Cincinnati Industrial Mission Entering New Phase
Diocesan Press Service. June 10, 1969 [77-17]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Through its current three-pronged action program the Cincinnati Industrial Mission is entering into a new phase of its ministry according to the Rev. O. Merrill Boggs, acting director of CIM.
"At CIM we have come to recognize that it is not sufficient for us to raise questions and engage in dialogue with the economic institutions. There is a legitimate point at which the taking of a position on an issue is required if Industrial Mission, as an arm of the Church, is to make its full contribution," stated the Rev. Mr. Boggs in a recent address to St. John's Unitarian Church, Cincinnati.
CIM has, therefore, begun to act as a communications "broker" in the urban crisis, to support the establishment and development of local black owned and operated businesses, and to work with industry to eliminate institutional racism.
The Rev. Mr. Boggs told his audience that "The racial disturbances of 1967 made it glaringly apparent that no effective two-way communication existed between the black and white sectors of Cincinnati, and that this breakdown in communication was greatest where it was most needed, namely, between the younger, militant black leaders and the economic/political leaders of the white community. " Through its network of personal relationships, CIM was able to arrange for connection between these groups.
In its efforts to aid the establishment and development of local black owned and operated businesses, CIM is actively supporting the Determined Young Men, a group of young Cincinnati executives who are trying to assist in such development.
"Our role here is primarily that of a broker," said the Rev. Mr. Boggs. "For example, we arranged for DYM to establish a working relationship with the United Black Community Organizations -- they now have a joint screening committee which considers all applications for assistance from black entrepreneurs. We are also using our contacts in both the business and religious sectors to create a $300, 000 loan guarantee fund. . . . This will provide the necessary collateral for the high- risk part of the financing package which banks are unable to assume themselves."
CIM's program also involves a management training program for white supervisors of black employees.
"Its purpose," said the Rev. Mr. Boggs, "is to help white supervisors: 1) to develop an understanding of the black American's point of view; 2) to become aware of their own feelings toward racial minorities; 3) to become sensitive to the presence of institutional and cultural racism in our society; and 4) to develop supervisory skills for dealing effectively with those on-the-job problems which arise out of racially discriminating patterns.
"The first phase of this training program is a one-day workshop for 40 white supervisors, conducted by a team of four local black community consultants and myself," said the Rev. Mr. Boggs. Characterized by a high level of black-white interaction throughout the nine hour day, it is designed to broaden the white manager's perspective of race relations -- to help him understand what it means to be a black American in a white-dominated society and to help him recognize that race relations in this country is not primarily a "black problem" but a "white problem. "
Cincinnati Industrial Mission is a member of National Industrial Mission. NIM received $85,000 in 1969 from the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. This money, along with funds from other churches, is then channeled to local missions like CIM.