Skip to main content

Black and White: America’s Most Critical  and Challenging Issue                       

So, we observed the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s famed “I have a Dream” speech recently. The anniversary presented us the perfect opportunity to reflect on how those four words helped change the course of the history of this great nation.

Yes. We have made remarkable progress during the past five decades in terms of racial disparity. African Americans now hold senior positions in the military, business and politics. America has produced many African American cultural icons. Interracial marriages are widely accepted in the society now.

Yet, not withstanding the efforts already expended for its elimination, racism continues to work its evil upon this nation even after a half a century. Racism runs deep. It infects the hearts of both Whites and African Americans. Progress toward tolerance, mutual respect, and unity has been painfully slow and marked with repeated setbacks. In spite of all advances made by African Americans, prejudice and discrimination against them have created a disparity in standards of living, providing some with excessive economic advantage while denying others the bare necessities for leading healthy and dignified lives. Poor housing, deficient diet, inadequate health care, insufficient education are consequences of poverty that afflict the minorities more than they afflict the rest of the population. 

The recent resurgence of divisive racial attitudes, the increased number of racial incidents, high unemployment among African Americans and the deepening despair of minorities and the poor make the need for solutions ever more pressing and urgent. To ignore this issue is to expose the this vast country to physical, moral and spiritual danger.

More than a century ago Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, wrote: "The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established."

There is a lot of truth in this statement. Let there be no mistake. Changes in this country will come about only when we consider the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.  Recognition of this truth compels the abandonment of all prejudices of race, color, creed, nation, and class of "everything which enables people to consider themselves superior to others." 

The ignorance and prejudice have led to endless conflicts in the name of the sanctity of color, race, and religion. No matter what, the only way racial prejudices and unfair treatment of minorities can be eliminated when people take time to care about each other and treat them with respect.
The application of the spiritual principle of the oneness of humanity to the life of the nation would necessitate and make possible vast changes in the economic status of the non-white segments of the population. 

Healing the wounds and building a society in which the whites, African Americans and other minorities live as members of one family are the most pressing issues confronting America today. America’s prosperity, and even the country’s standing in the international community depend to a great extent on the resolution of this challenging issue.

Nat Yogachandra                                            
nyogachandra@yahoo.com
585-545-1785
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

VISIT TO ABDUL BAHA VILLAGE IN MYANMAR (BURMA)

In 1989, the military government in Burma, officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period, including that of the country itself: "Burma" became “Myanmar.” The name Burma has been in use in English since the 18th century. Burmese are very friendly. Highlight of our visit to Burma included a visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda and Abdul Baha village. Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar. It is sacred to Buddhists from all over Asia and it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa. Myanmar's military yielded to a civilian government in 2010 and has dramatically reshaped its economy, opening up various sectors, including energy and infrastructure development, to direct foreign investment. Many foreign investors, especially from ASEAN countries rushed to set up factories and raze old neighborhoods to build luxury housing estates. New hotels and large condominiums...

Visit to Safe Haven orphanage in Mae Sot, Thailand

January 1, 2010: During the Christmas 2009 break, Debbie and I visited an orphanage along the Thai-Burmese border in the northern part of Thailand. Our Foundation has recently built water towers to collect and store water for the children throughout the year for this orphanage. Our trip to this area was to visit several orphans who are currently sponsored by the Foundation. These children are from Karen tribes who are refugees from Burma. It all began about 15 years ago, when Mrs. Tasanee Keereepraneed received a frantic message from a local villager in Tha Song Yang, which is about 3 hours north of Mae Sot province on the Thai-Burmese border, that a little girl had lost her mother during birth. In Karen culture this is interpreted as a bad omen, and the child is often killed. Having lost her own father at a young age and her children also having lost their father when Tasanee ’s husband was murdered, Tasanee decided that she, if anyone should be the person responsible for caring ...

BUILDING A COMMUNITY IN A VILLAGE IN BIHAR, INDIA

Bihar is a State in India, where Lord Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist Religion is said to have attained enlightenment under the Banyan tree. Millions of Buddhists around the globe go on pilgrimage to this place. But, in a small village in the Bihar sharif cluster, about 80 km from Patna, the capital city of the State of Bihar, the villagers are striving hard to build a community that will contribute to the spiritual and material transformation of society. I had the distinct opportunity of visiting the Bihar sharif cluster and meeting with the villagers and the chief of the village. To create such a society, it is essential that every one in the village be empowered to participate in the constructive process that will give rise to it. It is just happening in this small village of population 2,000. The village is called Hargawan. I visited this village during my recent trip to India and my trip was coordinated by Mr. Rajnish Singh, an Auxiliary Board Member (ABM), an appointed mem...