Seeking Light in the Darkness of Race
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Jamar M. Wheeler, Seeking Light in the Darkness of Race, bahai-library.com.
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Seeking Light in                                force éclairante qui, lorsqu’elle se traduit
par des actions sociales individuelles et
the Darkness of                                 collectives, a le pouvoir de transformer la
société à mesure que des actions à petite
“Race”1                                         échelle se combinent et entraînent des
mouvements d’envergure communautaire.

Resumen
JAMAR M. WHEELER                                En este artículo, el autor explora el
Abstract                                        racismo a través de una lente que integra
In this article, the author explores racial-    una perspectiva sociológica e informada
ism through a lens that integrates a socio-     por la Fe Bahá’í. Se ofrece un bosquejo
logical and Bahá’í-informed perspective. A      histórico de cómo el concepto de la
historical sketch of how the race concept       raza evolucionó, junto con un análisis
evolved is offered, along with a contempo-      contemporáneo de lo que la historia ha
rary analysis of what history has wrought       formado en los niveles macro y micro de
at the macro and micro levels of society.       la sociedad. Viendo el racismo como un
Viewing racialism as a dark, subjugating        aspecto oscuro y subyugante en la vida
aspect of social life, the author presents      social, el autor presenta la unidad de la
the oneness of mankind as an enlighten-         humanidad como una fuerza iluminadora.
ing force that, when actualized through         Esa fuerza cuando se actualiza a través de
individual agency and collective social ac-     una agencia individual y una acción social
tion, has the power to transform society as     colectiva, tiene el poder de transformar la
small-scale efforts snowball into commu-        sociedad, de los esfuerzos pequeños a los
nity-level movements.                           movimientos de nivel comunitario

Resumé                                                       INTRODUCTION
Dans cet article, l’auteur examine le
racialisme à travers un prisme qui intègre      At this critical juncture in the life
à la fois la sociologie et la pensée bahá’íe.   of society, it is tempting to focus on
Il brosse un tableau de l’évolution du          the most visible signs of racial con-
concept de la race et offre une analyse         flict being featured on various media
contemporaine de ce que l’histoire a            platforms, whether mainstream news
engendré aux niveaux macro et micro de
outlets or social media. The level of
la société. Voyant dans le racialisme un
urgency that currently appears to be
aspect sombre et assujetissant de la vie
en société, l’auteur présente le concept
building up with respect to race2 is
de l’unité de l’humanité comme une
2 The word race has been used through-
1 I dedicate this article to the memo-        out this article with some regret given its
ry of Heather Heyer. I would also like to       insignificance with respect to its original
thank Jeremy Lambshead for his invalu-          biologistic intention. Its usage has been
able assistance in helping me improve this      employed due to its general usefulness for
article.                                        social discourse.
58                 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

largely a result of the level of media       While I acknowledge that there are
attention. However, I would argue         numerous examples of positive inter-
that the situation has been urgent for    racial interactions and social patterns,
a long while. Before the recent epi-      this article is focused on fundamental
sodes of teens and even preteens be-      questions such as why “race” seems
ing murdered with impunity, names         to be a permanent feature of society,
like Rodney King, Amadou Diallo,          how we got to the present situation
and Nicole Brown Simpson became           with respect to race, and what might
familiar to us. Albeit often under the    be some factors in liberating our social
radar of the news media, patterns of      world from the dark scourge of race.
racial inequality have persisted in the   As a result, this article tackles mainly
criminal justice system, at various so-   large-scale sociohistorical dynamics
cioeconomic metrics, and in the sense     that involve individuals, but mostly
of social esteem granted to those of a    transcend them, especially those who
particular racial background.             stand out as exceptions to the rule.
With this in mind, this article        Given the sensitive nature of race as a
seeks to analyze race primarily from a    subject matter, it could prove beneficial
sociohistorical perspective. This “big    for the reader to be mindful that terms
picture” approach, I would argue, is      such as “White,” “Black,” “whiteness,”
more effective in uncovering the so-      and several others are mostly em-
cial significance of race as opposed      ployed as general terms that do not
to focusing on highly visible inci-       imply a sweeping categorization of
dents that are, in the end, symptoms      every individual characterized as such.
or flare-ups of a deeper problem.            The scope of this article is, for the
Presented for your consideration is       most part, purposefully limited to the
a painstakingly forged reconciliation     United States, given its unique racial
of sociological, spiritual, and expe-     history and the sociological sense that
riential knowledge concerning race.       race looks different in different social
In other words, this article reflects a   contexts. Our exploration begins with
standpoint based on what I have thus      a sociological perspective that focuses
far gathered from sociological schol-     on the nature of race and how it has
arship and my study of the spiritual      expressed itself throughout US histo-
teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, all fil-   ry up to the present day at both the
tered through my personal experi-         structural and interpersonal levels of
ence. Despite the inherent challenges     society. It is established within this
and limitations, I believe that speak-    discussion that race has evolved from
ing about what I know to be true at       misguided ideas on human diversi-
this point in my holistic journey as a    ty to become a cancerous element of
Bahá’í and an aspiring scholar is the     our contemporary social structure
most effective way for me to contrib-     that subjugates the populace and con-
ute to the discourse.                     strains our ability to forge authentic
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                        59

interracial bonds. We then explore           generations to root out racism as a
insights from the Bahá’í Writings that       social force that perpetuates systemic
offer an enriching social vision regard-     and dehumanizing injustice means we
ing human diversity and the means to         are living under the weight of a racial-
establish community life conducive to        ized social structure in the United States
interracial brotherhood. Finally, I of-      (Bonilla-Silva, “Rethinking Racism”).
fer some thoughts on how attaining           Birthed by what those in power felt
and sustaining an authentic form of          were the exigencies of capitalistic ma-
identity, and deepening this transcen-       terialism, this racialized social struc-
dent sense of identity in the company        ture is animated by sociohistorical
of like-minded collaborators, is the         forces that place whiteness, as a way
key building block to constructing           of being, at the very center of social
transformative communities that em-          life, producing a system of social rela-
body the principle of the oneness of         tions that bestows privileges to those
humanity—the pivotal social verity           regarded as White and social burdens
of our time that unites science and          upon those regarded as non-White.
religion.                                    The racialized social structure exerts
As a whole, this article runs counter     a subjugating influence on society due
to at least two tendencies, one tied to      to its historical embeddedness and the
Bahá’í-centered discourse on race and        fact that we are born into this racial-
the other tied to the social sciences in     ized social environment, profoundly
general. Focused mainly on the cur-          shaped by it during our lifetime, and
rent moment and the racialized social        most likely to be outlived by it. As a re-
condition of the United States as a          sult, deep racial inequalities are widely
whole, there will be scant mention of        regarded as “the way it is,” something
the race amity initiatives spearheaded       that we are powerless to change rather
by the US Bahá’í community at var-           than an outcome of systemic injustice.
ious points in its history. This omis-       This means that efforts at counter-
sion is a result of both its peripheral      ing the forces released and sustained
relationship to my central thesis and a      by the racialized social structure will
purposeful choice to avoid any trium-        need to be revolutionary in character,
phalist tone when speaking on a del-         focused on the principle of universal
eterious aspect of society that has so       justice, and animated by forces that
far proven to be intractable. With re-       transcend material reality.
spect to the social sciences, this article       The animating principle that is con-
counters their inherent materialism          ducive to fueling such countering ef-
and the concomitant tendency to avoid        forts is the spirit of oneness. Seeing it as
metaphysical phenomena and their po-         the conscious expression of the one-
tential to effect social outcomes.           ness of humanity at the individual and
The primary assertion of this ar-         collective levels, those inspired by the
ticle is that the inability of previous      spirit of oneness will work for social
60                    The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

