Reprint of July\Aug 1988 Bethel Min. Newsletter
Blacks and the Watchtower
By Randall Watters
Few religious organizations have escaped being tainted by racial
prejudice at one time or another. While the Watchtower has not
been alone in its preferential treatment of the Caucasian, its
history is perhaps a little more interesting and at times
amusing in regards to the black man. It is all the more
fascinating when you discover how few people really know what
the Watchtower has taught regarding racial inferiority.
Taking a glimpse back in time to the beginnings of the
Watchtower organization, we find more than just silent prejudice
at work. Several statements were put in print regarding the
alleged inferiority of the black man! Let's examine a few of
these statements from the past, and then we'll examine their
present view of blacks and even Hispanics in the Governing Body.
From the beginning, President C. T. Russell believed that the
millennial kingdom was about to break upon mankind, accompanied
by life in paradise and a restoration of the earth to the
condition as found in the garden of Eden. Though in this present
life the black man was found to be inferior, Russell argues,
this will work to his advantage during the millennium. Humility,
promoted by a position of inferiority, would breed strength of
character to the "colored" if they are so rightly exercised by
it (in other words, if they remain humble and not challenge the
status quo). Note the following from the April 1, 1914
Watchtower:
If nature favors the colored brethren and sisters in the
exercise of humility it is that much to their advantage, if they
are rightly exercised by it. A little while, and our humility
will work out for our good. A little while, and those who have
been faithful to their Covenant of Sacrifice will be granted new
bodies, spiritual, beyond the veil, where color and sex
distinctions will be no more. A little while, and the Millennial
kingdom will be inaugurated, which will bring restitution to all
mankind, restitution to the perfection of mind and body, feature
and color, to the grand original standard, which God declared
"very good," and which was lost for a time through sin, but
which is soon to be restored by the powerful kingdom of Messiah.
(p. 105106)
All men privileged to live in that "new world" would return to
man's original state, including man's original color and
language. And what was that color and language? White and
Hebrew, according to the Watchtower. Under the subheading, "CAN
THE ETHIOPIAN CHANGE HIS SKIN?", the Feb. 15, 1904 Watch Tower
responds,
We answer, No. But all will admit that what the Ethiopian cannot
do for himself God could readily do for him. The difference
between the races of men and the differences between their
languages have long been arguments against the solidarity of the
human family. The doctrine of restitution has also raised the
question. How could all men be brought to perfection and which
color of skin was the original? The answer is now provided. God
can change the Ethiopian's skin in his own due time.
Prof. H. A. Edwards, Supt. of Schools in Slater, Mo., has
written for the public press an elaborate description of how
Julius Jackson, of New Frankfurt, Mo., a negro boy of nine
years, began to grow white in September, 1901, and is now fully
ninetenths white. He assures us that this is no whitish skin
disease; but that the new white skin is as healthy as that of
any white boy, and that the changed boy has never been sick and
never has taken medicines.
(p.5253)
The reason for printing such a story, of course, is to
demonstrate that God can and will change the "Ethiopian" (black
man) into a white man in the New World.
The obvious question to ask at this point is, Why does the black
man need to change? The reason they gave revealed their true
feelings, as we see from the following excerpts:
..The negro race is supposed to be descended from Ham, whose
special degradation is mentioned in Gen. 9:22, 25.
(Zion's Watch Tower, August 1, 1898, p. 230)
Noah declared, prophetically, that Ham's characteristics which
had led him to unseemly conduct disrespectful to his father,
would be found cropping out later, inherited by his son,and
prophetically he foretold that this degeneracy would mark the
posterity of Canaan, degrading him, making him servile. We are
not able to determine to a certainty that the sons of Ham and
Canaan are the negroes; but we consider that general view as
probable as any other.
(Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1902, p. 216)
The change was needed as a sign of removal of the curse; black
skin was a blemish, so to speak. Yet the skin color of the black
man was not the only thing about him that was apparently cursed.
In an article attempting to prove the bigots of the day to be in
error, an article was written entitled, "The Negro Not A Beast."
