Archbishop of Canterbury critical of ‘deconstructing whiteness’ job ad

BY : Staff writer Christian Today

The Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed he is critical of job adverts for roles in the Church of England like a “deconstructing whiteness officer”.

He told Times Radio that he called up those in charge to challenge the language in some of the adverts.

A full-time job is being advertised by the Dioese of Birmingham for the position of an “anti-racism practice officer (deconstructing whiteness)”, to much criticism.

Archbishop Justin Welby says he cautioned officials about the language in such adverts over concerns that it smacked of W1A, the satirical sitcom that pokes fun at BBC managerial-speak.

Telling Times Radio about his intervention, he said, “I rang up the person in charge of that area and said, ‘What on earth does it mean? Why on earth have you put it in?’ I said, ‘Look, this sounds a bit like W1A, can we please do these things in English?'”

He added: “What the person’s job is across six parishes is to make sure that those from ethnic minority backgrounds who apply for jobs have a level playing field.”

Rev Dr Ian Paul, a member of the Archbishops’ Council, told The Telegraph that such language had been “imported from the culture wars in the US”, and risked “alienating ordinary members of the Church of England”.

The Church of England has faced criticism after an Oversight Group said it should raise a £1 billion in funding to “address past wrongs of slavery”.

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