change and transform communities in            granted as “the way things are” (Berg-
direct accordance to the strength of           er and Luckmann). If subscribing to
the collaborations forged, and these           race had been just one option available
transformed communities will effect            in the “free market of ideas,” maybe
the institutional and cultural changes         the eventual collective realization that
that will ultimately lead to the de-ra-        it was a misguided idea would be all
cialization of society.                        we need to get over it and move on.
Instead, race was codified into law and
RACIALISM THROUGH A                   structured into the very life of soci-
SOCIOLOGICAL LENS                    ety through culture and custom (Zinn
38). An idea is fairly easy to discard,
While it is rare for contemporary so-          but the institutionalization of an idea
cial scientists to agree on a lot, there       and the resulting structural effects are
is general agreement regarding the             much harder to do away with. Under-
subject of race. There is a consensus          standing that race is a social construct
that although existing phenotypical            provides us with a gateway to a more
differences are real—exemplified in            nuanced understanding of it, which
diversity of skin color, facial features,      involves seeing the phenomenon as
and other physical characteristics—            rooted in false ideas yet carrying sig-
such differences are in no way rooted          nificant social consequences.
in mutually exclusive biological cate-
gories. In short, racial categories are        RACIALISM: IDEOLOGY
not a scientifically valid means of sub-       AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
dividing the human race. Given this
fact and the visible inequalities largely      One of the most prominent socio-
founded on a history of racialized dis-        logical theories built upon the social
crimination, social scientists consider        construction of race concept is racial
race to be a social construction.              formation. Scholars Michael Omi and
The social construction of race con-        Howard Winant argue that race is an
cept is based on the premise that while        unstable construct within the sphere
“race” is not real in a scientific sense, it   of social meanings that is constantly
is real in a social sense. Speaking very       being contested in the arena of po-
concisely, racialism began as a set of         litical struggle (116). The racial for-
ideas, and people then enacted these           mation process is animated by racial
ideas through their behaviors, crystal-        projects, which are said to be “histor-
lizing the ideas into a structure of be-       ically situated projects in which hu-
liefs, and this structure of beliefs over      man bodies and social structures are
time became encoded into the life of           represented and organized” (Omi and
society. In other words, race evolved          Winant 117). Each is “simultaneously
from false ideation in its genesis to an       an interpretation, representation, or
aspect of social reality that we take for      explanation of racial dynamics, and
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                  61

an effort to reorganize and redistrib-    to social meaning, we will see that
ute resources along particular racial     each era is profoundly shaped by forc-
lines” (117). At a macro level, the way   es tied to social power. The concept
in which race is interpreted directly     of hegemony becomes central to this
connects with social policy and how       conversation. For the purposes of
interventions either seek to uphold or    this article, hegemony represents a
attack the existing social structure.     system of ideas and social practices
For example, if race is regarded as a     that are promoted and maintained by
historical phenomenon that has lin-       a dominant group in society as a nec-
gering effects, such an interpretation    essary component to sustaining pop-
would tend to support policies aimed      ular consent to their authority. Once
at ameliorating past discrimination.      popular consent is generally achieved,
Conversely, if race is viewed as insig-   societal notions and related practices
nificant, as something to be ignored      emerge as a “common sense,” laying
regardless of what has taken place in     the foundation for the establishment
the past, such an interpretation would    of a hegemonic order. Although the
lend credence to a more “hands off ”      existence of a hegemonic order does
approach (Omi and Winant 118–19).         not negate the fact that social mean-
In short, the existence of numerous       ing is a contested terrain, it does
racial projects operating in the field    mean that it takes a concerted effort
of social action strongly suggests        to deconstruct and dislodge it (Omi
that the meaning of race is consis-       and Winant 127).
tently contested along political and         Additionally, it should not be lost
cultural lines.                           that during each of these periods, the
If racialism is a body of ideas, ra-   creed of material accumulation is the
cialization is the institutionalization   primary driver. While the conquest
of these ideas through dominant ra-       era can be defined by the rawness
cial projects and the internalization     of its capital accumulation process,
of the beliefs and practices concom-      during the nation-building period we
itant with a particular instance of       find that the process of accumulation
race-making. I would argue that the       is much more complex, involving a
evolution of the process of racializa-    web of trade patterns that evolved
tion can be segmented into three eras:    into an industrialized, transnational
1) the conquest era (1419-1619), 2)       economy. Lastly, in the post-war era,
the nation-building era (1620-1945),      questions emerge with respect to how
and 3) the post-war era (1946-pres-       to redress the racialized exploitation
ent). Each historical period of mo-       and discrimination that was charac-
dernity exemplifies the dynamic of        teristic of a history of oppression—
contestation highlighted in racial        questions with pecuniary implica-
formation theory. Despite race be-        tions in a “zero-sum” socioeconomic/
ing a contested terrain with respect      sociopolitical framework.
62                   The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROCESS             along these lines facilitated a sense of
OF RACIALIZATION                    ideological coherence between the
merchant conquerors, the monarchs,
At the beginning of the conquest             and the ecclesiastical authorities (Omi
era, we find that the early European         and Winant 122). While the hegemon-
explorers were faced with a bit of a         ic order of the day was well estab-
conundrum when they encountered              lished—an order that served to justify
populations in the New World that            the material appropriation of newly
were very different from them. Differ-       entered lands and the total domination
ent in skin, in language and culture,        of the people residing there—a few
and in myriad other ways, questions          brave souls consulted their conscience
arose regarding where these “natives”        and challenged the “common sense”
stood in the “family of man.” Surely         of the time Dominican friar and Span-
these people could not be equal to the       ish historian Bartolomé de las Casas
Europeans, but to what extent could          may be the most prominent example
they be exploited or enslaved? Over          of one who, having witnessed the hu-
time it became clear that this contact       man atrocities, implored the Catholic
with native populations throughout           Church to respect the rights of Native
the Americas consolidated a world-           Americans, at least in some form or
view that placed European Christian          fashion. Las Casas’s plea to the Church
civilization at the center while periph-     was heard, at least for a time, but the
eralizing Native American and Afri-          cosmic weight of the conquest era
can populations that were regarded           greatly diminished the impact of that
as heathens to be exploited. It is this      counterhegemonic attempt (Dussel).
dynamic of in-group and out-group               What began as European conquest
distinctiveness that released the seeds      eventually became European colonial-
of modern racial awareness.                  ism. While conquest was largely de-
Although racial considerations are        fined by the material appropriation of
in their infancy at this point, it is ar-    foreign lands, colonialism was defined
gued that the conquest era is one de-        by emerging European nation-states
fined by the religious civilization stand-   maintaining a sustained presence in
point. Despite the existing competitive      these lands, exemplified by the eventu-
struggles and the internal turmoil           al presence of formal institutions. As
that they produced, European powers          Europe’s colonial enterprise expand-
were united by the sense that their          ed, a burgeoning intellectual revolu-
civilization was locked in a battle with     tion was developing that would have
barbarism; therefore, the subjugation        a lasting impact on the North Amer-
of such peoples was not only condu-          ican colonies as well as on Europe as
cive to riches, but could be seen as a       a whole. The Enlightenment ideas
Christianized campaign for social bet-       promoted and embraced by a growing
terment. Interpreting human diversity        contingent of Europeans conflicted
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                     63

