of racism, but those of us who are white often simply don’t realise that things we say, or structures and processes, can inadvertently cause pain’.
