'Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship'-the Quakers and civil rights

By Paul Ricketts

Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice by Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye depicts the insidious nature of racism as it highlights the work for racial justice among Quakers, also known as Friends.

Marcus Garvey famously remarked, “A people without knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots.” As a Quaker of African descent reading Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship, I find the authors effectively retrace and document the rich, diverse history of African Americans and Quakers.

The book is built around three themes: the relationship of Quakers with enslaved people of African descent, Quakers in a post-enslavement society and the work today of African American Quakers and white Quaker allies for racial justice both among Quakers and in the larger society.

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) became one of the first Christian denominations to petition against the enslavement of people of African descent. A copy of the 1688 “Quaker Petition Against Slavery” of the Germantown Friends can be found in the opening chapter. Many Quakers ignored this prophetic statement and joined their fellow Christians in the practice of holding people of African descent in bondage for more than one hundred years. Following the conventional racist and segregated patterns found in other Christian churches, Quakers separated the seating of people of African descent in their meetinghouses (churches).

Sarah Douglass, a free person of African descent and a faithful attendee of Quaker meetings, shared her experience of being forced to sit at a bench reserved for people of African descent at Arch Street Meetinghouse in Philadelphia in 1837:

“Often times I wept, at other times I felt indignant and queried in my mind, Are these people Christians?”

The book highlights the courage and prophetic witness of a few white Quakers such as John Woolman who labored with fellow Quakers to encourage them to release the Africans they had enslaved. Woolman became one of the leaders in the free produce movement, which boycotted goods produced by enslaved labor.

A white Quaker couple, Levi and Catharine Coffin of Indiana, were among many Quaker leaders of the Underground Railroad, joining African Americans in aiding fugitives of slavery as they headed north. One hundred fugitives per year are estimated to have passed through Newport (now known as Fountain City) each year. The Coffin home is registered as a National Historic Landmark.

During the post-enslavement period, Quakers joined with other Christians to purify themselves for the sins of holding and profiting from children of God in bondage: they sent teachers and built free schools for formerly enslaved populations in the South.

At the dawn of the 20th century, Quakers, both white and black, began to advocate for racial justice within the Religious Society of Friends itself. The Five Years Meeting, a national Quaker organization that unites regional Quaker bodies and known today as Friends United Meeting, stated in 1955:

“Too often pioneering in racial equality has been left to the few, but in this day of racial crisis every member of the Society of Friends should be concerned that all races have equal opportunity to participate with one another in worship, education, housing, employment and voting and to join our fellowship.”

By the early ’60s, the Quakers’ involvement in the work for racial justice took a radical shift. African American Quaker Bayard Rustin, who was the primary architect of 1963 March on Washington, became the face of Quakerism in the Civil Rights movement. Born in West Chester, Penn., Rustin was exposed to Quakerism by his grandmother Julia Rustin, who had been brought up as a Friend.

More recently the Fellowship of Friends of African Descent was formed (in 1991) out of a desire that black Quakers know each other. The Friends General Conference Committee for Ministry on Racism (formed in 2000) is guided by a vision of a Religious Society of Friends transformed into a beloved community that is enriched by its diversity. Quakers have embarked on a new journey towards inclusivity and racial justice.

Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship is largely chronological, and follows a historical narrative. What I found missing in that narrative was the theological underpinning: why Quakers are called to be inclusive and to work for racial justice work. In a similar project, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Savior: Experiences of Black Episcopalians, Episcopalians, intertwined historical narratives with a strong theological context. Author Vanessa Julye, an African American Quaker, offers personal significance for writing in the Epilogue: Toward an Inclusive Community:

“When I joined the Society of Friends I wanted to believe that Friends were different. Now that I have a better understanding of our history, I see that the Religious Society of Friends is not now and has never been the Blessed Community that I was led to believe existed. This is wonderful news for me. Why? Because it means that we have not lost anything. What we need is ready and waiting for us— a Religious Society of Friends where members honor our testimony of equality and truly see that of God in each person, no matter how deeply it my may be buried.”

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those who are on the journey for racial justice in their faith communities and in the larger society. For more information on local Quakers go to our website at http://fortwayne.quaker.org/ All are welcome!

Paul Ricketts is member of Fort Wayne Friends (Quaker) Meeting.

This is part of the November 4, 2009 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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