with the reality that much of the             The most successful racial project
economic life of Europe depended on        to transform a historical instance of
slave labor and the material appropri-     racial “common sense” was the one at
ation of foreign lands. In an attempt      the core of the civil rights movement,
to achieve logical coherence between       which is widely regarded as coming
Enlightenment ideas and European           into form in 1955 with the Montgom-
domination, a set of notions regarding     ery Bus Boycott. Partially facilitated
human diversity were advanced that         by Cold War global politics, the civil
would accrete to scientific racism.        rights movement successfully trans-
I contend that it was the consoli-      formed the social meaning of race
dation of this racialized logic that has   through an organized and concert-
permanently shaped American culture        ed effort that included non-violent
when it comes to race. The political       protests, appeals to the federal gov-
machinations aimed at separating           ernment, the legal advocacy of the
Whites and Blacks, the racial logic        NAACP, and voter registration drives
being promoted by highly esteemed          (Carson). Each of these efforts had
philosophers and the religious and         one thing in common, which effected
political leaders of the time, and the     a lasting transformation of the so-
compelling vulnerability of enslaved       cial meaning of race—the unequiv-
Africans and Native Americans, fused       ocal affirmation of the humanity of
together in a socially toxic mix to        Americans of African descent. The
produce a highly racialized society        hegemonic order regarding race was
that lingers with us to this day. De-      dismantled by the protagonists of the
spite the sociopolitical changes that      civil rights movement and members of
resulted from the emancipation of the      the general public that were inspired
slave population, Reconstruction, the      to embrace a new social reality imbued
emergence of Jim Crow, and the Great       with racial justice. The passage of the
Migration to the North, the social         Civil Rights (1964) and Voting Rights
meaning of race was still rooted in        Acts (1965), like the ignominious laws
biologically essentialist notions. Such    passed during the days of slavery, were
a racialized conception was reflected      the institutional expressions of the
in the strict segregationist structure     transformed meaning of race. It was
of the South and the pattern of wide-      understood for a time, however brief,
spread job and housing discrimination      that for American society to move for-
in the North. Regardless of where          ward the injustices of the past and the
Black persons found themselves, at the     inequalities produced as a result had to
institutional and interpersonal levels     be rectified through ameliorative so-
of society they were most likely to be     cial policies such as affirmative action.
regarded as inferior beings whose civil       This wave of social change, while
rights and pursuit of happiness need       powerful, meaningful, and revolution-
not be respected or even considered.       ary, was soon countered by another
64                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

wave of social sentiment that crystal-         Abstract Liberalism is described as a
lized into an ideology that character-     frame that seeks to rationalize opposi-
ized social policies designed to redress   tion to “racial fairness policies” based
historical wrongs as problematic. One      on principles such as equality of op-
of the key ingredients of this ideol-      portunity, individualism, and basing
ogy was addressing racial issues in a      decisions related to hiring or admis-
race-neutral manner, and this discur-      sions on merit alone. Briefly, the argu-
sive strategy is at the core of what is    ment posits that society is best served
known as the colorblind racial ideology    when it allows equality of opportuni-
(Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists     ty to be employed in a “race-neutral”
3). Over time, in the battle for the so-   fashion. Despite obvious racial ineq-
cial meaning of race, colorblindness       uities and their potential causes, any
reached a position of hegemony and a       efforts to expand opportunities to dis-
new version of racial “common sense”       advantaged groups are thus labeled as
was consolidated. While various racial     “preferential treatment” or examples
projects continue to wage, it seems        of “reverse discrimination.” Addition-
that colorblindness is today’s watchword   ally, from such a viewpoint, programs
for the hegemonic order of today.          like affirmative action are attacked as
“group-based” preferential programs
COLORBLINDNESS AS                 that disregard individual talents and
THE RACIAL HEGEMONY OF TODAY             capacities, which penalizes more qual-
ified (i.e. White) individuals (Bonil-
The ideological components of col-         la-Silva, Racism without Racists 78).
orblindness combine classical liberal          The second frame, naturalization,
sentiments, such as liberty and equal-     largely consists of sentiments that ex-
ity before the law, with some of the       plain visibly racial phenomena as the
discursive elements employed by civil      “way it is,” as natural occurrences that
rights activists, such as judging peo-     are the result of human nature. Fea-
ple by the content of their character      tures of the social landscape such as
rather than by the color of their skin.    segregated neighborhoods, schools,
According to Bonilla-Silva, this racial    and religious communities are viewed
ideology is composed of four central       as products of the tendency of dif-
frames: abstract liberalism, naturaliza-   ferent racial groups to “stick to their
tion, cultural racism, and minimization    own.” It should be noted that Whites
of racism. Leveraging his analysis of      who make this claim are careful to
hundreds of interviews, Bonilla-Silva      attribute this behavior to all racial
is quick to point out that these frames    groups to ensure that it is known that
are mutually reinforcing and often         “all groups do it” (Bonilla-Silva, Rac-
employed in various combinations in        ism without Racists 84).
particular lines of discourse (Racism          One of the more potent frames
without Racists 74).                       of the colorblind racial ideology is
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                      65

cultural racism. The success of the civ-     “bad apples out there.” Another key
il rights movement meant that overt          element of this frame is attributing
claims regarding the racial inferiority      certain social outcomes that are racial
of Blacks and other racialized minori-       in character to non-racial factors. For
ties have been rendered immoral. As          example, the widely stated claim from
a consequence, inequalities are rarely       Blacks (and social scientists) that job
conceptualized as a result of biological     discrimination still exists is regarded
limitations; they are now conceived as       with skepticism, while other factors
resulting from a deficient culture that      such as qualifications and attitudinal
promotes certain undesirable traits          characteristics are used as explana-
and behaviors. For example, the status       tions. More general claims of experi-
of Blacks in this country is viewed as       encing racial discrimination through-
resulting from laziness and the lack         out one’s life are regarded as making
of motivation to upraise themselves          excuses and “finding what you’re look-
through education and hard work.             ing for” (Bonilla-Silva, Racism without
Often this phenomenon, in an attempt         Racists 91).
to be “gentle and kind,” is attributed          A great example of the tensions
to the family life of Blacks and other       created by the hegemonic order of
minorities, the implication being that,      colorblindness are readily apparent
“while it is true that they are lazy and     in the Black Lives Matter movement
unmotivated, it is not 100% their fault      (BLM). Founded in 2013 as a spirited
because they were never taught any           response to the acquittal of George
better” (Bonilla-Silva, Racism without       Zimmerman in the death of Tray-
Racists 87).                                 von Martin, the movement received
The final frame, and the one that         national attention in the wake of the
seems to tie everything together, is         police shooting of Michael Brown in
the minimization of racism. This per-        Ferguson, Missouri (Day). According
spective portrays racial discrimination      to its website, “#BlackLivesMatter is a
as a phenomenon that is no longer a          call to action and a response to the vir-
significant factor in limiting the social    ulent anti-Black racism that permeates
mobility of racialized minorities. The       our society” (“About”). The counterhe-
elasticity of this particular frame is the   gemonic response being mounted by
source of its potency because it allows      BLM seems to be especially directed
for the recognition of discrimination        toward opposing the criminalization
at the level of individual action while      of Black youth, especially with re-
denying its structural impact. This dy-      spect to policing as a matter of pub-
namic enables proponents to decry in-        lic policy. The goal of the movement
stances of racially motivated violence,      in reference to the racial formation
for example, yet still hang on to the        framework is to transform the mean-
belief that “we’re moving past race” as      ing of race surrounding Black people.
a society since there are always some        Success in this regard would equate
66                    The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

