The Vision of Race Unity
Farzin Aghdasi
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This article was
first read at a forum at the University of British Columbia, 1994
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Racism is an affront to human dignity, a cause of hatred and division, a disease that devastates society. It is the most challenging issue confronting us all.
Racism , one of the most baneful and persistent evils, is a major barrier to peace. Its practice perpetrates too outrageous a violation of the dignity of human beings to be countenanced under any pretext. Racism retards the unfoldment of the boundless potentialities of its victims, corrupts its perpetrators, and blights human progress.
Notwithstanding the efforts already expended for its elimination, racism continues to work its evil upon our society. Progress towards tolerance, mutual respect and unity has been painfully slow and marked with repeated setbacks. The recent resurgence of divisive racial attitudes, the increased number of racial incidents, and the deepening feeling of despair and alienation among races make the need for solution ever more pressing and urgent.
The Baha'i Faith views the current predicament in relation to the humanity's collective coming of age. Having gone through the stages of infancy and turbulent adolescence, humanity is now approaching maturity, a stage that will witness "the reconstruction and demilitarization of the whole civilized world - a world organically unified in all essential aspects of its life". Recognition of the oneness of mankind must be universally upheld if this problem is to be overcome.
The oneness of humanity is a spiritual truth abundantly confirmed by science. Recognition of this truth compels the abandonment of all prejudices of race, colour, creed, nation and class - of "everything which enables people to consider themselves superior to others". "The principle of oneness of mankind is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope...It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal...It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced."
Evidence of the negative effect of racial and ethnic conflict has prompted a number of businesses and corporations to institute educational programs that teach conflict resolution and are designed to eliminate racial and ethnic tensions from the workplace. This fact is indicative of the glaring deficiency of the entire educational system in this regard. A program of education, emphasizing the values of unity in diversity, would be a most important step toward the elimination of racism and, as a consequence, the bolstering of the economy.
If however such educational programs are intended primarily to save the economy, no enduring solution will be found to the disastrous consequences of racism. Beyond the mechanisms of education lies the essential prerequisite of a proper attitude on the part of those dispensing curricula and, even more important, on the part of society as a whole.
It is entirely human to fail if that which is most important to people's self-perception is denied them - namely, the dignity they derive from a genuine regard by others for their stature as human beings. The absence of this atmosphere of mutual respect and genuine appreciation, causes hopelessness for the victims of racism; and in a state of hopelessness people lose the coherent moral powers to realize their potential.
Such an attitude of genuine regard for others of a different race or culture can not be engendered in isolation by schools, businesses or governments. It needs to be grounded in a spiritual and moral truth that all acknowledge and accept as their own. Despite atrocities committed in the name of religion throughout ages, a revitalization of the common spiritual truth in all religions, stripped of their doctrinal rigidity, is a potent instrument that should serve us well in cultivating such attitudes of love and forbearance.
The responsibility for the achievement of racial peace and unity rests upon all people. All must be animated by the spirit of optimism and faith in the eventual realization of their highest aspirations. None can assume that the responsibility for the elimination of prejudice belongs exclusively to the other side.
There are those who seek relief in the notion that each racial or ethnic group must stake out its own cultural and social territories and stay within them. Even if at all possible, would this not be a retreat from our common humanity?
Baha'u'llah, the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith wrote over a century ago: "The tabernacle of unity has been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch."
The fundamental solution to racism --- the one that will reduce violence in all its forms, regenerate and focus the intellectual and moral energy of minorities, and make them partners in the construction of a progressive society --- rests ultimately on the common recognition of the oneness of mankind.