Different class: Ian Tod on a house group discussion

‘Quaker “niceness” may also cause barriers.’

Our house group met recently to discuss ‘White privilege and social inclusion among Quakers’. We were happy to welcome Michael Wallace of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, who is a person of colour. In preparation we watched a talk that covered the history of Quakers in the US and the Caribbean (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wppumMN9RSg).

Michael started the discussion by raising the question of why there were so few people of colour involved with unprogrammed Quakers. He suggested that the format of our Meetings is quite rigid, which may be a barrier. Michael was brought up as a Methodist, where singing and dancing were normal. He moved to Quakers because the testimonies resonated with him, but the move required a major change in the way he participated.

Quaker ‘niceness’ may also cause barriers, he said. White people, accustomed to power, expect to be comfortable. This may lead to them avoiding certain topics, and necessary discussions not taking place. People of colour, however, have few places where they feel comfortable, and such discomfort inhibits progress.

There is a difference between ‘being made welcome’ and ‘belonging’, he said. In a Quaker community the latter usually evolves over time. Meeting members may welcome newcomers to what they think of as their space, without inviting them to be part of the group.

Addressing white privilege requires three levels of evolution: being an ally and recognising the problem; actively addressing the problem; and being co-conspirators, using white privilege for the benefit of marginalised communities.

Michael also highlighted the need for Friends to work within their Meeting before venturing outside it. We should make sure we are hearing what’s being said. His Local Meeting had paid for an outside facilitator to help Friends address this subject, and then set up three aspirational working groups to: find helpful language to facilitate the conversation; determine what the Meeting was doing about reparations and social justice; and identify opportunities outside the Meeting to use white privilege to leverage change.

Michael’s talk led us to discuss several issues relating to our own Meetings. We realised that the focus of our Meetings is on worship rather than active service, but a Meeting needs to work together on both. We also needed to recognise white privilege and to ask what our Meetings are doing to ensure inclusion. We recognised a lack of a mechanism for planning of social inclusion activities; these are left to individuals to organise. Do our Meetings need to complement the unprogrammed Meeting with a programmed Meeting, to increase diversity? We shouldn’t ignore differences: if you ‘do not see colour’, then you do not see the person of colour.

Michael’s talk left us with many points to ponder.

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