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The Vision Of Race Unity
America’s Most Challenging Issue
A Statement by the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá’ís of the United States
Our appeal is addressed primarily to the individual American, because the
transformation of a whole nation ultimately depends on the initiative and
change of character of the individuals who compose it. No great idea or plan
of action by the government or other interested organizations can hope to
succeed if the individual neglects to respond in his or her own way as personal
circumstances and opportunities permit. And so we respectfully and urgently
call upon our fellow Americans of whatever background to look at the racial
situation with new eyes and with a new determination to lend effective support
to the resolution of a problem that hinders the advance of this great republic
toward the full realization of its glorious destiny.
We mention the experience of the Bahá’í community not from any feeling of
pride and ultimate victory, because that which we have accomplished still
falls short of that to which we aspire; nonetheless, the results to date are
most encouraging, and it is as a means of encouragement that we call attention
to them.
From its inception in 1863 the Bahá’í community was dedicated to the principle
of the unity of humankind. Bahá’ís rely upon faith in God, daily prayer, meditation,
and study of sacred texts to effect the transformation of character necessary
for personal growth and maturity; however, their aim is to create a world
civilization that will in turn react upon the character of the individual.
Thus the concept of personal salvation is linked to the salvation, security,
and happiness of all the inhabitants of the earth and stems from the Bahá’í
belief that “the world of humanity is a composite body” and that “when one
part of the organism suffers all the rest of the body will feel its consequence.”
Guided and inspired by such principles, the Bahá’í community has accumulated
more than a century of experience in creating models of unity that transcend
race, culture, nationality, class, and the differences of sex and religion,
providing empirical evidence that humanity in all its diversity can live as
a unified global society. Bahá’ís see unity as the law of life; consequently,
all prejudices are perceived as diseases that threaten life. Rather than considering
that the unity of humankind can be established only after other problems afflicting
it have been solved, Bahá’ís believe that both spiritual and material development
are dependent upon love and unity. Therefore, the Bahá’ís offer the teachings
of their Faith and the example of their community for examination, convinced
that these can make a contribution toward the eradication of racism endemic
in American society. We do so with firm faith in the assistance of our Creator,
Who, out of His infinite love, brought forth all humanity from the same stock
and intended that all belong to the same household. We believe, moreover,
that the day of the unification of the entire human race has come and that
“the potentialities inherent in the station of man, the innate excellence
of his reality, must all be manifested in this promised Day of God.”
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| Copyright © 1991 by the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá’ís of the United States— All rights reserved. |
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