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This opinion column was submitted by former Bradford resident Nauzanin A Knight, now a writer living in Edmonton.
I’m writing to collect my thoughts and find other like-minded people to walk with me on this path.
In the past few days, the extraordinary acts of love for our fellow human beings that burgeoned during the coronavirus crisis, have been overshadowed by inconceivable acts of violence, motivated by, among other things, racial hatred.
Swift as the act which claimed an innocent life, we were reminded that we are battling another kind of invisible scourge, another kind of pervasive and persistent enemy. We were reminded that this other sickness is “…a grave malady which, unless arrested, is capable of causing the destruction of the whole human race.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá)
I’m writing this at a time when people have lost hope in their institutions. I’m writing this at a time when we’ve seen that we are still afflicted by the same ills that plagued our last generation, and the one before that, and the one before that, and the one before that. We’ve heard that change will come.
We’ve heard slogans from politicians and leaders, the would-be “messiahs” of the day, claiming that they will bring the change. We’ve heard others begging us to be the change.
We’ve seen the news and social media platforms flooded with images pointing to the contrary, suggesting that nothing has changed. There are so many conflicting narratives that it’s dizzying.
There are so many outspoken voices, capturing only fragments of the human experience, that they are deafening. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the barrage of opinion; if you cannot bear to see another frame of conflict, or read another tweet of inciting advice, you are not alone.
So, I’m writing to seek out other voices in this discourse, measured voices, voices that search after truth, voices that set aside hurt and hate and seek, more than anything else unity and love.
I’m seeking out voices that represent people of all colours, of all walks of life, of all faiths, of all ages and genders. I’m writing because I cannot bear to see another moment like the one that the human race has just experienced.
But, I am also trying to discern what we can glean from this moment, like those from the previous crisis that the pandemic brought.
I’m writing to invite people to join me in acknowledging that this is a prime moment; not for chaos, not for looting or violence and certainly not for withdrawing within ourselves or the communities we know all too well, but to acknowledge the fact that all races are coming together and speaking in the language of solidarity and oneness-- a coming together unlike those witnessed in other eras.
I am seeing that some whites are making “a supreme effort in their resolve to contribute their share to the solution of this problem, to abandon once and for all their … at times subconscious sense of superiority, to correct their tendency towards revealing a patronizing attitude towards the members of the other race..”
I am hoping that the whites will continue to convince their Black brothers and sisters, “through their intimate, spontaneous and informal association with them of the genuineness of their friendship and the sincerity of their intentions, and to master their impatience of any lack of responsiveness on the part of a people who have received, for so long a period, such grievous and slow-healing wounds.” (Shoghi Effendi).
As a woman of colour, I know that now is not the time to close ourselves off to the arms of our White brothers and sisters that are reaching out to embrace us, now is not the time to shut the portals of those progressive, reconciling conversations that must need happen if we are to move forward as a humanity in our collective search after true and lasting peace.
On the contrary, let us welcome any effort at conciliation and mutual understanding. If any efforts at conciliation seem misinformed, let us patiently guide others to understand your truth.
“Let neither think that the solution of so vast a problem is a matter that exclusively concerns the other. Let neither think that such a problem can either easily or immediately be resolved. Let neither think that they can wait confidently for the solution of this problem until the initiative has been taken, and the favorable circumstances created, by agencies….” (Shoghi Effendi).
Because it is in these moments of crises that the greatest victories can be won.
It is in these moments that underlying misconceptions and prejudgments which must be eradicated from the face of the earth will be uncovered and can be overcome.
How else, other than coming together and practicing the unity of mankind, will unity be achieved? How else other than a slow process in which patience and loving kindness are practiced between people of different races will a nation’s “deep spiritual disorder”, “deeply ingrained racial prejudice” be wholly obliterated.
How else will we come to recognize, not just at a cognitive level, but truly believe, in the fact that “God did not make these divisions; these divisions have had their origin in man himself?” (Abduʼl-Bahá).
How else, other than if we “strive earnestly” and “put forth [our] greatest endeavour” will be accomplished “this fellowship and the cementing of this bond of brotherhood between” us? (Abduʼl-Bahá).
How else will we “[Cast] away once and for all the fallacious doctrine of racial superiority, with all its attendant evils, confusion, and miseries, and welcoming and encouraging the inter mixture of races, and [tear] down the barriers that now divide them” other than if we “should each endeavor, day and night, to fulfill [our] particular responsibilities in the common task which so urgently face [us]”? (Shoghi Effendi).
How else will we overcome “one of the most baneful and persistent evils” and “major barrier to peace,” whose “practice perpetrates too outrageous a violation of the dignity of human beings to be countenanced under any pretext”; which “retards the unfoldment of the boundless potentialities of its victims, corrupts its perpetrators, and blights human progress”, (The Universal House of Justice) unless we recognize universally and take every available moment to practice in our daily lives the oneness of mankind?
We cannot allow racism to be a phenomenon that we fancy doesn’t exist, that we imagine we’ve done our utmost to eradicate, until it rears its ugly head in the form of brutality, hate speech, unspeakable acts of violence.
If we are to achieve freedom from racial prejudice, in any of its forms, it must be “deliberately cultivated through the various and everyday opportunities, no matter how insignificant, that present themselves, whether in [our] homes, [our] business offices, [our] schools and colleges, [our] social parties and recreation grounds…” (Shoghi Effendi).
I’m writing to ask anyone reading this to engage with your loved ones and neighbors and create spaces for conversation, and even more important, opportunities for action:
“...The evils of racism, materialism, and moral decadence will be eradicated only by a love that is translated into action―such actions as deliberately going out of our way to befriend all, appreciating the indispensable contributions of all, and joining hands with all in the creation of a new world.” (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States).
I’m writing because I cannot stay silent about the incontrovertible truth that humanity is one; that “ignorance of this truth―which embodies the very spirit of the Age―is itself a form of oppression, for without it, it is impossible to build a truly just and peaceful world.” (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States).
"Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness.” Bahá’u’lláh
Excerpts have been taken from the originally published piece on the Edmonton Bahai Community website, where the references are cited.
