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Search for tag "Racism"

from the chronology

date event locations tags see also
1912 10 May At the instigation of Agnes Parsons, `Abdu'l-Bahá's sat for sketches by prominent English sculptor Theodore Spicer-Simson who made a portrait medallion of the Master. See Medallions for pictures of his work. A second medallion was later designed by another well-known artist, Louis Potter. [Luminous Journey 33:21]
  • In the morning Agnes Parsons took 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Capitol then to the Washington Monument where they took the elevator to the top.
  • He spoke to a small group in the Parsons' home in the afternoon and at the Studio Hall in the evening. [APD63-66]
  • In The Diary of Juliet Thompson p285 it is reported that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been horrified by the prejudice He observed against Black people in Washington.
    		•  Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks at other places; Capitol; Washington Monument; Studio Hall; Agnes Parsons; Abdul-Baha, Pictures and portraits; Portraits; Racism
    1917. 28 Jul The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) organized a Silent Protest Parade, also known as the Silent March, on 5th Avenue in New York City. This protest was a response to violence against African Americans, including the race riots, lynching, and outrages in Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, and other states. [Black Past]

    One incident in particular, the East St. Louis Race Riot, also called the East St. Louis Massacre, was a major catalyst of the silent parade. This horrific event drove close to six thousand blacks from their own burning homes and left several hundred dead.

  • In response to the rioting, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sent W.E.B. DuBois and Martha Gruening to investigate the incident. They compiled a report entitled Massacre at East St. Louis, which was published in the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis (Vol 14 # 5 p219-238). A year after the riot, a Special Committee formed by the United States House of Representatives launched an investigation into police actions during the East St. Louis Riot. Investigators found that the National Guard and also the East St. Louis police force had not acted adequately during the riots, revealing that the police often fled from the scenes of murder and arson. Some even fled from stationhouses and refused to answer calls for help. The investigation resulted in the indictment of several members of the East St. Louis police force.
    		•  New York; NY; St. Louis; MI National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); W.E.B. Du Bois; Martha Gruening; Race (general); Racism
    1919. (Late Winter until Early Autumn and beyond) "Red Summer" is the period from late winter through early autumn of 1919 during which white supremacist terrorism and racial riots took place in more than three dozen cities across the United States, as well as in one rural county in Arkansas.

    Some historians claim that the racial terror connected with “Red Summer” began as early as 1917 during the bloody massacre that occurred in East St. Louis, Illinois, a barbaric pogrom that would eventually set the stage for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst episodes of post-Civil War racial violence ever committed against Black Americans. The Tulsa Massacre left as many as 300 Black people dead and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of Greenwood, an all-Black community so wealthy, the philosopher Booker T. Washington called it “Negro Wall Street.” [Red Summer: When Racists Mobs Ruled]

  • See Wikipedia for a partial list of locations where such events took place in 1919 alone.

    It was against this backdrop of racial tension and hatred that the Baha'i community promoted racial amity. [SYH125-126]

    		•  United States Red Summer; Race; Race (general): Race amity; Race unity; Racism
    1978. 14 - 26 Aug The Bahá'í International Community participated in the first World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and sent a delegation of African, European, and Asian backgrounds to participate. A major focus on the conference was South Africa's apartheid policies of racial segregation and discrimination. [BIC History 1978]
  • See the declaration submitted by the Bahá'í International Community.
  • See the resolutions adopted.
  • Declaration and Programme of Action
    		•  Geneva Bahai International Community; Racism; United Nations; BIC statements
    1978. 14 - 25 Aug The first World Conference Against Racism was held in Geneva, Switzerland. A major focus on the conference was South Africa's apartheid policies of racial segregation and discrimination.
  • UN website
    		•  Geneva United Nations; Bahai International Community; UNESCO; Racism; Discrimination
    1979. 21 Mar The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a programme of activities to be undertaken during the second half of the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination. On that occasion, the General Assembly decided that a week of solidarity with the peoples struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on 21 March, would be organized annually in all States.

      The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid "pass laws" in 1960. [United Nations website.