The Negro was declared to be indeed human, yet with the
following qualification:
While it is true that the white race exhibits some qualities of
superiority over any other, we are to remember that there are
wide differences in the same Caucasian (Semitic and Aryan)
family; and also we should remember that some of the qualities
which have given this branch of the human family its preeminence
in the world are not such as can be pointed to as in all
respects admirable....The secret of the greater intelligence and
aptitude of the Caucasian undoubtedly in great measure is to be
attributed to the commingling of blood amongst its various
branches; and this was evidently forced in large measure by
circumstances under divine control.
(Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1902, p.215216)
In an effort to provide hope for the Negro, the following story
was related in the Zion's Watch Tower of October 1, 1900, p.
296297:
CAN RESTITUTION CHANGE
THE ETHIOPIAN'S SKIN?
The following, from the New York World, is the third we have
seen reported. These suggest and illustrate the process of
restitution soon due. The item reads:
"From Black to White He Slowly Turned"
Parkersburg, W. Va., Sept. 8.It has fallen to the lot of the
Rev. William H. Draper, pastor of the Logan Memorial church, of
Washington Conference, A.M.E. church, of this town, to give a
living affirmative answer to the famous Biblical question, "Can
the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?" Though
once as black as charcoal, the Rev. Mr. Draper is now white. His
people say that his color was changed in answer to prayer. Many
years ago Draper was employed by a fairskinned man, and he was
often heard to remark that if he could only be white like his
employer, he would be happy. While in the white man's service
Draper `experienced' religion.
From that day forward he prayed constantly and fervently that he
might become white. Thirty years ago his prayer began to be
answered. He first experienced a prickling sensation on his
face, and upon close investigation found a number of small white
spots scarcely larger than the point of a pin. He became
alarmed, thinking he had some peculiar disease but he did not
suffer and aside from the prickling sensation felt nothing
unusual. Gradually the white spots became larger and extended
themselves, until now, after the change has been in progress for
over thirty years, Draper has not a single dark spot on his body.
The advantage of being viewed as inferior supposedly made one a
good servant, and The Golden Age magazine (now Awake!), comments:
It is generally believed that the curse which Noah pronounced
upon Canaan was the origin of the black race. Certain it is that
when Noah said, "Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall
he be unto his brethren," he pictured the future of the Colored
race. They have been and are a race of servants, but now in the
dawn of the twentieth century, we are all coming to see this
matter of service in its true light and to find that the only
real joy in life is in serving others; not bossing them. There
is no servant in the world as good as a good Colored servant,
and the joy that he gets from rendering faithful service is one
of the purest joys there is in the world.
(The Golden Age, July 24, 1929, p. 702)
Even as recent as 1952, the Watchtower extols the
"teachableness" of the Negro:
Really, our colored brothers have a great cause for rejoicing.
Their race is meek and teachable, and from it comes a high
percentage of the theocratic increase.
(The Watchtower, Feb. 1, 1952, p. 95)
Segregation was practiced during the days of C. T. Russell and
even into Rutherford's term as president of the Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society. This excerpt is taken from The Watch Tower of
April 1, 1914, p. 105:
Recognizing that it meant either the success or the failure of
the enterprise of the [Photo] Drama as respects the whites, we
have been compelled to assign the colored friends to the
gallery, which, however, is just as good for seeing and hearing
as any other part of The Temple. Some were offended at this
arrangement.
We have received numerous letters from the colored friends, some
claiming that it is not right to make a difference, others
indignantly and bitterly denouncing us as enemies of the colored
people. Some, confident that Brother Russell had never
sanctioned such a discrimination, told that they believe it
would be duty to stand up for equal rights and always to help
the oppressed, etc. We were obliged to explain the facts,
assuring all of our loving interest in the colored people, and
of our desire to do them good, and not injury. We again
suggested that if a suitable place could be found in which the
Drama could be presented for the benefit of the colored people
alone, we would be glad to make such arrangements, or to
cooperate with any others in doing so.
