First Female Anglican Bishop, Civil-Rights Activist Speaks

The first female bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican Church spoke to an audience of about 25 people in the Pusey room of Memorial Church last night.

The Right Reverend Barbara Harris--once a marcher with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.--was ordained as a bishop in 1989. She is currently a suffragan bishop for the Eastern Massachusetts diocese of the Anglican Church.

Harris' message was both spiritual and activist.

"I have been variously labelled as leftist, activist, liberal [and] militant," she said. "No one seemed to relate the things I stood for with theological things."

Harris said she has been and continues to be motivated by a form of spirituality which is expressed in social activism.

Harris encouraged the students in the audience to introspect on what they can do to improve their world.

"There will be a tiny knot of people who are courageous enough to join a battle with seemingly obvious losing odds, who will support you," she said.

Speaking of racism, Harris said that passivity can often perpetuate institutional racism and that students should ask themselves what role they play in a society where racism prevails.

She encouraged students to ask themselves, "What is my complicity in what goes on here?"

In asking students to examine their lives, she made the point that even those who do not overtly act in a hateful way may benefit from institutional racism.

"At the heart of racism is unearned white privilege," she said.

Thus, even students who are not overtly racist have a responsibility to act.

Harris' most recent activism came in the form of lobbying the Massachusetts legislature yesterday in opposition to the reinstitution of the death penalty.

Harris said she is opposed to the death penalty because she said she believes that it is unequally applied on the basis of the defendant's ability to afford defense and the defendant's race.

The State House passed the bill by only two votes last night.

Dean of the Students Archie C. Epps III said the speech was part of a series designed to bring "young and refreshing" voices to campus.

Several undergraduates present at the speech said they were pleased with Harris' words.

Katharine Black '98 said Harris' speech inspired her to continue her social action at a personal level.

"It's nice to know that even if you aren't the director of your PBH program, you're still doing something truly important by participating," Black said.

The event was organized jointly by the Episcopal Chaplancy Christ Church and the Dean of Students office.