Friends & the Racial Crisis

This pamphlet will review the record of racism with an eye to Quaker practices which have fallen far short of Quaker ideals. Although the review is critical, I hope that it is not self-righteous or judgmental. Friends, like other groups, have not escaped the irony of being influenced by historical movements and cultural forces which undercut our faith. Every human being, and every group which comes to call itself a “people,” falls short, at one time or another, of the high principles which moments of vision bring. It would be wrong to condemn our ancestors for imperfections in one area of life when we fall short in many others.

But we still have to face the immutable law, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” In relations between races, as elsewhere, acts have consequences, and Quaker failures, past and present, have contributed to the distrust among black people about which Richard Stenhouse speaks. We cannot repent for our ancestors’ sins, but we can learn from our history. We can repent for ancestral sins which we continue to perpetuate, realizing that their continuation contributes to the bitterness in the black community. If we do not repent, in the old, Biblical sense of turning to God and away from that which is displeasing to Him and which violates human brotherhood, then we are likely to go right on causing the suffering that was caused in the past. And, if we do not recognize our need for repentance, then our whole approach will be subtly influenced by the feeling that we have been doing just fine, that we have been operating out of a great tradition, and that all we need to be fully effective is “increased dedication.”