The Church of England has sparked anger from campaigners after posting a job for a role that includes "deconstructing whiteness".
The job, officially titled "Anti-Racism Practice Officer" is part of the Church of England Dioceses in the West Midlands and pays £36,000.
According to the posting, the job, one of 11 within the team, aims to "help us ensure that structures, practices and behaviours throughout our Church and churches embrace people of GMH (Global Majority Heritage) and UKME (UK Minority Ethnic) backgrounds and enable them to flourish."
This role will cover the six diocese of the initiative, including Birmingham, Coventry, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield and Worcester.
Bishop of Birmingham Reverend Dr Michael Volland
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Activists accused the church of promoting "divisive and ultimately self- destructive ideas" with the job.
The job description reads: "The post-holder needs to have an awareness of the varying contexts across the region and the barriers to understanding and tackling racism in each of those contexts, and be willing to develop contextually appropriate strategies to tackle those barriers.
"[They should] have an ability to work effectively within the Church of England’s structures to challenge inappropriate behaviours appropriately [and] work to create a culture in which there is a common understanding of racist behaviours and in which it is clear that racist behaviours are unacceptable."
The job posting added that they are looking for someone who: "Actively engages in anti-racist initiatives and demonstrates sensitivity to changing culture within recruitment practices [and] can provide experience of successfully navigating challenging conversations related to racism."
The posting said the position is on a fixed-term full time contract for the three years of funding provided for this project.
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Coventry Cathedral
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In the job advert, the recruiters said the purpose of this role is to "Develop and embed anti-racist practices, systems and processes across the region and to enable non GMH/UKME clergy and lay church members to understand and remove the barriers they create to contributions from GMH/UKME clergy and lay church members."
Responding to the claims, a spokesperson from Don't Divide Us, a campaign group that aims to "contest the idea that Britain is systematically racist" told GB News: "It is extraordinary that the CoE - the General Synod at least (we don’t know what ordinary parishioners make of it) have chosen to go down this radical, highly partisan political route so wholeheartedly.
"This is a politics that purports to be about kindness and equity, but as many examples show, legitimises intolerance, cultural re-racialisation and antipathy to Britain’s history and culture. Why is the CoE pursuing such divisive and ultimately self- destructive ideas, and cultivating a new racialised elite?"
GB News has approached the Church of England for a comment.
Last week, the Church of England told its parishes to set up "race action plans" as Britain’s first black female bishop has claimed people need to “embrace being woke."
Bishop of Dover Rose Hudson-Wilkin told the governing body, the Synod: "When it comes to the topic of racial justice, I've heard the word 'woke' being bandied about by many people including Government ministers, certain radio presenters, those in the media. And in every case, they've used it incorrectly.
"The term woke originated in the USA, and it was a black terminology speaking specifically and directly to black people regarding the need to wake up and stay alert, to be consciously aware."