  • Sharpville Massacre on 21 March 1960. This is a day which is commemorated each year in South Africa.
    		• Sharpville; South Africa United Nations; International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; Racism
    1983. 1 - 12 Aug The second World Conference Against Racism was held in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Report
  • UN website
    		• Geneva United Nations; Bahai International Community; UNESCO; Racism; Discrimination
    1989. 8 Feb The publication of the statement by the Bahá'í International Community, “Eliminating Racism”, to the forty-fifth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Geneva; Switzerland Racism; United Nations; Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    1993 13 Mar Three Bahá'ís were assassinated at the Bahá'í Centre in Mdantsane, Ciskei, in a racially-motivated attack. [BW93–4:147–50] Mdantsane; Ciskei; South Africa Assassinations; Racism
    2001 31 Aug – 8 Sep The third United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, was held in Durban, South Africa. The conference was also known as Durban I.
  • The BIC was one of nearly two thousand NGOs present at the NGO forum. The conference itself was fraught with challenges that demonstrated the complexity of these issues and the sensitivity they must be addressed for meaningful change to occur. The BIC participated in the Religious, the Spiritual and the International NGO caucuses; it had an exhibition booth and distributed the statement entitled One Same Substance: Consciously Creating a Global Culture of Unity which provided an outline of the efforts Bahais are doing towards this goal. [One Country]
    • See as well BWNS133 for the full text.
  • UN website
    		•  Durban; South Africa United Nations; Racism; Discrimination; Bahai International Community; UNESCO
    2009. 20 - 24 Apr The Durban Review Conference is the official name of the 2009 United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban II. It took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • The conference was called with a mandate to review the implementation of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action from the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. It was boycotted by Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, and the United States. The Czech Republic discontinued its attendance on the first day, and twenty-three other European Union countries sent low-level delegations. The western countries had expressed concerns that the conference would be used to promote anti-Semitism and laws against blasphemy perceived as contrary to the principles of free speech, and that the conference would not deal with discrimination against homosexuals. European countries also criticized the meeting for focusing on the West and ignoring problems of racism and intolerance in the developing world.
  • Controversy surrounded the attendance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference due to his past statements on Israel and accusing the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians. The distributed English version of the speech referred to the Holocaust as an "ambiguous and dubious question". When Ahmadinejad began to speak about Israel, all the European Union delegates left the conference room, while a number of the remaining delegates applauded the Iranian President.
  • UN website
    		• Geneva United Nations; Racism; Discrimination; Bahai International Community; UNESCO
    2011. 11 Sep A follow-up conference dubbed "Durban III" took place in New York City. It was boycotted by Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, United States and the Czech Republic, along with Austria, Bulgaria, France, and the United Kingdom.
  • UN website
  • Wikimilli.
    		• New York; NY United Nations; Racism; Discrimination; Bahai International Community; UNESCO
    2018 12 Apr The premiere of the documentary film, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition in a television broadcast on station WBGH, channel 2 in Boston, MA. [Trailer]
  • From the film website...."The primary purpose of the documentary project, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition, is to impact the public discourse on race. To move the discourse from the “blame/grievance/rejection” cycle to a view from a different lens, the lens of “amity/collaboration/access and equity.”
    		• Boston; Massachusetts; United States Race (general); Unity; Race Amity; Race unity; Racism; Documentaries
    2020. 19 Jun The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States issued a statement entitled Forging a Path to Racial Justice in response to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent demonstrations for racial unity that followed.
  • See as well their website Race Unity Action.
  • See also The Bahá’í Response to Racial Injustice and Pursuit of Racial Unity Part 1 (1912-1996) and Part 2 (1996-2021). [BWNS1514]
    		• Wilmette; United States Racial amity; Race (general); Race unity; Racism; Statements; Public discourse
    2020. 22 Jul The Universal House of Justice addressed a message to the Bahá'ís of the United States on the subject racism in their country. [22 July 2020]
  • Audio version.
    		•  BWC; United States Racism

