Pointwithinacircle
Registered User
Even though my father and grandfather were Masons, I delayed my application to the Lodge for decades. The reason was that I had heard Masons express the thought that they would ballot against a man based on his race. From what my father had taught me about Masonry, as well as what I knew about life, this was unacceptable to me. Eventually, historic racial inroads were made into the "mainstream" Lodge in my state and I decided to take my beliefs into the Lodge and work on the problem from the inside. I am proud of the work that was, and is, being done to educate the Brothers and promote equality in the craft.
The second thought of my post comes from a conversation that I had with a friend when I was in my late 20's. I am caucasian and my friend is black. He said to me once "When I was in high school I couldn't have invited you to my house because my father hates white people". I was shocked. I guess I was naive, but it never occurred to me that prejudice worked both ways. For me the subject of prejudice was always associated with feelings of guilt and shame because I felt associated with prejudice because of the color of my skin. It never occurred to me that people of other races might have a similar struggle.
Within the last year I have moved to a new state and a new Masonic jurisdiction. While my new Grand Lodge is "in complete fraternal recognition" with Prince Hall, progress on the local Lodge level is somewhat slower. I now understand more about these brothers. My intellect has long been educated, but I still struggle to cast off the feelings of guilt and shame which I feel over the past. It seems that Ignorance, Fear and Superstition are still the enemies of all men.
Someday I hope to sit in a Prince Hall Lodge and have it's members welcome in mine. Until then I hope to conduct myself in a manner that will not cause future generations to feel shame over my behavior. Perhaps that is the best contribution that I can make. If that is all that I can do, that is still something I can be proud of.
The second thought of my post comes from a conversation that I had with a friend when I was in my late 20's. I am caucasian and my friend is black. He said to me once "When I was in high school I couldn't have invited you to my house because my father hates white people". I was shocked. I guess I was naive, but it never occurred to me that prejudice worked both ways. For me the subject of prejudice was always associated with feelings of guilt and shame because I felt associated with prejudice because of the color of my skin. It never occurred to me that people of other races might have a similar struggle.
Within the last year I have moved to a new state and a new Masonic jurisdiction. While my new Grand Lodge is "in complete fraternal recognition" with Prince Hall, progress on the local Lodge level is somewhat slower. I now understand more about these brothers. My intellect has long been educated, but I still struggle to cast off the feelings of guilt and shame which I feel over the past. It seems that Ignorance, Fear and Superstition are still the enemies of all men.
Someday I hope to sit in a Prince Hall Lodge and have it's members welcome in mine. Until then I hope to conduct myself in a manner that will not cause future generations to feel shame over my behavior. Perhaps that is the best contribution that I can make. If that is all that I can do, that is still something I can be proud of.
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