to measurable changes both in how               stage in its development has allowed
Blacks are perceived and how they are           this social malignancy to produce a
treated in public spaces, whether by            structure of social relations that ren-
the police or the general public. From          ders everyday interactions and prac-
the BLM viewpoint, transforming the             tices as both racist and rational (Bonil-
meaning of race will help minimize              la-Silva, “Rethinking Racism” 475). In
the instances of state violence against         other words, the racialization process
Blacks and uphold their common hu-              has evolved to such a degree that ac-
manity and dignity.                             tions that could accurately be read
Conversely, the spirited reaction            as racist could also be read as logical
against the Black Lives Matter move-            choices given the social context. For
ment can be summarized in the phrase            example, if a young White couple has
“All Lives Matter.” Those who sym-              been priced out of a certain residen-
pathize with the logic underlying this          tial area but finds that there is a hip,
counter-response are, for all intents           on-the-rise neighborhood within their
and purposes, aligned with colorblind-          price range, their moving into that
ness. Just as colorblind proponents in-         neighborhood is logically beneficial
fer that the cardinal racial sin is to inject   to them, despite the fact that they are
race into public policy as a means of           contributing to a large-scale pattern
addressing inequalities and injustices          of Black displacement that is charac-
of a racial character, the advocates of         teristic of gentrification. In essence,
“All Lives Matter” reject the mention           many of the contemporary racial
of “Black lives” for similar reasons.           dynamics are shaped by the socioeco-
The core critique of BLM from these             nomic vulnerability of Blacks, which
proponents is centered on the ratio-            leads to limited choices with respect to
nale that the incidents highlighted by          housing in conjunction with the more
BLM are race-neutral incidents or at            expansive options available to Whites
most are isolated incidents that do not         in accordance with their particular
merit the level of protest and angst            tastes. This housing dynamic becomes
raised. The “All Lives Matter” stance           more compelling when considering
is a pure reflection of the hegemonic           that the tastes of Blacks and other
order of colorblindness, positing that          racial minorities have rarely been ac-
in the absence of clear, explicit racism,       corded a similar level of respect in the
the “real racists” are those who inject         housing market, regardless of socio-
race into the conversation.                     economic background (Lewis, Emer-
son, and Klineberg).
RACIALIZED SOCIAL STRUCTURE                   Overall, the reality of a racialized
AS A PRODUCT OF HISTORY                  social structure as the outcome of the
historical forces detailed earlier ulti-
The inability of the US social collec-          mately means that contemporary ra-
tive to root out racialism at an earlier        cial antagonisms are often reflective
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                     67

of rational self-interests, given the      dated 10 April 2011; emphasis added.).
perception that the material gains of      Racialism has become a fixed feature
an out-group will have an adverse          of the US social structure, its life, and
effect on the in-group . This attitude     its culture. Evidence suggests that
creates a social dynamic in which the      even the most innocent daily activities
socioeconomic gains of racialized          can have racial connotations, be they
groups are regarded as offensive in-       shopping, eating out, watching tele-
cursions into the field of social status   vision, going to the park, or choosing
and prestige, while the consolidation      to live in a certain neighborhood. Our
of socioeconomic gains on the part         social ecology has been so thoroughly
of the dominant group is viewed as         polluted by race that the reproduction
the continuance of white supremacy.        of deep racial inequalities is seen as a
According to Herbert Blumer, these         natural features of contemporary so-
dynamics are undergirded by the “col-      ciety. Upholding social privileges for
lective process of characterization,”      those regarded as White, while racial
which perceives distinctive racial         minorities bear the burden of denial,
groups as alien and their desires for      is a sociocultural phenomenon that
social mobility as indicative of har-      appears to be fundamental to the con-
boring “designs on the prerogatives        temporary American way of life.
of the dominant race” (4). At the same
time, the dominant racial group has a
feeling of “proprietary claim to cer-      RACIALISM: SOCIAL INTERACTION
tain areas of privilege and advantage,”    AND IDENTITY
which may explain the sense of am-
bivalence with respect to the social im-   It could be said that a natural out-
plications of gentrification and similar   growth of the process of racialization
matters (Blumer 4).                        was the erection of social barriers
The dynamic of mundane self-in-         separating the White population from
terested actions producing racialized      non-White populations, with Blacks
outcomes and the manner in which           being the primary example of a group
socioeconomic gains are perceived          from which to be socially distanced.
across the color line testify to the       During the post-Reconstruction pe-
degree that racialism permeates the        riod of US history, W. E. B. Du Bois,
sociocultural and sociopolitical life      a preeminent Black sociologist and
of the United States. This condition       activist, introduced to the world “the
brings to mind a statement from the        veil” and “double consciousness” as
Universal House of Justice: “The           interrelated sociological concepts. In
expressions of racial prejudice have       his well-known The Souls of Black Folk,
transmuted into forms that are mul-        Du Bois discusses both concepts in the
tifaceted, less blatant and more intri-    following way:
cate, and thus more intractable” (Letter
68                   The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

After the Egyptian and Indian,              go hand in hand with the racialization
the Greek and Roman, the Teuton             process. It is this very process that
and Mongolian, the Negro is a               yields “double consciousness”—the
sort of seventh son, born with a            sense of twoness that stems from the
veil, and gifted with second-sight          inherent struggle to enjoy the fruits
in this American world,—a world             of US citizenship while being regard-
which yields him no true self-con-          ed as undeserving.
sciousness, but only lets him see              One of the more troubling aspects
himself through the revelation of           of the veil is the way in which it pre-
the other world. It is a peculiar           vents mutual recognition across the
sensation, this double-conscious-           color line. As an ever-present phenom-
ness, this sense of always looking          enon, the obscuring quality of “the
at one’s self by the tape of the            veil” prevents true communication
world that looks on in amused               from happening between racializing
contempt and pity. One ever feels           and racialized groups (Itzigsohn and
his twoness,—an American, a                 Brown 237). In a later work, Du Bois
Negro; two souls, two thoughts,             thus elaborated on the nature of the
two unreconciled strivings; two             veil:
warring ideals in one dark body,
whose dogged strength alone                   It is as though one, looking out
keeps it from being torn asunder.             from a dark cave in a side of an
(45)                                          impending mountain, sees the
world passing and speaks to it;
In post-Reconstruction America, Du              speaks courteously and persua-
Bois believed that the ascriptive na-           sively, showing them how these
ture of the racialization process and           entombed souls are hindered in
its resulting reification3 prevents the         their natural movement, expres-
racializing group (Whites) from rec-            sion, and development; and how
ognizing the full humanity of the               their loosening from prison would
racialized because the process itself           be a matter not simply of cour-
is one of “othering” segments of the            tesy, sympathy, and help to them,
population and portraying them as de-           but (an) aid to all the world . . . . It
viations from the norm of whiteness             gradually penetrates the minds of
(Itzigsohn and Brown 237). Racialized           the prisoners that the people pass-
subjects, therefore, are forced to recon-       ing do not hear; that some thick
cile their own sense of humanity while          sheet of invisible but horribly tan-
battling the dehumanizing forces that           gible plate glass is between them
and the world. They get excited;
3 The treatment of socially construct-        they talk louder; they gesticulate.
ed concepts as concrete aspects of the real     Some of the passing world stop
world.                                          in curiosity; these gesticulations
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                       69

seem so pointless; they laugh              relative social blindness—its inability
and pass on. They still either do          to recognize the humanity of the ra-
not hear at all, or hear but dimly,        cialized as well as their “own position
and even that they hear, they do           as oppressor within the system of ra-
not understand. Then the people            cialization” (Itzigsohn and Brown 243).
within may become hysterical.              Because of their position of dominance
They may scream and hurl them-             within the system of racialization, the
selves against the barriers, hardly        social vision of Whites is limited to
realizing in their bewilderment            their own world of privilege. The veil
that they are screaming in a vac-          does not allow them to fully see, under-
uum unheard and that their antics          stand, or empathize with the communi-
may actually seem funny to those           ty in its entirety. Even the most well-in-
outside looking in. (Dusk 66)              tentioned White persons are said to be
ill equipped to accurately interpret the
This eloquently descriptive allegory il-     Black experience, which leads them to
lustrates how difficult it is to communi-    misdiagnose the remedy for race-based
cate across the veil and achieve mutual      inequalities (Du Bois, Dusk 67).
recognition. It matters not how articu-          The inability to walk in the shoes of
lately or forcefully one speaks; the voice   racialized groups blinds Whites to the
of the racialized either goes unheard or     oppressive nature of the system of ra-
is misunderstood by the racializing col-     cialization and fosters a sense of social
lective. This dynamic creates troubling      delusion. This delusion has two rein-
outcomes for the racialized group,           forcing components, the first being the
but the racializing group does not go        sense that the existing social order, de-
unaffected.                                  spite the presence of racial inequalities,
As a consequence of the incongru-         is essentially just, and the second being
ous relationship between its continual       that Whites are, therefore, ontological-
defense and assertion of its common          ly superior to racialized minorities. The
humanity and the actual amount of            presence of the veil as a powerful so-
progress made, the racialized group          cial barrier produces two separate life-
struggles to appreciate the humanity         worlds—one Black, one White. While
of the racializing group. Along with         the White world can be discerned
the exhausting efforts to reaffirm the       through the limitations it imposes on
humanity of their group comes a con-         the racialized world in contrast to its
gealed sense of resentment and a cor-        position of privilege, the world of
responding lack of faith that those on       Blacks and other racialized minorities
the other side of the veil can exhibit       is invisible to Whites because of their
fairness and show a degree of reason         inability to see through the eyes of the
when it comes to racial matters (Du          “othered” while they themselves are
Bois, Dusk 67). The effects on the ra-       enmeshed in privilege (Itzigsohn and
cializing group, instead, center on its      Brown 243).
70                   The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

