Mission/Values
Vision
Our vision for the United States is of a just and truthful society that acknowledges and seeks to heal from the racial wounds of the past—from slavery and the many forms of racism it spawned.
Mission
Coming to the Table provides leadership, resources, and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism that is rooted in the United States’ history of slavery.
Our approach to achieving our vision and mission involves four interrelated practices:
Uncovering history: researching, acknowledging, and sharing personal, family and community histories of race with openness and honesty;
Making connections: connecting to others within and across racial lines in order to develop and deepen relationships;
Working toward healing: exploring how we can heal together through dialogue, reunion, ritual, ceremony, the arts, apology and other methods;
Taking action: actively seeking to heal the wounds of racial inequality and injustice and to support racial reconciliation between individuals, within families, and in communities.
CTTT Values
Ø Inclusion. We welcome all who wish to join the Coming to the Table conversation and who join us in honoring and committing to these principles.
Ø Respect and Tolerance. We respect the integrity and value of all people as they seek to understand and respond to their experience of the world and the history and impact of slavery, even if we might disagree with them. To this end, we listen respectfully to each other, practice non-judgmental listening, and refrain from personal attack.
Ø Honesty, Truthfulness and Transparency. We strive to uncover truth and to speak it with openness and transparency.
Ø Justice. We accept that there has been significant harm as a result of the legacies and aftermaths of slavery. We strive to identify those harms and to take responsibility for making things right.
Ø Compassion, Mercy, and Forgiveness. Through compassion and love we strive to show mercy and to forgive ourselves, those who may have done us harm and those who have harmed others.
Ø Love. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called his followers to love even those who would do them harm. This love transformed both victim and offender and created a powerful foundation for doing justice and building a beloved community. We strive to do likewise.
Ø Peace and non-violence. We seek to transform conflict through non-violent, non-coercive means so as to achieve a peaceful community.
Ø Reconciliation. We strive for racial reconciliation through a journey of seeking peace, justice, mercy and truth.
