Most of the nations now engaged in the imperialist or neo-colonialist exploitation of the world belong to the white races, though there are some exceptions like Japan. Particularly in South Africa, the white race which is in the minority seeks to dominate, oppress and exploit the black majority economically, politically, socially and culturally. It is natural, therefore, that white Christians of the West should have a bad conscience about this phenomenon. They therefore seek, through the World Council of Churches' Programme to Combat Racism, some ways of dealing with the situation in solidarity with the oppressed and exploited.

Though the World Council of Churches has from the beginning taken a clear stand against racial discrimination and oppression, it was only in the period after the WCC Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden (1968) that it has been able to launch a determined programme of study and action. The meeting of the Central Committee of the WCC at Canterbury (1969), England, approved such a programme only after prolonged and heated debate and intrigue.

The Commission has now been in existence for about two and a half years, and the best way to understand its programme is to look at its achievements during this period.

1. Special Fund to Assist Liberation Movements

This has been the most publicized and most controversial of the actions of the WCC in this programme. The Canterbury meeting of the Central Committee decided to create a special Fund of half a million dollars to assist the various movements all over the world which are struggling against oppression and exploitation by white peoples. The WCC expressed its own sacrificial commitment to this programme by allocating a substantial portion ($200,000) of its own very meagre reserve Fund as a first contribution to the Special Fund. Among the movements to which financial assistance has been given by WCC in l97l, the following examples are particularly noteworthy.

1. African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde ($ 45,000)
2. People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ($ 25,000)
3. Mozambique Institute of FRELIMO (Movement for the Freedom and
Liberation of Mozambique) ($ 20,000)
4. South West African People's Organization (SWAPO, Namibia, $ 30,000)
5. Zimbabwe Liberation Movement, Rhodesia ($ 10,000)
6. Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) Rhodesia ($ 10,000)
7. Zimbabwe African People's Union ($ 10,000)
8. Bolivian Project for Indian Liberation (South America) ($ 12,500)
9. Malcolm X Liberation University (USA) ($ 7,500)
10. French Anti-Apartheid Committee (France) ($ 2,500)
11. Legal Defence Committee in Japan (Asia) ($ 5,000)
12. Committee for Development in the Eastern Caribbean ($ 5,000)

The above is only a list of random samples which helps to show the extent and nature of the assistance given to liberation movements all over the world. The money is clearly earmarked for use in education, medical needs, development and leadership training projects, etc. and cannot be used for buying weapons or for military purposes.

The reaction in the churches to this action of the WCC has not been uniform. Churches and related agencies have already provided the WCC with the half a million dollars that it had asked for, and the programme is likely to be doubled, i.e. a million dollars in the coming years, though considerable opposition to the continuation and expansion of the Fund is also to be anticipated. There are some Western churches which have refused to participate in the Programme to Combat Racism. A typical example is the decision of the Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands not to support PCR, but to engage in dialogue with the Dutch Reformed Churches in South Africa who are among the main oppressors.

But many other Churches and related agencies have given either substantial or symbolic support to the PCR and its Special Fund. The WCC itself has gained a new status in the eyes of African, Asian and Latin American peoples and governments. The Special Fund will continue to be a matter of controversy in the Western churches and the occasion for a great deal of malicious attack on the WCC in the Western press (e.g. the Readers‘ Digest articles by Clarence Hall last October and November), but there is no doubt that the PCR and the Special Fund will have marked a new stage in the slow progress towards an ecumenical movement less dominated by rich Western churches.

2. The Cunene River Dam Scheme

The manner in which Western military and economic power collaborates in supporting the racist regimes of Southern Africa is becoming more clearly evident in certain large so-called "development projects" in that region, the most well-known among them being the Cabora Bassa Scheme and the Cunene Dam Scheme.

The Cunene Scheme is worth studying as an instance of the many attempts of South African whites and Portuguese whites to continue to control and exploit the black peoples of Southern Africa with outside help. It is a joint scheme of the governments of Portugal and South Africa, through firms in these two countries, but financed largely by corporations and banks in Europe and America.

