On behalf of the Bahá’í Community of Yakima, the Local Spiritual Assembly would like to extend solidarity to the Black Community regarding recent events. A message from our National Spiritual Assembly reiterates that, “The heartbreaking violations against fellow human beings, due only to the color of their skin, have deepened the dismay caused by a pandemic whose consequences to the health and livelihoods of people of color have been disproportionately severe. This has come to pass against a backdrop of long-standing racial injustice in virtually every aspect of American life. It is clear that racial prejudice is the most vital and challenging issue we face as a country.” Until we recognize humanity as one people, there can be no healing. Racism toward Blacks is a symptom of “humanity’s failure to understand and embrace our essential oneness.”
Bahá’ís come from every ethnic, religious, national, and tribal background. The Bahá’í Faith is based on the teachings of two Divine Educators, the Bab and Baha’u’llah. Both lived during the mid-1800s in Persia and shared revolutionary concepts about the oneness of humanity. Bahá’ís believe in the oneness of the entire human race, and in one loving Creator. Bahá’ís believe it is time for humanity to come together as one family. The spiritual teachings of the Bahá’í Faith inspire us to form deep and diverse relationships and build communities that nurture the well-being of all people.
“O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.”
(Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words)
The message from the Bahá’ís National Spiritual Assembly continues: “We believe that the tribulations now encompassing much of the world are the symptoms of humanity’s failure to understand and embrace our essential oneness. The interrelated threats of climate change, gender discrimination, extreme wealth and poverty, unfair distribution of resources, and the like, all stem from this deficiency and can never be resolved if we do not awaken to our dependence upon each other. The world has contracted to a neighborhood, and it is important to appreciate that what we do in America impacts not only our own country, but the entire planet.”
On this note, we must choose a course of wisdom, courage, and unity to establish that “more perfect union,” to serve as inspiration to all humanity. Joining hands and hearts, we can commit to a path of justice. Together we can surely achieve this.
“Ye are all the leaves of one tree and the drops of one ocean.”
(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Bishárát)