THE PROBLEM OF WHITENESS                be consistent among Whites, regard-
less of their political affiliations (e.g.,
I would argue, in alignment with nu-         white nationalist, anti-racist). Hughey
merous scholars, that much of the            asserts that hegemonic whiteness
story of American-style racialism is         is composed of two comingled ele-
defined by the creation, maintenance,        ments: first, the conceptual framing
and perpetuation of whiteness. Gen-          of whiteness as both different from
erally speaking, whiteness refers to a       and superior to forms of non-white-
particular worldview and a concomi-          ness; and second, the marginalization
tant dimension of behaviors and prac-        of any alternative forms of whiteness
tices that reflect an internalization of     that do not conform to the formulated
white racial identity. According to Ian      ideal (16). In essence, whiteness oper-
Haney López, white racial identity is        ates as an aspirational form of identi-
ultimately defined by the double neg-        ty, separating good Whites from bad
ative of being “not non-White.” In           Whites, while non-Whites are essen-
short, López finds that there is a sig-      tially barred because of how they are
nificant relationship between contem-        inferiorized.
porary white racial identity and the            Revisiting earlier concepts, white-
judicial rulings of various US courts        ness as a combination of a worldview
regarding immigration at a time when         and collective social practices tied to
immigration was limited to those re-         that worldview is a logical expression
garded as White. Finding that the            of agency on the part of a socially
courts focused more attention on the         privileged group. Due to the racial-
non-White plaintiffs, rather than de-        ized nature of the social structure,
fining what constitutes whiteness, he        Whites mobilize their resources in
asserts that white racial identity is pri-   ways that are rational but that have
marily animated by a sense of norma-         the effect of perpetuating their social
tive transparency, which renders the         privilege—white privilege. In addi-
existence of non-Whites as differen-         tion, the obscuring quality of the veil,
tiated from this standard of transpar-       conjoined with the social blindness
ency. In essence, non-Whites become          that regularly affects any privileged
“raced,” and this differentiation from       group—whether on the basis of race,
the standard is regarded as ontologi-        gender, or class—results in renders
cally inferior. Therefore, whiteness is      any attempts of racially subordinat-
not simply the opposite of non-white-        ed groups to transform the existing
ness; it is perceived as the superior op-    social order as hostile, misguided, or
posite (López 20).                           premature. Consistently perceived as
Matthew Hughey elaborates on the          “social aliens,” racialized minorities
nature of whiteness in White Bound. In       encounter a barrage of messages that,
this book, he identifies “dimensions of      for all intents and purposes, commu-
hegemonic whiteness” that appear to          nicate to them the need to accept a
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                      71

lower status because, according to the      American toward his Negro fellow
rules of whiteness, they will never be      citizen” would be necessary to avoid
accepted as social equals.                  bloodshed (Citadel 126). All signs in-
It should be made abundantly clear       dicate that such a transformation in
that individual Whites can refuse           consciousness is still necessary, as the
to participate in whiteness or even         mainstream discourse on race appears
choose to dedicate time and energy to       to be paralyzed by ideological postur-
disrupting whiteness as a social force      ing, while blood is literally being shed
that ultimately seeks to defend social      as a result of cross-racial conflict.
boundaries in the face of “intruders.”
By the same token, the compelling             THE GUIDING LIGHT OF ONENESS
weight of the racialized social struc-
ture suggests that it takes high levels     If we can use our social imagination
of personal resolve and social percep-      and perceive US society as being in a
tiveness to navigate such a path. The       state of organic growth much like a
objective here is not to cast aspersions    garden and as being ultimately judged
on White people but to identify how         by the health of the garden in its
the perpetuation of whiteness as a          entirety, we would be anxiously con-
social force concretizes the social rela-   cerned with the health and growth of
tions that act as the brick and mortar      each plant, hopeful that each would
of the racialized social structure. The     bloom and display its latent beauty.
collective failure to disrupt a system      If a friend were invited over and hap-
of social relations that effectively        pened to see our garden and observe
places whiteness at the center of each      the health of the lilies while lamenting
social space of significance is tanta-      the state of the violets, what would be
mount to deliberately perpetuating the      the appropriate reaction? Would we
entrenchment of racialism as a dimen-       blame the significant differences in the
sion of social life.                        state of the flowers on their individual
The socially toxic mix of whiteness,     traits, or would we take responsibili-
a racialized social structure, and the      ty as gardeners and admit that we’ve
related inability to recognize the com-     neglected the violets? Better yet, what
mon humanity of “the other” across          actions would we take to ensure that
racial lines are powerful social forces     the violets grew just as healthily as the
that greatly constrain our collective       lilies? How would we treat the soil?
vision as well as our collective will to    How would we go about extracting
build toward a social reality imbued        the strangling weeds?
with the oneness of humanity. Shoghi            In the 240-year history of the Unit-
Effendi, as part of a larger statement,     ed States, plus the more than 100-year
exhorted in a cautionary tone that a        period before the Declaration of Inde-
“revolutionary change in the concept        pendence, those in positions of lead-
and attitude of the average white           ership have failed to tend the garden
72                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

of humanity existing on this soil in a     conflict will continue to fester and
way that leads to the organic growth       erode ties between citizens and social
and health of all. To the contrary, the    institutions.
tendency has been to direct resources         As of today, evidence suggests
to those deemed “worthy” through pe-       that interracial social relations are
riodic social interventions and to deny    encumbered by the specter of white-
the same benefits to those deemed un-      ness, meaning that large-scale social
worthy by the dint of race. Whether        institutions, whether public or private,
it was the extension of land to for-       legal or commercial, exhibit a high de-
mer White indentured servants while        gree of responsiveness to Whites as a
slave codes were being enforced, the       social group, despite the consequences
New Deal policies (1933-1939) during       to non-Whites. The various examples
the Jim Crow era, or the extension of      of this dynamic could fill scores of
GI Bill benefits (1944-1968) at a time     pages; therefore, it is prudent to say
when redlining policies and housing        that for Blacks, there are many sto-
discrimination were the de facto laws      ries of unmerited police interactions,
of the land, the process of racializa-     whether precipitated by the phone
tion has expressed itself through a        calls of neighbors or through police
social system that has exhibited recep-    officers’ insidious practice of racial
tivity to the social plight of Whites      profiling. Similarly, the history of
while largely ignoring the plight of       Native Americans is replete with ex-
racial minorities.                         amples of White incursions into their
Much of the racial story in the US      sovereign territory in the guise of
has hinged on the issue of justice.        justified legal action, when in fact such
Historically, those deifying whiteness     annexations are more reflective of the
have sought to defend the racial sta-      dominant group doing as it pleases.
tus quo of various eras regardless of      If we envision social progress as the
the injuries inflicted upon humankind      garden of humanity on full display
as a whole, while those asserting the      and not as lilies standing out while
need for equal justice envisioned a        the other flowers wither and wilt, it is
society that bonded all its citizens to    imperative that justice, both legislated
the rule of law with no glint of racial    and enforced, be evenly applied to each
preference. Speaking on the issue of       citizen regardless of the accidents of
justice, Bahá’u’lláh said, “The light of   birth.
men is Justice. Quench it not with the
contrary winds of oppression and tyr-      HUMANITY REDEFINED
anny. The purpose of justice is the ap-
pearance of unity among men” (Tablets      The Bahá’í teachings offer a trans-
66–67). In the context of this article     formative vision of the human race,
the implication is clear: until the        paving the way for reformative jus-
standard of justice is met, interracial    tice that is inclusive of three major
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                     73

