Need to teach the Faith to minorities

To categorize (from Power of Unity and others)

"Although not many pioneers can go out at once to Africa, all Bahá'ís can help ... by working more actively at home to break down racial barriers, and to foster loving association with minority groups. The Bahá'ís should go out amongst such groups and include them in their activities as much as possible."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 11/11/51 to believers at the Louhelen School, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 33)

"The real means of eliminating race prejudice, is to spread and establish the Faith; for in it, there is no prejudice whatsoever, as the Faith itself holds as its cardinal principle, the Oneness of Humanity.

"The Guardian will pray that you will be confirmed in your efforts to teach more Negroes. They have been subject so long to the prejudices of the majority peoples, that he hopes they will find their goal in the Cause of God.. . . The Friends should concentrate on pure hearted people, and continue association and fellowship with them, until they themselves become active workers in the Cause of God."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 12/20/55 to individual believer, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 34)

"He urges the friends to concentrate on teaching the Negroes. They should be courageous in their racial stand, particularly as so many non-Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'í organizations are showing marked courage at this time, when the decisions of the Supreme Court are being so hotly contested in the South. The friends must remember that the cardinal principle of their Faith is the Oneness of Mankind. This places an obligation on them far surpassing the obligation which Christian charity and brotherly love places upon the Christians. They should demonstrate this spirit of oneness constantly and courageously...."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi letter dated 9/21/57 to American Bahá'ís. insert in Bahá'í News, no. 321 (Nov. 1957), in the Power of Unity, no. 35)

"As to the racial aspects of your work Shoghi Effendi believes that no chances should be lost, for the Master stressed constantly the importance of reconciling the Negro and white people of North America. This field of service not only attracts the attention of innumerable persons to the Cause, but also furthers one of the ideals of the Faith, namely the abolition of racial prejudice."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 12/18/30 to individual believer, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 37)

"The Message of this Day is directed to the whole of mankind, not to any particular section of it. The colored as well as the noncolored are both welcomed into the Bahá'í Comunity, and once they enter its ranks they are recognized as one and the same. Rather they should cease to look at the racial differences separating them, and should associate with each other in perfect peace, unity and fellowship.

"The Bahá'ís should by all means endeavor to attract to the Faith as many members of the colored race as they possibly can, and thus demonstrate in deeds the universality of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh. It is only through this intermingling of races within the framework of His World Order that a lasting and just solution can be found to the perplexing racial issues confronting mankind."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 11/19/37 to individual believer, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 38)

"It is only natural that people should be able to pour out more freely their enthusiasm in the field of services that lies nearest to their heart, and if your departure would in no way affect the assembly status ... he sees no reason why you should not go and teach among the Negroes, as this is a very important field of Bahá'í activity, especially so in these days when the racial question seems to be coming to a head in the United States. The more Negroes who become Bahá'ís, the greater the leaven will be within their own race, working for harmony and friendship between these two bodies of American citizens: the white and the colored."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 12/18/43 to individual believer, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 39)

"The Guardian feels he should urge your Assembly that ... you should always bear in mind that only through strict and loyal adherence to the Bahá'í principle of racial unity and fellowship can you hope to lay down a firm and enduring basis for the acceptance and entry of the colored races into the Community. No racial discrimination whatsoever in teaching, he feels, should be allowed. If the teaching work is to make a sound and steady progress in those Southern regions."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 1/28/39 to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 41)

"He feels adequate action has not yet been taken in America to properly fulfill the injunctions of the Master in this very vital matter. The Guardian feels that special effort must be made to teach the Negroes and especially in the South, and this should be done without regard to whatever teaching work may or may not be done of the white people. . . .

"If there should be some criticism from the white people the Guardian feels this will not be harmful because they have not responded to the Call in the South and therefore any objection they may raise could have no substantial basis. On the other hand if they learn the Bahá'ís are concentrating on bringing the Message of Unity to the Negroes that may arouse some interest and perhaps stir some special interest on their part.

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 6/4/57 to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, attached to letter dated 2/4/85 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in the Power of Unity, no. 42)

"The attitude toward teaching the Faith in the southern states of the United States should be entirely changed. For years, in the hope of attracting the white people, in order to "go easy" with them and not offend their sensibilities, a compromise has been made in the teaching work throughout the South. The results have been practically nil. The white people have not responded, worth mentioning, to the Faith, and the colored people have been hurt and also have not responded.

"He feels it is time that the Bahá'ís stopped worrying entirely about the white element in a community, and that they should concentrate on showing the Negro element that this is a Faith which produces full equality and which loves and wants minorities....

"Also .. . the Faith must be representative of the population. In a great many places in the South, the majority of | the population is still Negro. This should be reflected in the Bahá'í Community, fearlessly. Both the white Bahá'ís and the colored Bahá'ís must steadily work to attain this objective of bringing the Faith to the colored people, and of confirming many of them in it.

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 5/27/57 to Bahá'í Inter-raclal Teaching Committee, in To Move the World 294, in the Power of Unity, no. 43)

"He is well aware that the conditions within the ranks of the believers in respect to race prejudice is [sic] far from being as it should be. However he feels very strongly that it presents a challenge to both white and colored believers.

"As we neither feel nor acknowledge any distinction between the duties and privileges of a Bahá'í, whoever he may be, it is incumbent upon the Negro believers to rise above this great test which the attitude of some of their white brethren may present. They must prove their innate equality not by words but by deeds. They must accept the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh for the sake of the Cause, love it, and cling to it, and teach it, and fight for it as their own Cause, forgetful of the shortcomings of others. Any other attitude is unworthy of their faith.