The World Councils Central Committee, in their meeting in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in January 1971 had adopted the following resolution:

"The Central Committee calls upon member Churches to discourage their governments and industrial commercial enterprises from supporting schemes like the Cabora Bassa Dam and other such projects which entrench racist and colonial minority regimes in Africa; and also to educate their members and to warn the wider public of the threat that such schemes pose for world peace".

Several reasons may be given for the World Council's negative approach to a development scheme which seems prima facie an attempt to improve the economic conditions of the oppressed peoples of Southern Africa:

(a) While it may provide employment to some Africans, it is in fact an attempt by the governments of Portugal and Spain to make a quicker and more intensive exploitation of the labour of the African peoples to enrich the white people. The distribution of the benefits from the scheme is controlled by the whites, and will certainly not be equitable or just.
(b) The foreign companies and banks engaged in the scheme are trying to make a quick profit on their investment by exploiting Southern Africa during the time the white racist regimes of South Africa and Portugal can be in a dominant position there.
(c) It is an excuse for bringing in considerable numbers of white immigrants from outside and settling them in these areas to strengthen the oppressive white minority in Southern Africa.
(d) The participation of foreign companies in the scheme provides an excuse for foreign military strength to be used in support of the white minority in Southern Africa.

It is for these reasons that the special consultation organized by the WCC in Arnoldshain (Germany) in February-March 1972 recommended to the WCC strong and concerted action on the part of the member churches against such schemes. The Consultation called the scheme "clearly not a normal 'development' project, but a vitally important strategic scheme to retard as well as defeat the struggle of the African peoples for freedom and democracy" It also said: "The object of the scheme is to promote the further integration of Angola (Portuguese Colony) and Namibia (former South- west Africa, now illegally controlled by South Africa), create conditions for establishing the presence of half a million additional settlers in the region and through international financial loans and other links involve external parties even deeper into the Southern African conflict".

The WCC programme to combat racism therefore regards such projects as a major target for attack.

3. Other Activities of the Programme

PCR as the WCC programme against racism is affectionately called by those who like it, has also done considerable amount of work in other areas of racist oppression in the world. The following are especially noteworthy.
(a) American Indians. A special expert consultation was held in January 1971 in Barbados, on the situation of the American Indians in Latin America, which was organized in collaboration with the Swiss University of Bern. The Consultation expressed the view that "development" schemes in Latin America for integrating the Indians can only destroy their culture and continue their exploitation. It recommended that the integrity of their culture should be respected and encouraged.
(b) The Maoris of Australia and New Zealand. The original people of Australia and New Zealand are now being oppressed and exploited by the white settlers there. Maori culture and consciousness are being slowly undermined. The Australian Council of Churches have now organized their own Programme to Combat Racism.
(c) Research. The Geneva office of P.C.R. has now a special staff person for research on racism. He has already produced very useful materials on the Cabora and Cunene schemes, on the political, military and economic aspects of racism, on racism as an expression of Imperialism, on international capital as a major supporter of racist regimes, and on topics related to racism.
(d) Campaign Against EEC Support for Racist Regimes There are proposals being considered to give special status to Portugal and South Africa in the European Economic Community. The EEC has already decided, at the request of Portugal, to give preferential treatment to Portuguese colonies like Angola, Mozambique, Guinea and Cape Verde. The tendency of Western European nations to become deeply involved in the racist-oppressive regimes of Africa has now been chosen by PCR as a target for attack.
(e) Campaign against military support from the West, especially for Portugal. The PCR has already launched a campaign against increasing military support for Portugal from countries like USA, Britain, France, West Germany, Argentina and Brazil. The churches are requested to demand a total arms embargo against white racist regimes like the governments of Portugal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

Western Christians are major beneficiaries of white racist oppression in the world today. What PCR has begun to do cannot be regarded as in any sense a solution to the problem, but it is to be hoped that it will be the beginning of a real worldwide campaign for the churches‘ participation in the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed and not merely a token to salve the conscience of the oppressor.