themes: 1) the nature of human cre-           of Adam. This signifies that ra-
ation, 2) the socio-spiritual realness of     cial assumption and distinction
the oneness of humanity, and 3) unity         are nothing but superstition. In
in diversity as a social way of being.        the estimate of God there are
In a collection of verses titled The          no English, French, Germans,
Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh writes, “O          Turkish or Persians. All these in
Children of Men! Know ye not why              the presence of God are equal;
We created you all from the same              they are of one race and creation;
dust? That no one should exalt him-           God did not make these divisions.
self over the other. Ponder at all times      These distinctions have had their
in your hearts how ye were created”           origin in man himself. Therefore,
(Arabic no. 68). Bahá’u’lláh not only         as they are against the plan and
signifies that humanity was “created          purpose of reality, they are false
from the same dust”; He also exhorts          and imaginary. (299)
us to ponder and reflect on the impli-
cations of how we were created. In the      Considering the themes outlined in
current social context, this mode of        this article, what emerges as especially
active reflection and internalization of    significant is the statement that racial
the social meaning has the potential to     divisions and distinctions “are against
free us from snap judgments that em-        the plan and purpose of reality” (299).
ploy racial stereotypes as social tem-      What does this mean with respect to
plates that characterize certain groups     our common ability as US urbanites to
of people as “safe” or “dangerous,”         identify in what part of town Blacks
“trustworthy” or “criminal.” Under-         and Latinos live? What is the impli-
standing that skin color, style of dress,   cation when there are clear patterns
and other outward characteristics say       showing that a racialized group has
little about one’s inner character and      been overpenalized and, at the same
potential is surely a progressive step,     time, underserved by the criminal jus-
although counterintuitive in a highly       tice system? If we are encompassed by
racialized environment.                     a social environment that is inimical to
If we accept that humanity is of a      a social reality more congruent with
single origin, questions regarding the      human nature, what is the scope of
social significance of it all naturally     our responsibilities to ensure a more
emerge. On this subject, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá       complementary environment? The
states:                                     dictates of colorblindness would have
us simply accept the society we’ve in-
All humanity are the children             herited and chalk up numerous indica-
of God; they belong to the same           tions of racial inequality to “natural”
family, to the same original race.        human processes.
There can be no multiplicity of              Accepting the ontological realness
races, since all are the descendants      of the oneness of humanity and its
74                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

rootedness in the image of our cre-         is indicative of the inherent beauty
ation offered by Bahá’u’lláh, it would      of the whole of humanity. Addition-
be fair to ask how humanity should ad-      ally, He offers a vision of society in
dress racial diversity. Further deepen-     which people of distinct ethno-racial
ing the garden metaphor I borrowed          backgrounds freely associate with one
from the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, I        another “without discord or disagree-
share the following passage in its pur-     ment between them” (69). But given
er form:                                    the racialized character of existing
social relations, how can this condition
Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed the            be realized?
oneness of the world of human-               It seems that a major first step
ity. He has caused various nations        would be the institutionalization of
and divergent creeds to unite. He         interracial justice in terms of both the
has declared that difference of           “laws on the books” and their enforce-
race and color is like the variegat-      ment. Holding people accountable for
ed beauty of flowers in a garden.         their actions regardless of their role
If you enter a garden, you will see       within the criminal justice system and
yellow, white, blue, red flowers in       the non-politicization of agencies re-
profusion and beauty—each ra-             sponsible for ensuring equality under
diant within itself and although          the law would be key ingredients to
different from the others, lending        justice being wielded in ways that lead
its own charm to them. Racial dif-        to a greater sense of interracial unity.
ference in the human kingdom is           It could well be argued that mass in-
similar. If all the flowers in a gar-     carceration and the differential treat-
den were of the same color, the           ment of Whites and racial minorities
effect would be monotonous and            when confronted by police emboldens
wearying to the eye.                      those tantalized by the notion of white
Therefore, Bahá’u’lláh hath said       supremacy while exasperating those
that the various races of human-          who envision a social world more in
kind lend a composite harmony             keeping with our metaphysical re-
and beauty of color to the whole.         alities as children of the same God,
Let all associate, therefore, in this     equally valued and equally beloved.
great human garden even as flow-
ers grow and blend together side          OVERCOMING “THE VEIL”
by side without discord or dis-
agreement between them. (68–69)           The principle of the oneness of hu-
manity—animated by universal equal-
According to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, human di-        ity with respect to human station
versity, specifically that of a so-called   and an unrestrained appreciation of
racial character, should be regarded        human diversity—offers a corrective
as a virtue, a delightful element that      social vision for which to aspire, but
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                      75

what are the implications at the lev-        the past, and their ability to wipe
el of identity and social interaction?       out every trace of suspicion that
The concept of “the veil” posits that        may still linger in their hearts and
a racialized social barrier is not only      minds. (Advent 40)
in place, but is so embedded in the
field of social relations as to obscure    In these two paragraphs, the leader
the ability of a racial group to see the   of the worldwide Bahá’í community
common humanity of another group.          implicitly acknowledges the weighti-
With a penetrating sense of social         ness of the racialized social structure
perceptiveness, especially for one who     and its potential to have a deleterious
never set foot in the United States,       effect on the ability of a religious
Shoghi Effendi, shortly before the         community to live out its socially
start of the Second World War, coun-       transformative principles, especially
seled both White and Black Bahá’ís in      those tied to the oneness of humanity.
the following way:                         Speaking primarily to the US Bahá’ís,
Shoghi Effendi, I believe, is exhorting
Let the white make a supreme             both Black and White Bahá’ís not to
effort in their resolve to contrib-      content themselves with a surface-lev-
ute their share to the solution of       el sense of brotherhood. Most sig-
this problem, to abandon once for        nificantly, a religious community still
all their usually inherent and at        slight in membership was encouraged
times subconscious sense of supe-        by its leader to fight an uphill battle in
riority, to correct their tendency       defense of its core beliefs against the
towards revealing a patronizing          social forces that surrounded it.
attitude towards the members of             We established earlier that the veil
the other race, to persuade them         has a negative effect on the ability of
through their intimate, sponta-          both racially dominant and racially
neous and informal association           subordinate groups to fully see the
with them of the genuineness of          humanity of the other. Those in the
their friendship and the sincerity       dominant group are prone to assume
of their intentions, and to master       their inherent superiority when en-
their impatience of any lack of          gaging with racialized minorities,
responsiveness on the part of a          while racialized minorities tend to
people who have received, for so         assume that members of the domi-
long a period, such grievous and         nant group will somehow reveal racist
slow-healing wounds.                     tendencies, however unintended, that
Let the Negroes, through a cor-       may cause offense. In this context,
responding effort on their part,         wouldn’t it be easier to avoid contact
show by every means in their             altogether? It may be so in the short
power the warmth of their re-            term, but Shoghi Effendi, cognizant
sponse, their readiness to forget        of the true nature of humanity and
76                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