"Proud and happy in the praises which even Bahá'u'lláh Himself has bestowed upon them, they must feel He revealed Himself for them and every other downtrodden race, loves them, and will help them to attain their destiny.

"The whole race question in America is a national one and of great importance. But the Negro friends must not waste their precious opportunity to serve the Faith, in these momentous days, by dwelling on the admitted shortcomings of the white friends. They must arise and serve and teach. confident of the future they are building, a future in which we know these barriers will have once and for all been overcome!"

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 2/9/42 to Sadie Oglesby, in To Move in the World 296, in the Power of Unity, no. 44)

"He feels that as the main object of the Bahá'í interracial work is to abolish prejudice against any and every race and minority group, it is obviously proper for them to include in particular any group that is receiving especially bad treatment—such as the Japanese-Americans are being subjected to. There is also no reason why work should not be done among and in cooperation with the Mexicans, the Chinese and so on.

"He has always been very anxious to have the Indians taught and enlisted under the banner of the Faith, in view of the Master's remarkable statements about the possibilities of their future and that they represent the aboriginal American population.

"The Negroes, likewise, are, one might say, a key problem and epitomize the feelings of color prejudice so rife in the United States. That is why he has so constantly emphasized the importance of the Bahá'ís actively and continuously demonstrating that in the Faith this cruel and horrible taint of discrimination against, and contempt for, them does not exist but on the contrary is supplanted by a feeling of esteem for their great gifts and a complete lack of prejudice in every field of life.

"The work of the Race Unity Committee should include, as far as is possible, contacts with all minority groups, and wherever there is a particularly stout prejudice against a special group—such as the feelings against the Japanese in the Western States and the Negroes in the Southern (states), etc., efforts should be made to counteract it by showing publicly the Bahá'í example of loving tolerance and brotherly association."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, letter dated 12/30/45 to Race Unity Committee, in Bahá'í News, no. 188 (Oct. 1946) 3-4, in the Power of Unity, no. 50)

"The Summer Schools provide a splendid setting and environment to which the best element among the coloured race should be specially attracted. Through such association prejudice can be gradually eradicated, and `Abdu'l-Bahá's ardent wish fully realized.

"The Guardian finds it impossible to overestimate the importance and urgency of this sacred duty that confronts both the Local and the National Assemblies."

(From a letter dated 28 July 1936 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, in Centres of Bahá'í Learning, no. 30)

"Let anyone who feels the urge among the participators in this crusade, which embraces all the races, all the republics, classes and denominations of the entire Western Hemisphere, arise, and, circumstances permitting, direct in particular the attention, and win eventually the unqualified adherence, of the Negro, the Indian, the Eskimo, and Jewish races to his Faith. No more laudable and meritorious service can be rendered the Cause of God, at the present hour, than a successful effort to enhance the diversity of the members of the American Bahá'í community by swelling the ranks of the Faith through the enrollment of the members of these races. A blending of these highly differentiated elements of the human race, harmoniously interwoven into the fabric of an all-embracing Bahá'í fraternity, and assimilated through the dynamic processes of a divinely appointed Administrative Order, and contributing each its share to the enrichment and glory of Bahá'í community life, is surely an achievement the contemplation of which must warm and thrill every Bahá'í heart. "Consider the flowers of a garden," `Abdu'l-Bahá has written, "though differing in kind, color, form, and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruits, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape, enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and character, are brought together under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made manifest. Naught but the celestial potency of the Word of God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things, is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas, and convictions of the children of men." "I hope," is the wish expressed by `Abdu'l-Bahá, "that ye may cause that downtrodden race [Negro] to become glorious, and to be joined with the white race to serve the world of man with the utmost sincerity, faithfulness, love and purity." "One of the important questions," He also has written, "which affect the unity and the solidarity of mankind is the fellowship and equality of the white and colored races." "You must attach great importance," writes `Abdu'l-Bahá in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, "to the Indians, the original inhabitants of America. For these souls may be likened unto the ancient inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, who, prior to the Revelation of Muhammad, were like savages. When the Muhammadan Light shone forth in their midst, they became so enkindled that they shed illumination upon the world. Likewise, should these Indians be educated and properly guided, there can be no doubt that through the Divine teachings they will become so enlightened that the whole earth will be illumined." "If it is possible," `Abdu'l-Bahá has also written, "send ye teachers to other portions of Canada; likewise, dispatch ye teachers to Greenland and the home of the Eskimos." "God willing," He further has written in those same Tablets, "the call of the Kingdom may reach the ears of the Eskimos.... Should you display an effort, so that the fragrances of God may be diffused among the Eskimos, its effect will be very great and far-reaching." "Praise be to God," writes `Abdu'l-Bahá, "that whatsoever hath been announced in the Blessed Tablets unto the Israelites, and the things explicitly written in the letters of `Abdu'l-Bahá, are all being fulfilled. Some have come to pass; others will be revealed in the future. The Ancient Beauty hath in His sacred Tablets explicitly written that the day of their abasement is over. His bounty will overshadow them, and this race will day by day progress, and be delivered from its age-long obscurity and degradation."

(Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 54-56)

To-dos for this page

• Could check the original Power of Unity to find quotes not in online copy which only contains quotes not readily available elsewhere online (also add them to the BL copy.