RACISM IN WT

by stillAwitness 27 Replies latest jw friends

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  stillAwitness

  This article entitled :JWS, Blacks and Discrimination emailed to me from an "inactive" friend of mine. I don't know wether to be hurt or just plain pissed. My question is has anyone read or seen any hints of racism amongst the WT even nowadays?

  "...our colored brothers have great cause for rejoicing. Their race is meek and teachable and from it comes a high percentage of the theocratic increase" (WT feb. 1, '52.)

  "A little while and the Millenial kingdom will be inaugurated , which will bring restituion to all makind-restituition to the perfection of mind and body, feature and color, to the grand original standard which God declared very good and which was lost for a time through sin." (WT, APr. 1, 1914)

  "...Julius Jackson of New Franfurt Montana a negro boy of nine years began to grow white in Sept., 1901 and is now fully nine-tenths whie. He assures is that this is no whitish skin-diesease but that the new white skin if as healthy as any white boy." (Zion's WT Feb. 15, 1904) I'm guessing there talking about vitiligo?? How weird is that??

  "There are probably as many as a hundred colored brethren on the WatchTower lists, some of them very clear in the truth and very earnest, financially and other wise" but were not allowed to participate in pioneer work because: " although we have recieved letters from several of these...they rightly realize that we have not the slightest of race prejudice and that we love the colored brethren with just the same warmth of heart...the reason is colored people have less education than white -many of them insufficient" (Zion WT Feb. 15, 1904)

  "We are not able to determine that Ham and Caanan are negroes but we consider that geneal view as probable as any other (Zion WT July 15, 1902) This was under an article entiled: The Negro is Not A Beast)

  What does this all mean? Every day I learn a little more about this religion I was born into and sometimes it gets all too much too handle.
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  blondie

  I will say this, the WTS reflected the thinking of their times regarding vocabulary. The NAACP (Colored People) still used that term to date. A true measure would be how does the WTS compare to the community at large now more than 40 years after 1964 and the end of Jim Crow laws.

  My experience in the WTS was that discrimination was more on a financial level. But black brothers have not risen too high, too quickly even in the WTS. It took 121 years for a black brother to be on the GB or board of directors.

  Blondie
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  Armani

  Come on guys, anyone who knows the witnesses know they aren't racist...at least give them that.

  In the past, they used to write a lot of weird stuff, things are different now...relax with the racism...
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  mrsjones5

  Just because you havent seen it dont mean it aint there Armani
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  Jordan

  My uncle was restricted from progressing beyond being a ministerial servant, because of his skin colour, they cited his extended family(two uncles, one DFed, on DAed, not even on his side of the family, they were from our side) as being a reason for not allowing him to become an elder, despite the fact that another member of the family was an elder, only difference being that he was white. Perhaps it's not racism, but surely it points out that there isn't racial equality within the organisation.
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  stillAwitness

  yeah, things we different in those times like blondie said but still..they did belive blacks we cursed and we'd all would turn to the "original color"

  Even now were taught that we'll all be speaking what is it? Hebrew in new system.
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  Mary

  "...Julius Jackson of New Franfurt Montana a negro boy of nine years began to grow white in Sept., 1901 and is now fully nine-tenths whie. He assures is that this is no whitish skin-diesease but that the new white skin if as healthy as any white boy."

  Am I the only one picking up on this? Look at the last name. I wonder if this boy was an ancestor of Michael Jackson who bleaches his skin whiter than white also has this disease.
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  I quit!

  I have met a few JWs who were racist in some ways but not very many. The witnesses I knew didn't care about color.
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  AuldSoul

  Here's the thing: From my viewpoint they would have an "enlightened" perception compared to the times, if actually guided by holy spirit.

  AuldSoul
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  Inquisitor

  I think we've sorta moved from commenting on the contents of the watchtower magazines to the conduct of JW's in general.

  Re: WT - I don't believe that we have a legitimate cause for concern with regards to what was in the watchtower a 100 years ago. I mean obviously people spoke differently a century ago! I have never known any Watchtowers to reflect genuine malice for people of a certain race. Feel free to prove me wrong.

  Re: Witnesses - What I have seen are some Witnesses who fail to fully adopt the Christian code of love and impartiality. Witnesses who kowtow to a particular race but treat members of their own race with indifference. I've also seen some who do the exact opposite. Though these colour-conscious Witnesses should not be used to accuse the WTS of racism, they do invalidate the claim that theirs is the true religion on the basis of them ALL "having love for one another".

  INQ