Intellectual Ability
Even more fascinating is the Watchtower's early view of the
lesser interest and intelligence of the Black and Hispanic races
concerning the deeper things of the Bible. The Watchtower of
April 15, 1900 said the following regarding blacks not
participating in the "pioneer" work:
There are probably as many as a hundred colored brethren on the
Watch Tower lists, some of them very clear in the truth, and
very earnest in its service, financially and otherwise. We have
received letters from several of these, who had intended
engaging in the volunteer work, expressing surprise that in the
call for volunteers in the March 1st issue we restricted the
inquiry to white Protestant churches. They rightly realized that
we have not the slightest of race prejudice, and that we love
the colored brethren with just the same warmth of heart that we
love the white, and they queried therefore why such a
distinction should be made in the call. The reason is that so
far as we are able to judge, colored people have less education
than whites, many of them quite insufficient to permit them to
profit by such reading as we have to give forth. Our conclusion
therefore is based upon the supposition that reading matter
distributed to a colored congregation would more than half of it
be utterly wasted, and a very small percentage indeed likely to
yield good results.
(p. 122)
The average Jehovah's Witness today that is confronted with this
information would probably excuse the organization of being in
error because "the light was dim" back then but that now the
"light has gotten brighter and brighter," and those days are
long gone. It is true that times and attitudes have changed. Yet
we should not be too hasty in concluding that the Watchtower has
fully abandoned their old mentality. It was made known to me in
1977 while I was in charge of the printing of the Watchtower's
large Bible encyclopedia, the Aid to Bible Understanding, that
it was not translated and printed in Spanish partly due to the
lack of interest of the Spanish brothers in the deeper things of
the Word! The feeling was that all that work would only go to
waste among Hispanics.
Typical of the "Watchtower amnesia" regarding their own past
history, they act today as if they never taught any prejudicial
views, and that only the churches of Christendom are guilty of
such things. Yet even the Catholic Church surpasses them in this
regard! The Watchtower of Oct. 8, 1977 states:
Even up to a hundred years ago the Catholic Church held the view
that blacks were cursed by God. Maxwell explains that this view
"apparently survived until 1873 when Pope Pius IX attached an
indulgence to a prayer for the `wretched Ethiopians in Central
Africa that almighty God may at length remove the curse of Cham
[Ham] from their hearts."
(p. 29. See also the 2/8/82 WT, p.1415.)
According to what the Watchtower is saying, the Catholic Church
dropped their official prejudice against the black man at least
40 years before they did! Of course, they are banking on the
fact that few Witnesses really know the history of the
Watchtower organization. As has been demonstrated earlier, they
viewed the curse of Ham as applying to the Negro as late as 1929!
Have Old Things Really Passed Away?
The Watchtower of modern times prides itself on its supposed
freedom from racial prejudice as an organization (it does
acknowledge individuals who have problems from time to time). It
takes great delight in quoting the news media as they observe
and comment on the massive assemblies across the world each
year, with peoples from all races attending in harmony. One
observer they repeatedly quoted was G. Norman Eddy, who comments
on Jehovah's Witnesses:
I am struck with their genuine high regard for the people of all
races. Unlike some who pay lip service to the doctrine of racial
brotherhood, the Witnesses welcome all to their society, even to
places of outstanding leadership without reference to color or
feature.
(Journal of Bible and Religion, as quoted in the Jan. 15, 1973
WT, p. 37)
It is true that the assemblies of Jehovah's Witnesses are
remarkable in this regard, but so are many modern church groups
across the country, especially among the charismatic
persuasions. Yet unlike the churches, the Governing Body of
Jehovah's Witnesses has never had a non Caucasian in its
membership, Negro, Hispanic or otherwise.
Further, there are likely more subtle reasons behind the
reluctance of the Governing Body to take in minorities. The
unspoken requirements of serving as a member of the Governing
Body apparently include having the same eccentricities and
Victorian attitudes as the men already serving in such
capacities, which are somewhat peculiar to certain older
Caucasians of English-American descent. Any aspiring soul
brother must put on the same attitudes in order to be trusted.
While the Watchtower does have a few blacks in high position,
including Circuit Overseers and members of the Service
Department at Bethel, such ones have been promoted no higher, in
spite of their adopting "white" attitudes. Perhaps with
increased public pressure and the passing away of the older
diehards, a black may be appointed to the Governing Body; time
will tell. One thing for sure, they will have to lose their
"soul" in order to do so!
.
|