its ultimate purpose, in clear language      agencies that stand outside the
encourages both groups to muster the         orbit of their Faith. Let neither
heart and soul to fully engage in an         think that anything short of gen-
intimate manner until any walls sepa-        uine love, extreme patience, true
rating them are destroyed through the        humility, consummate tact, sound
power of their mutual affection.             initiative, mature wisdom, and de-
It is rather remarkable how well          liberate, persistent, and prayerful
Shoghi Effendi was able to read the          effort, can succeed in common
reality of the racial situation in the       country. Let them rather believe,
United States. Clearly, he was able          and be firmly convinced, that on
to determine that both Blacks and            their mutual understanding, their
Whites have challenges to overcome           amity, and sustained cooperation,
in order to meet the standard of be-         must depend, more than on any
ing free from racial prejudice. It seems     other force or organization oper-
the primary challenge for Whites is          ating outside the circle of their
to detach themselves from feelings of        Faith, the deflection of that dan-
superiority and the related tendency         gerous course so greatly feared
to be condescending toward racial mi-        by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the material-
norities. Similarly, the primary chal-       ization of the hopes He cherished
lenge for Blacks seems to be showing         for their joint contribution to the
a willing receptivity to Whites that         fulfillment of that country’s glo-
is free of the tendency to presuppose        rious destiny. (Advent 40–41)
someone’s intentions as a consequence
of the influence of an oppressive his-     Although speaking primarily to what
tory. Both are encouraged to cleanse       was then a small religious community
their eyes, hearts, and minds of their     struggling to live up to its Founder’s
societal miseducation and to see one       spiritual teachings, Shoghi Effendi
another anew. In this context, Shoghi      clearly intended for these words to
Effendi goes on to say:                    have deep implications for the United
States as a whole. The racialized social
Let neither think that the solu-         barriers that exist must be overcome
tion of so vast a problem is a           by the force of interracial engage-
matter that exclusively concerns         ment. This engagement must go be-
the other. Let neither think that        yond civility and politeness and lead to
such a problem can either easily         genuine, systematic, and heartfelt in-
or immediately be resolved. Let          teractions that have the effect of slow-
neither think that they can wait         ly melting away the iciness that tends
confidently for the solution of          to characterize cross-racial social rela-
this problem until the initiative        tions. This social imperative implies a
has been taken, and the favor-           burgeoning community of mavericks
able circumstances created, by           that can serve as an effective model to
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                          77

help fellow citizens see what can be,             mutual reactions” (qtd. in Universal
instead of limiting our collective so-            House of Justice, letter dated 26 No-
cial imagination to what is.                      vember 2012). Keeping in mind the
racialized character of the US social
THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTIC IDENTITY                  environment, we are challenged to
AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION                      vie for transformational outcomes
that effectively cleanse society of this
O Man of two visions!        scourge by resisting the influence of
Close one eye and open the other.      racial ideologies and their concurrent
Close one to the world and all that is therein,   social practices, while harnessing their
and open the other to the hallowed beauty         agency, or individual initiative, to effect
of the Beloved.      change. The way in which we view
—Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words               ourselves as human beings becomes
(Persian no. 12)        critical at this stage.
As we have established, “race” as a
While a forceful engagement across                social construction has its beginnings
the color line is necessary in order to           in the colonial period, deployed as a
overcome “the Veil,” something deeper             means of justifying the systemic ex-
is necessary to animate and sustain our           ploitation of those who were pheno-
efforts. The subjugating weight of the            typically and culturally different. This
racialized social structure requires the          dark social experiment has always been
means of fortifying ourselves against             rooted in capitalistic materialism, or the
the dark forces of racialism and also a           set of values and practices that regard
way to strike back and build new pat-             the accumulation of wealth, goods,
terns of interaction that will accrete            and power as chief priorities. Despite
to a new social order imbued with the             historical class differences existing
spirit of oneness, expressed in the im-           between those regarded as White, the
plementation of the principle of “unity           force of racialization created condi-
in diversity.” As human beings, we are            tions that allowed Whites on the low-
organically linked with the social en-            est economic rungs to hold themselves
vironment that surrounds us. Shoghi               in higher esteem than members of oth-
Effendi emphasized that there is a                er racial groups. While whiteness ap-
dynamic of mutual reactions when it               pears to be a significant cultural reality
comes to the inner life of the individu-          for those of a middle-class background
al and the social environment in which            or higher, for those in the low-income
he or she is embedded: “Man is organic            group whiteness has become a critical
with the world. His inner life molds the          fulcrum in their lifeworld. Whenever
environment and is itself also deeply             racial minorities seem to be gaining a
affected by it. The one acts upon the             socioeconomic foothold, it is typically
other and every abiding change in                 lower-income Whites that bluster the
the life of man is the result of these            most.
78                   The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

In my own preliminary research, I         take the form of active defiance in the
have observed that in this day, Blacks        face of racial stigmatization. Regard-
often bear the brunt of the policing          less of social perception, the deter-
of social boundaries associated with          mination to be oneself, to recognize
whiteness. In seemingly race-neu-             one’s equal worth, and to realize one’s
tral social spaces, whiteness exerts          inherent potential as a “mine rich in
its presence in both subtle and overt         gems” is paramount (Bahá’u’lláh, Tab-
ways through microaggressions and             lets 162). Succumbing to internalized
hyper-surveillance, respectively. An          racism and becoming a shell of one’s
example of a typical microaggression          self in relation to one’s potential as
is a social slight in a public place such     a human being is not only a personal
as a restaurant, where the service re-        failure; it is equivalent to a candle’s
ceived by someone of color is clearly         flame being snuffed out by the winds
of lesser quality when compared to            of human negation, thereby leaving
the attention rendered to someone of          more darkness in its wake. Once an
a lighter hue. Hyper-surveillance is of-      individual has established a solid foot-
ten witnessed in retail establishments,       ing on the path of racial defiance, it is
where racial minorities, especially           critical that he or she initiate togeth-
Blacks and Latinos, are regularly fol-        erness by joining hands and hearts
lowed or watched.                             with a group of collaborators, and in
What a transformative social out-         this way, walk a path of service that,
come with respect to race requires is         while difficult and arduous, is never-
a social imagination that rejects the         theless a path that will ultimately lead
racialized social structure, regarding        to a social reality in which the inher-
it as a manifestation of evil, and pro-       ent nobility and the exquisite talents
motes the revolutionary recovery of           of racialized minorities will not only
one’s authentic self-identity. This rev-      be recognized, but, more importantly,
olutionary form of identity can then          will also contribute vitally to the pros-
be leveraged in collaboration with            perity of humankind.
others to effect social change. While it          For American Whites, actively re-
should ever be kept in mind that soci-        sisting the racialized social structure
ety requires transformation on gender,        will come in the form of rejecting
class, and other social fronts , speaking     whiteness as a way of being. It will
to race specifically, it is imperative that   demand a heartfelt struggle to rec-
each individual take a stance of active       ognize the ways in which whiteness
resistance against the forces of racial-      requires the marginalization of non-
ization in accordance with their social       Whites and how colorblindness at its
position within the racialized social         core implies the cultural erasure of
structure.                                    racialized minorities as people with
For American Blacks and other             unique capacities, histories, and social
racial minorities, this response might        needs. Most of all, overcoming the
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                     79

racialized social structure requires        one of two conditions—duality or
tearing down the social walls that have     oneness. Living in a state of duality
been erected over time as a means to        refers to a state of being in which one
maintain a “pure community” from the        is cognizant of their metaphysical self
incursion of “racial otherness.” The        but fails to fully nourish that aspect
fundamental recognition that human          of themselves, leading to a condition
authenticity means “to be with” in-         of spiritual alienation. A condition
stead of “to be better than” or “to be      of oneness, on the other hand, can be
in control of ” becomes paramount for       defined as living in a spiritual state
individuals socially positioned among       in which one nourishes and sustains
the dominant group in the racialized        a spiritualized self-image, which has
social structure.                           the effect of forging a deep connec-
The Bahá’í Writings offer a meta-        tion with the spiritual reality of the
physical definition of human existence      Creator, oneself, and all of humanity
that allows those interested to tran-       (Saiedi 166). The metaphysical sense
scend identities tethered to the exist-     of connection that results from living
ing social structure. As an elaboration     in a state of oneness is an expansive
on the Abrahamic verity that man is         embracing of human reality that frees
“made in the image of God,” human           one’s identity from any particularity,
beings are regarded as fundamentally        which means that one can perceive
noble spiritual beings capable of re-       more keenly his or her interconnection
flecting all of God’s attributes. This      with all other human beings (166).
capability to mirror the Ultimate Spir-         While living in a state of oneness
itual Reality within the inherent lim-      is ultimately liberating to one’s con-
itations of human nature or ontology        sciousness, it can lead to much pain
is what is said to separate human be-       when one witnesses daily occurrences
ings from all other earthly life forms.     associated with a dehumanizing social
A corollary aspect of human reality is      existence and has to navigate a social
free will, including the capacity to sub-   world that is struggling to manifest
due our material nature, which is in-       the latent socio-spiritual truth of the
formed by the struggle for existence,       oneness of humanity. The inner trans-
for the sake of our essential reality—      formation that results from abiding in
our soul—which the Bahá’í teachings         a state of oneness necessitates enter-
affirm emanates from the Creator.           ing the field of social action to engage
In this sense, human existence           in a path of service that has the effect
is defined by the journey of the in-        of both contributing to the better-
dividual, even as human history is          ment of society and deepening one’s
defined by the collective journey           authentic sense of identity. As individ-
of “an ever-advancing civilization”         uals changed in this way collaborate to
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings 109:2). And         transform communities, and as these
yet, both journeys are susceptible to       communities work to transform social
80                  The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

