Only the southern states now remain Masonically segregated.The unconfirmed report we wrote about back in August about the Grand Lodge of Delaware finally recognizing Prince Hall Masons was true.
DelawareOnline.com recently published a most interesting article about it, and Masonic Traveler has shared his insights on his blog as well.
Most Worshipful Brother F. Ray Jackson, Grand Master of Masons in Georgia, sir: What about Georgia? When will the Grand Lodge of Georgia accept black Masons as Masons? When will we overcome the shackles of our own minds and actually live up to the Masonic tenets of the Brotherhood of All Mankind? When will the rest of the Masonic world stop laughing at what they think of (and rightly so) as the good ol' redneck racist boys down south?I and countless other Masons in good standing call upon you, the "elected" leader of Masons in Georgia, to stop the racism. Don't hide behind the supposed need for committees and discussions and votes at some Grand Lodge communication five years from now. If you can excommunicate Masons with the stroke of a pen like you and your predecessor Bro. Garner did last year with his edict, you, sir, can recognize Prince Hall Masons with a simple edict as well.
Yeah, many Georgia Masons will be unhappy. Some may even hate you for it. Some may fume and fret and threaten to never attend Blue Lodge again. So what?
Do what is right, F. Ray.
The year is 2006. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in 1863. Martin Luther King freed our minds in the 1960s. Even my 75-year old southern white parents welcome with open arms African-Americans into their once lilly-white Southern Baptist church....
It's time Masons of all creeds, colors and nationalities sit together in Georgia Freemasonic Lodges!
Please email us your reply, telling us when you will issue this edict, or why you will not, so we can post your words for the world to read.
The Grand Master of Georgia's email address is GrandMaster@glofga.org. Other Grand Lodge officers' email addresses are listed on the Grand Lodge of Georgia's webpage.
Masons | F. Ray Jackson | Masonic Racism | Masonic Segregation | Freemasonry | BurningTaper.com | Grand Lodge of Georgia | Prince Hall | Burning Taper
I second that motion!!!
ReplyDeleteDarren Simpson
Time has come that the Southeastern Grand Lodge jurisdictions to recognize Prince Hall Masons, allow cross visitation, and allow African-American men the right to petition and join the Grand Lodge of Georgia.
ReplyDeleteF. Ray is now hiding under his bed hoping this will go away just like he hoped the RRCG would go away. Don't expect much from him as his year in the Grand East has been a grand waste of time.
ReplyDeleteMy Brother, You are giving a slanted view of this subject. It has been my experience in discussing this subject with Prince Hall Masons, that they do not necessarily want cross visitation within the lodges. They simply just want Prince Hall to be recognized as a Masonic Organization and not as a clandestine organization. It is not an issue of Racism. I am sure that many members of PHA also want things to remain as they are now. Does this mean that all Prince Hall Masons are racist? The answer is "no". The same is true of mainstream freemasonry. It is no more a racist orgainization than the Prince Hall organization.
ReplyDeleteMy brother,
ReplyDeleteWhen the man I heard say a few years ago, in open lodge, "Niggers! I think everyone should own a few!" now sits as Worshipful Master of his lodge, it's ample proof that Freemasonry in north Georgia has been, and still is, comprised of more than a few racists.
— W.S.
Georgia Masonry is racist. I have heard "Nigger" more times than I care to remember in lodge in Georgia. I have heard countless reasons why Prince Hall Affiliated Masonry cannot be recognized and I will believe them when I sit with a black man in lodge in Georgia. If one single black man was a member of a single mainstream lodge in Georgia, I would forget about recognition of PHA. Most (99 %) of Georgia Masons are racists. If they were men, they would admit it.
ReplyDeletedon't agree with it!
ReplyDeleteit has always been this way and i believe it should stay the way our forefathers had set it up. nothing racial just that we need to stay as we have always been in the past,
our forefathers would turn over in their graves, if we change the way it was set up in their days.
don't agree
Amen. I live in a state where cross-recognition of Prince Hall Masonry is no big deal. We were one of the first Grand Lodges to recognize them. It must be extremely difficult for brothers who genuinely live the tenets of freemasonry to sit in lodges with idiots like the ones you are describing. Very hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of a PHA lodge I am pleased to see the INTELLIGENT and ENLIGHTENED views of most of the brothers on this site however it is very interesting me to see the few that still hang onto the barbaric ideas of the past. I understand that there will always be a few pockets of resistance to change but aren't WE as Masons supposed to be setting a GOOD example for society? How are we supposed to do that if we maintain a DIFFERENCE between US? Personally speaking, acceptance by a so called mainstream lodge is of no consequence to me. Most of my brothers are only concerned with what the tenets of masonry teaches us i.e. relief, truth and Brotherly Love of ALL mankind. To be more concerned with acceptance than to be righteous and just is counterproductive to the reason that most of us became Masons in the first place. Maybe our challenged brothers need to do a reevaluation on why they became Masons. In closing when I see an individual in need of help rather they be a brother or not I am not concerned with what he or she looks like or their masonic affiliation. All I am concerned with is that they recieve the HELP they NEED if within the length.
ReplyDelete