However, all people, including Catholics, who want to follow Christ's command to love their neighbor may still need to be purified of racism. People can be blind to their own racism. This may be an error. It is important to examine honestly our personal actions and attitudes toward people of other races and to likewise scrutinize our parishes and Catholic institutions to see if racism is present. For until we honestly confront racism within our hearts, we cannot begin to correct ourselves.
Racism has many disguises.
It can manifest itself in a desire to be apart from people of other races. Housing discrimination is a shameful evil. In the name of protecting one's family and neighborhood, people have greeted newcomers to a neighborhood with violence, racial slurs and vandalism. Some parents do not want their children playing with or going to school with people of different races. Protection of one's children is a commendable goal, but teaching children that people of other races are dangerous, different and unworthy of being neighbors, is to teach children values contrary to the Gospel.