    from the main catalogue

    1. Abdu'l-Baha and "The Other", by Jan T. Jasion (2021-02). On xenophobia; Abdu'l-Bahá's response to it; his reactions to certain newspapers; the impact of xenophobia on digitized collections; some comments by Bahá'u'lláh on journalism. Text of a webinar presented to the Wilmette Institute (December, 2020). [about]
    2. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Encounter with Modernity during His Western Travels, by Wendi Momen, in Lights of Irfan, 13 (2012). Abdu'l-Bahá's responses to the West's technology and innovations on the one hand, vs. its archaic racist and sexual philosophies on the other. [about]
    3. African Americans in the United States, by Universal House of Justice (1996-04-01). Comments about what public role might be played by the Bahá'í Faith in America to ameliorate the difficulties faced by African-American males. [about]
    4. Africanity, Womanism, and Constructive Resilience: Some Reflections, by Layli Maparyan, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 30:3 (2020). The meanings of the metaphor "pupil of the eye;" experiences of growing up African-American in the West; overcoming cosmological negation; the African worldview on nature, humanity, and creation; gendered expressions of African culture. [about]
    5. Aplicación del Programa de acción para el Segundo Decenio de la lucha contra el racismo y la discriminación racial, by Bahá'í International Community (1947-02). lucha contra el racismo [about]
    6. Bahá'í Approaches to World Problems, by Iscander Micael Tinto (2013). Historical, religious, scientific, and economical analysis of the state of the world and how the various problems of humanity should be faced, based on the Bahá’í Writings and some contemporary philosophical and scientific theories. [about]
    7. Black and Beautiful: Skin Color in the Biblical Song of Songs, by Ted Brownstein (2023). Racial biases can be found in several translations of the biblical Song of Solomon; a look at the original Hebrew from the perspectives of morphology and syntax can give insights into a contextually accurate translation of these controversial passages. [about]
    8. Centering the "Pupil of the Eye": Blackness, Modernity, and the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Derik Smith, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 29:1-2 (2019). The "pupil of the eye" metaphor is a deeply consequential, distinguishing feature of the transformative social and spiritual system laid out in Bahá’u’lláh's Revelation. [about]
    9. Combatiendo el Racismo, by Bahá'í International Community (1983). Declaración presentada a la Segunda Conferencia Mundial para Combatir el Racismo y la Discriminación Racial. Ginebra, Suiza, 1­12 de agosto de 1983 [about]
    10. Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation, by Jennifer Harvey: Review, by Dianne Coin, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 27:3 (2017). [about]
    11. Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Nine Year Plan, by Universal House of Justice (2022-11-01). Matters relating to the Nine Year Plan (2022-2031), ethnic and cultural diversity, the human family's crisis of identity, prejudice, Africa, and economic injustice. [about]
    12. Disinvestment: Is It a Bahá'í Issue?, by Marjan Nirou, in dialogue magazine, 1:1 (1986). Economic sanctions as a response to apartheid, the background of South Africa, Bahá'í approaches to preventing racism, and imprisoned children. Includes replies by Steven Scholl, Jihmye Collins, Paul Caprez, Lawrence Miller, and Drew Remignanti. [about]
    13. Letter on Racism in the United States, by Universal House of Justice (2020-07-22). Letter on need for American people to grasp the moment to create a reform of its social order related to racial prejudice, and the Bahá’í community’s distinctive contribution to the eradication of racism. [about]
    14. Letter to the United States and Canada on racism, 1961, by Ruhiyyih (Mary Maxwell) Khanum (1961-03-09). [about]
    15. List of Articles on BahaiTeachings.org, by Christopher Buck (2020). List of online essays and articles by Christopher Buck since 2014. [about]
    16. Memoirs of Frances Bradford Jones Edelstein, by Frances Bradford Jones Edelstein (1999). Memoirs of the first pioneer to Famagusta (as requested by Shoghi Effendi to pioneer from the City of the Covenant to the City of the Arch-Breaker of the Covenant), and pilgrim to Haifa in December 1953. First written June 1985, completed April 1999. [about]
    17. Native American Vision and the Teachings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, by Paula Bidwell (2011). Presentation addressing issues of concern to Native Americans, cast in the light of statements of Abdu'l-Bahá from his 1912 visit to the United States. [about]
    18. Pupil of the Eye, The: African Americans in the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, by Báb, The and Bahá'u'lláh, 2nd edition (1998). A compilation of references in the Bahá'í writings to African-Americans and those of African descent. [about]
    19. Race and Racism: Perspectives from Bahá'í Theology and Critical Sociology, by Matthew Hughey, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 27:3 (2017). Review of the concepts of race and racism based on social scientific understanding, in order to better understand their definition and to delineate their relation to one another, and correlate them with the Bahá'í Writings. [about]
    20. Reconsidering the Civil Rights Era in the Footsteps of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by June Thomas, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 31:4 (2022-09). On principles of racial prejudice and 1960s South Carolina, including the fallacy of racial prejudice, the need to judge people by their moral character rather than their race, and the responsibilities of different races toward each other. [about]
    21. Rising to the Challenge of Reconciliation, by Roshan Danesh and Douglas White III, in Bahá'í World (2023-01-08). Analyzing the legacy of colonialism and racism in Canada and examining the profound, multifaceted process of social transformation that genuine reconciliation implies. [about]
    22. Road Less Travelled By, The, by John S. Hatcher, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 27:3 (2017). "From the Editor's Desk": Overview of this issue's articles regarding racism and proper responses to it, both among the general population and within the Bahá'í community itself. [about]
    23. Seeking Light in the Darkness of "Race", by Jamar M. Wheeler, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 27:3 (2017). A historical sketch of how race concepts evolved, with analysis at macro and micro levels of society. Oneness of mankind is an enlightening force that, through individual agency and collective social action, can transform society. [about]
    24. Still the Most Challenging Issue, by John S. Hatcher, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 29:1-2 (2019). "From the Editor's Desk": On race, racism, and the American Bahá'í community. [about]
    25. Una misma sustancia: Crear conscientemente una cultura mundial de unidad, by Bahá'í International Community (2001-09). Exposición escrita presentada por la Comunidad Internacional Bahá'i en la Conferencia Mundial contra el Racismo, la Discriminación Racial, la Xenofobia y las Formas Conexas de Intolerencia [about]
    26. Usage of the Word "Negro" in Writings of Shoghi Effendi, by Universal House of Justice (2021-01-21). Brief letter about the historically evolving use of racial terminology, and avoiding offense. [about]
     
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