institutions, the matrix of social rela-    of American-style racialization is one
tions that are the bones and sinew of       defined by the erection of a hege-
the racialized social structure will be     monic order to preserve white racial
transformed as well, with the ultimate      dominance, the incursion of social
result being the realization of social      movements to disrupt and dismantle
justice and the concurrent emergence        the structure of dominance, and an
of social relations that are emblematic     orchestrated backlash to reestablish
of unity in diversity. It is in this con-   dominance in a new form.
text that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá comments on             The large-scale social trends that
the implications of interracial unity:      gave birth to and nurtured the ra-
cialized social structure have also
Strive earnestly and put forth            profoundly affected individuals and
your greatest endeavor toward             communities at the interpersonal lev-
the accomplishment of this fel-           el of society. As human beings born
lowship and the cementing of              into and navigating this society, we
this bond of brotherhood be-              encounter the social barriers that have
tween you. Such an attainment is          been constructed to separate Whites
not possible without will and ef-         and non-Whites, walls that act as a
fort on the part of each . . . . Each     subjugating force that disempowers
one should endeavor to develop            those who have the propensity to forge
and assist the other toward mu-           social bonds across racial lines. Rela-
tual advancement . . . . Love and         tively mundane aspects of social life—
unity will be fostered between            such as living in neighborhoods, shop-
you, thereby bringing about the           ping, dining out, and driving—take on
oneness of mankind. For the ac-           a significant racialized character pre-
complishment of unity between             cisely as the result of how thoroughly
the colored and white will be an          racialism has imbued social relations.
assurance of the world’s peace.              The divergent social experiences
(qtd. in Shoghi Effendi, Advent 39)       of Whites and non-Whites and the
inability to walk in the shoes of “the
CONCLUSION: SEEKING LIGHT              other” makes mutual recognition
IN THE DARKNESS OF RACE               across racial lines difficult. While
there are always exceptions, the gen-
Racialism, as a set of beliefs that con-    eral trend is for Whites to regard their
veniently sought to bridge the gap          social position as being the result of
between Enlightenment ideals and            their hard work, ingenuity, and values,
the hyper-exploitation of non-Euro-         while the position of Blacks is seen as
peans, evolved to take on a structural      due to their deficiency in being and
character through formal legislation        doing the same. Blacks, on the other
and informal practices that soon be-        hand, tend to view their social posi-
came customary. The cyclical history        tion as resulting from a history of
Seeking Light in the Darkness of “Race”                    81

racialized oppression and the continu-         loyalty and devotion to their reli-
ance of discrimination even in today’s         gion when once they believe, their
time, which, in turn, characterizes the        purity of heart, God has richly
social position of Whites as ill gotten.       endowed them, and their contri-
Regardless of the materialistic roots          bution to the Cause is much need-
of these sentiments, the most prob-            ed. (qtd. in Hornby 533)
lematic aspect of this dynamic is the
failure of both groups to recognize            The Guardian attaches the utmost
the common humanity of the other.              importance, as you know, to the
For Whites, this translates to a fail-         teaching of the natives of Amer-
ure to see fully that Blacks are fully         ica. In the Tablets of the Divine
capable of accomplishing anything              Plan, the Master pays the utmost
intellectually, physically, and spiritual-     attention to this most important
ly that Whites can accomplish, while           matter. He states that if the Power
Blacks fail to see that Whites have the        of the Holy Spirit today properly
capacity to be loving, fair-minded, and        enters into the minds and hearts
socially just.                                 of the natives of the great Amer-
Shoghi Effendi, shepherding a re-           ican continents that they will be-
ligious community seeking to realize           come great standard bearers of
the oneness of humanity, counseled             the Faith, similar to the Nomads
both Black and White Bahá’ís to bat-           (Arabians) who became the most
tle with the dark forces of racialism in       cultured and enlightened people
order to build a unified community im-         under the Muhammadan civiliza-
bued with an authentic sense of inter-         tion. (qtd. in Hornby 524)
racial brotherhood that would serve
as a beacon of hope for their country-       In the context of our current society,
men. Cognizant that both groups are          it is important to acknowledge the
organically linked with their social en-     subjugating effects of the racialized
vironments, he implored them to en-          social structure, the social imperative
gage in an interracial fellowship that       of realizing and institutionalizing the
was spiritually authentic and would          principle of the oneness of humanity,
lead to the recognition of the inher-        and the need to transcend racial iden-
ent nobility of “the other.” Along with      tities for a sense of identity that is
this encouragement, Shoghi Effendi           more congruent with modern science
shared the following regarding Blacks        and religious scripture. In texts rang-
and Native Americans, respectively:          ing from the Book of Genesis to the
tablets penned by Bahá’u’lláh as the
The qualities of heart so richly           nineteenth century came to a close,
possessed by the Negro are much            human beings have been characterized
needed in the world today—their            as being made in the image of God.
great capacity for faith, their            As genomic sciences have validated
82                   The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27.3 2017

the physical unity of humanity as one        by the specter of “race” is the light of
species, we must bind again with the         oneness. The source of this light lies
metaphysical verity that the human           in the metaphysical plane of existence,
essence is universally noble, which          meaning it is both transcendental to
means that every human being is de-          our sociopolitical reality and requires
serving of honor, rights, privileges,        some form of spiritual education to
and the ability to realize his or her        effectively tap into its transformative
inherent potential—regardless of the         power. The fact that the reality of
accidents of birth, whether related to       oneness transcends our sociopolitical
skin color, gender, or nationality.          reality makes it an especially potent
As a cadre of individuals come to         and creative force for attracting hu-
recognize their human essence as re-         man hearts and building community
flecting the metaphysical unity of           from a renewed foundation, free of
individuality, godliness, and intercon-      racialized assumptions and sensibili-
nectedness with all of humanity, they        ties. As individuals abide in the reali-
will naturally seek to collaborate with      ty of oneness—that inner sense that
the like-minded and channel their            their human reality cannot be divorced
agency to effect social change. While        from the Source of all reality, nor from
they are surrounded and impacted by          the reality of all of humankind—they
the racialized social structure, their ef-   will be liberated from the subjugating
forts to create change are corollary to      influence of the racialized social struc-
their ability to sustain their authentic     ture to the point of actively strug-
sense of identity and to reinforce it in     gling against it and thereby forge
the field of social action in collabora-     bonds with like-minded collaborators
tion with others. Efforts of this kind       to de-racialize society for the sake of
taken on by individuals, and then by         both reformative justice and expe-
collaborative groups, will eventually        riencing a social reality that is much
compound and secure the participation        more humane. The road will be long,
of the larger community, as the hope         painful, intense, and arduous, but for
of interracial unity and reconciliation      the sake of our very humanity and the
dawns through the power of example.          humanity of those who will come after
Surely, such efforts are already taking      us, “we shall overcome.”
place. Surely, it will be a tremendous
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-- Seeking Light in the Darkness of Race (Used by permission of the curator)