by The wanderer 44 Replies latest jw friends
I live in Western Sydney, which is a melting pot of nationalities. The schools around Parramatta are filled with different nationalities without trouble, and it is becoming common to see mixed marriages. I am married to an Asian, and when I got married it stood out as different, now it is very common.
I think overcoming racism comes from education and knowing people of different groups. The Watchtower successfully does educate its members and so has a good record overcoming racism.
Your a white boy ain't ya? YES I AM - and your point is??????????????
My best friend is married to an african-american women - she is my wifes best friend. My cousin is married to somebody none -white ( from India). My brother - in -law is also and my sister.
I don't think so, What, are they the only org out there that has mixed races? The Watchtower bases everything on fear, not love. Acadian
Dear Discussion Board Friends:
The discussions that are posted by me are not always going to
be flattering and some are going to become very controversial.
Truthfully, I make no apologies for starting the threads because
an individual such as myself has never been afraid to stand alone.
Although, my threads are controversial, I will take pains in not
attacking, insulting or putting anyone down. As a Witness I spoke
my mind and I was not popular and that part of me has not changed.
If anyone, feels that I have personally attacked them in a thread
please bring it to my attention and I will set the matter straight.
Respectfully,
The Wanderer
P.S. I tend to look at things in an objective setting.
Personally, all things considered equal, I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet people
of different cultures and backgrounds while I was with the organization. If I had to carry
something good out of the organization—it was the breaking down of racial barriers
For myself, I broke down alot of barriers in the org. But, as a child I already would think to myself ......when my mother who was very prejudice, What if no one took the time to know me because of the color of my skin.
I used to supervise a group of guys when i worked in furniture. This one black guy kept saying all the time that I did not like him because he was black. I said to him It would not matter what color you are ........I dont like YOU.
When I was ill, a black couple, witnesses, took my 5 kids into their home and cared for them. They could not have been in better hands.
Also, we lived in a community where, the white population from the city moved to a small town of only whites. There were a few blacks, one of which my daughter befriended. She was rediculed........she did not see the skin color as others do.
I am grateful for the opportunity and exposure I got in the organization to meet so many people. I have met so many from other countries and had them in my home.
I do think the WT deserves credit for that.
purps
My brother - in -law is also and my sister
When I first read this I thought it said My brother-in-law is also my sister. lol I had to read it five times to get it right.....
sorry just had to tell you all that.
purps
Gilberto. Thanks for taking the time to find the article I was referring to in regards to interracial marriage. That was the article exactly
That in this time and these days people in the WT pray and serve their religion together is great, but it isn't rare. I know of many local families that are active in Southern Baptist, Local Baptist, Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches. I truly think we are living in a better time for such things, and I know living in the PNW that I live in a place that is kinder about it.
OTOH, I know of several of those groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses who had a very organized and institutional approach to racism. In the JW, it really isn't that long ago that they officially separated the races, and it was not 20 years ago that a black brother in our cong. who was a reg. aux. pioneer, his wife a pioneer, as well as several of his grown children who still lived with their parents (it was a very close and loving family and could have made for a demonstration-lovely kind people) until they married. He was not even a MS. He was usually the only black brother in the cong. He did everything for everybody, always had everyone over when there was a visit by DO/CO. So I don't think it is a color blind paradise. I do think it isn't likely a whole lot worse than any other group.
I attended an interracial wedding at the local Southern Baptist Church and no one was anything but thrilled for all of them. This is the year 2006. I think the races are uniting w/o any help from the WT, personally.
Wanderer,
I don't see anyone taking the slightest offense at the way you presented your opinion. Some of us just disagree with giving credit to the WTS that they don't deserve. IMHO, the WTS is first and foremost, totally self-serving. It is their single most identifying trait. When they do something expedient toward their own self-serving purpose that results in a secondary positive, I am reminded of the following saying:
"Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile."
The WTS reflects the times insofar as racism. Racism is bad business and unpopular in our politically correct/affirmative action world. Most organizations that rely on the goodwill of the public have policies against discrimination firmly in place and practiced. Ask the Denny's resaturant chain that was sued a few years ago for seeming to give blacks less than equal service. The WTS knows which side of the bread their butter is on. But check out Gilberto's excellent research on how it used to be.
One more thought - racial harmony at conventions is a very small and unrepresentative sampling from which to draw any sweeping conclusions.
Respectfully,
BB
Your title, The Uniting of Races...Credit the Watchtower" is way too sweeping as well as untrue. The races are not united. There has been a gradual breakdown of racial prejudice in the U.S. over the past 50 years. The WT deserves little if any credit for it. They've just gone along with the changes that have occured in the society at large, and usually a couple of steps behind as befits their very conservative approach to these things.
A better title for you to use might have been: "Uniting the Races... Credit the U.S. Army." The desegregation of the armed services after WWII probably did as much to ease racial tensions as anything else. Or you could credit Major League Baseball, and other professional sports. They've made substantial progress in breaking down the barriers to racial equalilty, at least where success on the athletic field is concerned. They've also single-handedly lifted minorites from the ranks of poverty with their multi-million dollar contracts.
But the Watchtower? They were late in desegregating congregations in the South. They've been amazingly lax in appointing dark-skinned brothers to positions of responsibility at the highest level of the organization. To this day, they segregate Hispanics into "Spanish" congregations. Oh, I know, that's because of the "language difference" but there's a racial component there, as anyone knows who has shared a KH with Spanish congos.
And I haven't even touched on the not-so-ancient teaching of the WTS that valuable literature would be wasted on "our Negro brothers" who weren't smart enough to get it and wouldn't know what to do with it... a temporary problem, to be sure, in view of the Watchtower's learned teaching that in the New Order, they'd all be turned White by Jehovah!
