Some White Quakers in the United States are engaging in anti-racist work and seeking to create more inclusive meetings. That work includes a frank examination of White American Quakers’ historical track record of participation in white supremacy, as well as an acknowledgment of the ways in which Friends today continue to benefit from their privilege. It also includes a public commitment to redress these wrongs. As the Black Quaker Project recommends on its website, “Friends must be dedicated to reconciliation, as well as social, economic, psychological, cultural, and political rehabilitation and healing.”
One indication that a meeting is working toward greater inclusivity is an anti-racist minute. When you speak with members of a Quaker meeting, you can ask if their meeting has ever recorded such a minute; you might also find it displayed on their website. The Black Quaker Project suggests such a minute might contain an admission of the role previous generations of Quakers played in the enslavement of African people, and of the ways contemporary Friends continue to benefit from the wealth generated by an economy built on slave labor. It could also declare the meeting’s intention to make amends for that history of oppression directed at people of color.
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For example, Abington Meeting in Pennsylvania adopted a Minute of Reconciliation in 2021 which reads, in part,
“We acknowledge that the land our meeting house and school currently occupy was once home for the Lenni-Lenape. We also acknowledge that early members of our Meeting were members of the white settler population which benefited from the takeover of land and from the violence committed against Indigenous Peoples as a result of such actions as the Doctrine of Discovery, the Walking Purchase, and Quaker Indian Boarding Schools. We acknowledge that some early members of our Meeting were enslavers and that the enslavement of Africans contributed to the accumulated wealth we have today. We apologize for these truths not being fully acknowledged by us sooner and because these actions have contributed to the physical and emotional trauma still being experienced today.”
The minute states that members seek to honor the legacy of abolitionists. They intend to atone for previous generations’ mistreatment of Black and indigenous, people by establishing the Bothwell Reparations Fund.
Cannon Valley Friends Meeting in Northfield, Minn. adopted a minute that uses similar language.
Drawing on the Pendle Hill pamphlet Race, Systemic Violence, and Retrospective Justice by Harold D. Weaver, Cannon Valley’s minute goes on to outline some examples of how white privilege is sustained today. Examples include not teaching the history of Black, indigenous, and people of color, violence by police officers, hiring discrimination, and lack of funding for schools serving predominantly students of color.
In addition to whatever inclusivity efforts a local meeting might be making, people of color seeking community and support within the broader Friends community can attend two weekly virtual meetings for worship, sponsored by Friends General Conference, intended specifically for Quakers of color. FGC also holds an additional monthly worship meeting, and two more monthly virtual meetings for worship geared toward BIPOC women..
Meanwhile, Friends of European descent who wish to work against racism can attend FGC’s virtual meeting for worship for White Friends Confronting Racism, or their annual White Privilege Conference.
We cannot promise that every Quaker meeting is guided by such a spirit of inclusivity—or even that every Friend within a meeting that professes a commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion is fully on board with that mission. Although the full equality of all people in the eyes of God has been a core belief of Quakerism almost from the beginning, generations of Quakers undercut that belief by their prejudicial treatment of people of color. Even today, some White Friends, and some meetings, have made greater headway in examining their privilege than others. But we are optimistic that more and more Friends are undertaking the effort to address the legacy of racism in our society. The best way to find out whether the Quakers you’ve met are doing that work is to spend time with them.
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Learn more at Friends Journal
“The Role of White Quakers in Ending Racism,” Dorothy H.L. Carroll
“Friends, Race, and Systemic Change,” Andrea Ayvazian
“A Journey toward Eliminating Racism in the Religious Society of Friends,” Vanessa Julye
“Recognizing Racism, Seeking Truth,” Inga Erickson
“A Quaker Antiracist Reading List,” FJ Staff