Vacation homes could be used for voluntary Indian land-back efforts
The facebook notice was about this new program:
http://www.revdrrebeccammvoelkel.com/blog/sacred-reckonings-reparations-for-white-churches
Going through a pdf of the program, page 99 has this paragraph:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62ea9b48c8b35b067c01b94a/t/6452792aa1ed9671555f5c0c/1683126587476/Sacred-Reckonings-2023-03.pdf#page=99
What more can we do to surrender ill-gotten wealth? If we have a line-item in our church’s budget, can we work with our denominational offices to support reparatory monetary action there? How can we support our members in land-back efforts, particularly for any vacation properties they might own? Can we support Indigenous efforts at land-back of public lands?
If actually implemented, that would help solve Door County's gentrification problem. Overall it could help reduce speculation for all real estate in Door County. If buyers knew just how bad Native Americans were treated during the production of Door County real estate, maybe they'd see a potential purchase as a liability or a necessary evil rather than a pecuniary investment.
The program is from the "Center for Sustainable Justice", which belongs to Lyndale United Church of Christ in Minneapolis:
http://www.lyndaleucc.org/justice/
"Sustainable Justice" is a topic discussed online, but I have not heard it promoted for Door County. I wonder if the current dialog about sustainability will someday shift to sustainable justice.
The state's WISH Fertility Module says that in 2020, Door County had an aged-adjusted fertility rate of 51.1 births per 1,000 women from the ages of 15 to 44 years. Since the new program discusses Indians it seems useful to compare Door County to Menominee County. The borders of Menominee County were drawn to fit the lands of the Menominee Indian Tribe. Menominee County had an aged adjusted fertility rate of 100.5 births per 1,000 women from the ages of 15 to 44 years.
Multiplying both of these county figures by 0.03 to convert them to total fertility rates, this means that Door County had a total fertility rate of 1.533, while Menominee County had a total fertility rate of 3.015 births.
I plugged both figures into a population simulator:
https://www.learner.org/wp-content/interactive/envsci/demographics/demog.html
Using the defaults for "USA", it says that the 2020 total fertility rates will, annually, cause a 1.10% natural loss in Door County's population and a 1.57% natural gain in Menominee County's population.
The United States as a whole was close to replacement fertility in 1971 and 1972. That is, American women had had, on average, enough children to replace the entire population, but not to grow or shrink it. Because the replacement total fertility rate is 2.1 births per lifetime, it follows that, demographically, Menominee County is sustainable, while Door County is not.
Besides this, so many end up leaving Door County as adults. This trend seems to be going down, which could reflect declining opportunities in the metro areas which draw population from Door County: https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/11dx5nz/door_county_is_experiencing_a_net_loss_of_fewer/
Yet it is unrealistic to expect out-migration to go away, especially since emigration from the county has happened over much of the last century. So Door County's actual replacement rate is somewhat higher than 2.1 lifetime births. Yet the 1.533 figure from 2020 is a move in the wrong direction. The WISH fertility module gives figures going back to the 1990 census, when Door County's total fertility rate was 1.905 lifetime births.
Is the new program from Center for Sustainable Justice connected to Door County? Sort of. But from what I found looking on the internet, it seems that the connection with Door County is weak and indirect.
Some years back the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ submitted an item for vote, https://www.wcucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Doctrine-of-Discovery-Resolution-as-passed-2019.04.12.pdf, which was then approved by the Wisconsin Conference: https://www.wcucc.org/justice-ministries/racial-justice/doctrine-of-discovery-study-resources/.
It included these parts:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ joins with its ecumenical partners to explore ways to compensate American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiians for the lands and resources that were stolen and are still being stolen and which are now the United States of America.
&
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ encourages the churches to explore educational materials, such as those developed by Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) and the Council of American Ministry (CAIM), and to pursue actions that may arise from their studies.
Besides setting the tone, the phrase "encourages the churches to explore educational materials" is broad enough to include the yet-to-be developed program from Lyndale UCC's Center for Sustainable Justice. Note that the Congregationalist polity poses barriers to the flow of authority. The WCUCC may have had some other ideas about the educational materials to be used.
Bret Bicoy was on the WCUCC Board of Directors back when this was submitted and approved. He was not yet the Chair, as he is now, or Vice-Chair, as he was not long ago; he was just an ordinary director like the others. I don't know how he voted on it. Bicoy is in charge of the Door County Community Foundation and writes about philanthropy in the Peninsula Pulse. Some of the things he oversees involve worthy causes which make it easier to raise a family in Door County. His work influences various factors which help with the demographic problem.
The program reminds me of Matthew 19:16-24:
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Yet the program is different in that it incorporates jargon usually used by Marxists and Maoists, not by Christian writers. The program is a blend of different influences. Although it was not produced by the UCC itself, the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries website employs similar word choices: https://www.ucc.org/repairing-the-breach/. It seems that the new program is in line with the UCC and is not the product of a dissenting faction.