There are several states that have recognition without visitation, Texas is not the only one. Oklahoma, Kentucky and a couple of others that I can't recall offhand. And a bunch of states have no recognition at all.
See the attached image for the ones that don't have recognition at all yet.
View attachment 3136
Illinois reportedly has a "blanket" recognition of Prince Hall Grand Lodges, insofar as they are recognized by the "mainstream" GL within their jurisdiction. I can't find an official document, but see these links:
http://bessel.org/masrec/phachart.htm
http://bessel.org/masrec/phablanket.htm
But this is not the case for the vast majority of states. Most recognize the PH GL in their respective state and a couple of neighboring states. Each one of those PH GL's are a different entity. So they either have to create a resolution to blanket recognize them (which is
not reciprocated), or go through the negotiation between each and every one of the individual PH GL's to gain said recognition+visitation.
Note - this seems to be a big part of the hold up.
The same goes for many, many foreign countries. Check this link:
http://bessel.org/masrec/phanonus.htm
I have a very good friend and Brother from Victoria, Australia. He goes out of his way to mention a fair bit how they recognize PH Masons, but in reality, they only recognize Connecticut and Indiana.
Would an Australian man from Victoria be turned away from lets say a MWPHGL affiliated lodge in lets say California? I doubt it. And would a PH mason from Georgia be turned away from a lodge in Victoria, Australia? I also doubt it.
But would an Aboriginal from Victoria be black balled in a Melbourne lodge? I'll just say, do some google searches and check out how white their photos are, and I'll leave it at that. What I'm getting at with this is that this, when you get right down to it, is not just a southern US problem.
I'm not in any way saying that this means we don't have work to do or that we can't change things. I just think the idea that we are the only unenlightened neanderthals in the US, let alone the world has a way of making it seem like the issue is only about race. It isn't. That is a part of it at the lodge level for some of the older folks, but as I've mentioned in other threads, gravity is going to work against that.
Rather, a big, big part of this issue is administrative and political. Grand Lodge officers, who have budgets for expensive GL buildings and a legacy to build have a way of becoming insular, protective, and so forth. In many states the respective GL's fear that through recognition or visitation they will bleed members to the other GL. And now think on it - which GL in Texas would fear that most? GLoTX, or MWPHGLoTX? Consider it.
Keeping in mind that the GLoTX voted first to give recognition. MWPHGLoTX petitioned for recognition after, not before going to the UGLE for recognition - and because in order to gather that recognition they had to have recognition from the presently recognized GL within the same geographic area.
Now I'm not at all saying the burden lies with MWPHGLoTX. But here is a straight truth - we need to know where their Grand Lodge officers stand on the matter. We need to understand why they haven't petitioned for visitation in Texas, and why they omitted it from their petition for recognition back several years ago. These are important things.
Getting a resolution for visitation through GLoTX can get done. That is just my opinion but I think I'm right about it. If it was asked for by MWPHGLoTX, I think it would make it through without too much of a problem. A blanket recognition of all PH Grand Lodges, no - I don't believe so. Reason being this is a rule oriented sort of jurisdiction - people believe and follow the law in Texas. We aren't going to grant recognition to Grand Lodges who don't return the favor, either because they can't be bothered or they are reticent to do so. And that view of the way to do things is by no means rare, as you can see by the lack of blanket recognition in almost all other states.
Some of our MWPHGLoTX brethren need to do what folks in the GLoTX are doing - asking questions of their Grand Lodge officers. And report it back here. The most important is "What are we waiting for?"
The answer on both sides, I reckon, is "The other side". And it will be a whole heck of a lot easier I expect to move MWPHGLoTX to take the first step than it will be GLoTX, thats just the truth of the matter. And so, knowing that, the path ought to be clearer to a way to get the ball moving in a real way.
/ramble