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Justice

A New Race of Men?

Masud Olufani | Mar 27, 2018

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

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Masud Olufani | Mar 27, 2018

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha'i Faith.

It is difficult for the friends always to remember that in matters where race enters, a hundred times more consideration and wisdom in handling situations is necessary than when an issue is not complicated by this factor.from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, excerpted in The Pupil of the Eye, p. 89.

In the Summer of 2008, as presidential candidate Barack Obama was campaigning for the November election which would send him to the Oval Office, I hosted a devotional gathering of friends committed to the spiritual transformation of the planet. Following prayers, a discussion was initiated that eventually led to reflections on the divisive nature of politics. One of the individuals present, a demonstrably kind and sincere soul, made an innocent but culturally insensitive comment that undermined the unity of the group. Remarking on the character of Barack Obama, this individual stated that “he combined the best of both worlds: the dramatic flare for public speaking of the blacks, and the intelligence of the whites.” The room fell into a hushed silence as one of the African-Americans present excused herself, and left. One careless remark, uttered without tact or wisdom, destroyed the solidarity of the gathering by offending the hearts of some of those in attendance.  

Now, I don’t believe there was any malice intended by these words, or a desire to demean the cognitive abilities of people of African descent. The speaker of these words was blithely and tragically oblivious of her own ignorance. What it indicated was an unconscious bias reflected in America’s entrenched racist views about the intellectual capacity of black people—an identification of the performative with “blackness,” and mental competency with “whiteness.” It further suggests that these qualities can only coexist in children produced through the union of black and white—a “new race of men” forming a new social elite. This can be deeply offensive to marginalized groups who often wrestle with the haunting misperception that “we are not enough”—that somehow our phenotype gives us access to certain abilities, but denies us others. This amounts to a kind of erasure of identity—a social invisibility in spaces not generally associated—by the larger community—with black or brown achievement.

When I entered Morehouse College as a transfer student in the early 1990s, I longed for a safe “black intellectual space” where my gifts could flourish, free of the burden of having to consistently affirm my value in a society that often underestimated my capacity and potential. It was at Morehouse, walking in the footsteps of such giants as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Dr. Benjamin Mays—and surrounded by other gifted and intelligent African-American men—that I was able to recover from the battles already fought, and prepare for the ones to come. It was also during this time that I was introduced to the Baha’i Faith.       

The core principle of Baha’u’llah’s teachings—around which all the other principles revolve—is the oneness of the human family. Abdu’l-Baha, the son of Baha’u’llah and his appointed successor, stated:

In every Dispensation, the light of Divine Guidance has been focused upon one central theme …  In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God, and the distinguishing feature of His Law, is the consciousness of the oneness of mankind. – Abdu’l-Baha, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day is Come, p. 119.

An essential element of the Baha’i concept of “oneness” is “unity in diversity.” The Baha’i Faith fundamentally rejects abstruse notions of color blindness or cultural homogeneity that denies variance in creation. Human creation occurs along a spectrum, like the colors on a painter’s palette: each pigment and tonal change heightens the creative possibilities of the whole. On this theme, Abdu’l-Baha wrote:

Consider the flowers of a garden: 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. – Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, pp. 291-292.

For the true Baha’i, these words are no theoretical supposition, but rather a living, breathing reality fundamental to the exercise of our Faith. The Baha’i writings categorically reject the superiority of one people above another, nor do they suggest in any way that certain abilities or qualities are the exclusive endowment of a select group. Indeed, Baha’u’llah himself states in clear and emphatic language that we have been created from one substance “that no one should exalt himself over the other.”The Hidden Words, p. 20. It is the condition of the heart—the inner life of the soul—that is the distinguishing characteristic of the individual:  

There is no distinction of color; all are one in the color and beauty of servitude to Him. Color is not important; the heart is all-important. It mattereth not what the exterior may be if the heart is pure and white within. God doth not behold differences of hue and complexion. He looketh at the hearts. He whose morals and virtues are praiseworthy is preferred in the presence of God; he who is devoted to the Kingdom is most beloved. – Abdu’l-Baha quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 37-38.

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Comments

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  • Jose Antonio Garcia Grande
    Mar 28, 2018
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    can I translate your article into Spanish and share it ??
    • Masud Olufani
      Mar 31, 2018
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      That's fine with me friend.
  • Rosslyn and Steven Osborne
    Mar 28, 2018
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    I always come back to the view point of it being necessary to stop putting labels on people. It annoys me to hear of tragedy with things saying 250 passengers killed but no (whatever country)... Or 3 (country) died in a ....What about all the rest of these people? They had family too they are worth just as much to God as our country's personal are. Naturally this goes to saying colour/nationality as well...We still have a long way to go.
  • Gabrielle McGuire
    Mar 28, 2018
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    This article brings to mind another issue that needs airing. The issue of motherhood, and how it has been hijacked by the infertile to take healthy new borne from good mothers. Rarely does a day go by when some "innocent " remark is made about the wonders of adoption, and how loving adoptive parents are, with little or no thought to the fact that a mother who had had her child wrenched from her is in hearing distance. Not only does this mother have to have heart stabbed but also suffer the indignity that no one is going to step ...in on her behalf, more likely than not others will cheer the speaker on, and this is in bahai circles, image how bad it is elsewhere
    Read more...
  • Peter Gyulay
    Mar 28, 2018
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    jnaksnal
  • Charles Boyle
    Mar 28, 2018
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    "Elevate" asks us to consider how we might talk about distinctive capabilities or qualities within eachother without stereotyping or allowing these to become points of otherness. We have to learn how to manage such discourse otherwise...
  • Hilton McConnell
    Mar 27, 2018
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    How I long for the day, when we can stop seeing our self's as black or white or red or yellow but just people of one race, one planet. And not worry what other people say, most of will say the wrong things time to time, or see things differently. In stead of being offended, be understanding. Going to someone with kindness, and talking with understanding, goes a lot farther than walking out of the room. When you point out to some one what they said in a kind and loving way, great friendships just mite happen.
    • Linda Sue Covey
      Mar 29, 2018
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      And I love our differences of color and variance. I think...as a person of American Indian mixed heritage, to try to deny someone the color/tone/tint of their skin is to take away a part of who that person fundenmentally is-apart of their identity and personality. We can have oneness now, and appreciate our beautiful diversity—we don’t have to wait for it in some future time.
    • Masud Olufani
      Mar 28, 2018
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      I meant our differences in culture. (???? I hate auto correct sometimes). They are a sign of the range of GOD'S creation.
    • Masud Olufani
      Mar 28, 2018
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      Thank you for this brother. I would add one thought: the Baha'i Faith practices unity in diversity which means our differences in color, in Chile are to be celebrated, not dimenished. That are a sign of the range of GOD's creation.
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