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compiled fm Pupil of the Eye #44, Champions of Oneness p212, Power of Unity
He is well aware that the conditions within the ranks of the believers in respect to race prejudice is [sic] far from being as it should be. However, he feels very strongly that it presents a challenge to both white and coloured believers.
As we neither feel nor acknowledge any distinction between the duties and privileges of a Baha'i, whoever he may be, it is incumbent upon the Negro believers to rise above this great test which the attitude of some of their White brethren may present. They must accept the Cause of Baha'u'llah for the sake of the Cause, love it, and cling to it, and teach it, and fight for it as their own Cause, forgetful of the shortcomings of others. Any other attitude is unworthy of their faith.
Proud and happy in the praises which even Baha'u'llah Himself has bestowed upon them, they must feel He revealed Himself for them and every other downtrodden race, loves them, and will help them to attain their destiny.
“The whole race question in America is a national one and of great importance. But the Negro friends must not waste their precious opportunity to serve the Faith, in these momentous days, by dwelling on the admitted shortcomings of the white friends. They must arise to serve and teach, confident of the future in which we know these barriers will have once and for all been overcome.
“… The more Negroes who become Bahá’ís, the greater the leaven will be within their own race working for harmony and friendship between these two bodies of American citizens: the white and the colored.
May the Beloved of our hearts guide and sustain you in your constant activities, enable you to increase the number of the coloured believers, whose interests are close to my heart, and for whom I continually and ardently beseech the guidance and the blessings of Bahá'u'lláh.
1942-02-09 to Sarah Oglesby re the race issue
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