A hard message
Rosemary Crawley discusses Quakers and diversity
Diana Francis has opened up the topic of equality and inclusiveness among Quakers (1 September), and her analysis of the Religious Society of Friends as a largely white, well-educated organisation is honest and refreshing. I am grateful to her and truly appreciate her desire to make the Society more inclusive.
An underlying difficulty in achieving greater inclusiveness can be a lack of clarity about who it is we actually want to include. When we talk about ‘diversity’ (the use of which was, I believe, encouraged by government some years ago to distract from issues of inequality), we perhaps tend to conflate those who are excluded into a uniform mass of people with the same characteristics. We regard these characteristics as less common amongst the group (in this case Quakers) from which they are excluded.
Disability or ethnic difference, for example, can be equated with lower educational achievement and economic poverty. So, we start thinking about how to include more individuals in those categories.
Seeking to include people who are poor or less well-educated is a perfectly proper activity, but we should not assume that the activity in itself will automatically add to our ethnic diversity or involve more people with disabilities. And why should we assume that quiet, contemplative religious practice is in itself a barrier?
Diana Francis rightly talks about the need not to prejudge or make easy generalisations. But the issue, in my opinion, is about how people who do not fit the mould are treated when they come to Meeting.
At Lichfield Meeting in Staffordshire we have been concerned with this issue for some years. We accept Friends profess that all people are created equal – and that consciously they are fully aware of that. Yet we also know that some of us are still treated differently on grounds of race.
Quaker faith & practice 29.15 provides further elaboration:
We recognise and celebrate what we as Black, Asian and mixed-heritage Friends [in Britain] bring to the Society and with pride we affirm our rich positive contributions. However, we find spoken and unspoken assumptions that because we are Black people we are economically needy, socially deprived, culturally disinherited and spiritually in need of Quaker instruction. We experience isolation both spiritual and physical within our Meetings. It is not just a matter of numbers but without the active commitment to promote diversity within the Society of Friends it will continue to be difficult to foster a true experience of spiritual community.
- Extract from the Epistle of Black, white, Asian and mixed-heritage Friends, 1991
Though written in 1991, this still accurately describes the experience of many of us who are visibly different now, and that is a very hard message for some Friends to hear.
With all my heart I hope that message will now be heard.
Comments
Another dividing line is between those who love long articles with lots of words and those who prefer something which communicates more simply. The recent “Love and loss” leaflet is brilliant!
By JoeBurlington on 2nd November 2017 - 11:00
Please login to add a comment
