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Brethren,
An interesting conversation came up on another forum in a blog (KUDOS to Bro. Steve Brettell (GLMD) for the heads-up).
A "mainstream" Brother was approached by an African American candidate and wondered how to broach the delicate topic of historic and institutional racism in Freemasonry, when talking to a candidate.
He wonders how to explain why there are "mainstream" and Prince Hall organizations, and is embarrassed to talk about that history, but feels conflicted about withholding information that Prince Hall Masonry exists, so he doesn't see that as an option either.
I have my own opinions about that particular dilemma and how it should be handled, but I thought it was a good question to ask you Brethren here.
If you have a candidate to Masonry, do you let him know that there is an alternative in your state? Is your decision on what to tell, and when, influenced by whether the candidate is Caucasian or African American?
Do you tell your candidate(s) that there is a "mainstream" choice and a Prince Hall choice, and let him make a decision, or do you bring him into your Lodge's petition process without mentioning Prince Hall (if you're "mainstream") or "Mainstream" (if you're Prince Hall)?
Enquiring minds want to know.
WFR,
.·. Rashied ~
(37) MWPHGL-NY
--
"Si Opus Quadratum vis, angulos praecidere noli..."
(If you want Square Work, you don't cut corners...)
This is a very important point to bring up and I'm glad you did.
It's very hush hush because of the delicate nature of the question. It seems very little will be done until we really grab the bull by the horns and say do we want integration of do we want to have separate lodges.
In my lodge just last week there was a letter from the Grand Master read out loud reiterating that if any member of both GL's wants to travel to the other side for a visit all they need to do is call ahead and say they want to sit in. s long as you prove yourself a MM you will be welcomed.
That to me said a lot about the state of the union and that we are moving ahead.
So now it's up to us to go there or to receive the visiting brethren.
I agree, Bro. Cory; it's hush hush because we have not stood up and dealt with it. As a member of the Philalethes Society, I traveled to Washington DC in '01 to visit for the Annual Feast & Forum, and met a ton of Caucasian Brethren. I'd been talking with them on-line for better than two years, and putting faces with names was good. Heck, it was great.
I recognized in this an opportunity to get some Brethren out of the insular shell and into the broader world of Masonry, and a way to get some Brethren who knew little or nothing of black Masons a chance to know some, and decided that this would be my small part in bridging gaps and ending the apartheid that we have known so long.
I have continued doing that with as many Brethren as are willing to travel with me. There are other societies and memberships to which I belong that I have done the same with.
We need to come down out of the towers, be they ivory or slate, and exchange the doggoned grips. I have closed my eyes to sleep in the homes of four "mainstream" Masons in as many states, over the years, and any man that I feel to be a true Brother has as open an invitation into mine. I don't care if he is as black as my Navy last shoes, or as white as the paper I'm printing out on. If he's a Mason, then he's a Mason, but I mean a real Mason, not a card-carrier. Nothing can make a Brother know what that fellowship is like until he samples it for himself. And when he knows it, he can settle for nothing less from Masonry.
Bro. Cory, remind me of your Lodge's particulars; when and where? Mine is at 454 W. 155th St., near St. Nicholas Ave, third Monday evenings at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. for degree work). You have a standing invitation, if the GLs are in amity. If not, then we'll have to work on that, and meanwhile, we can visit in a juris that recognizes both of ours. Where are you?
I myself think honesty is best here. Not telling someone of all the choices may leave them feeling as though they have not been delt with truthfully. If I had a canadate that I thought enough of to bring into my lodge, I would want to be as truthfull as possible. He at that point could make his own choice. Chances are this will be a friend of yours in some way, someone you respect? Does he not deserve to know the past? Without knowing the past we are doomed to never change. Just my opinion.
Cory Sigler
created this social network on Ning. 