2nd-Hour Discussion Jan 26 on Hypocrisy, Racism, and Self-Interest on the Path to Reparations with Gary Patton

After worship on Jan. 26 from 12:15-1:15, Gary Patton will facilitate a discussion of Pendle Hill Pamphlet #489: Hypocrisy, Racism, and Self-Interest on the Path to Reparations: Quaker Complicity with Slavery (1657–1776) and White Supremacy, by Mary Watkins. This should be a lively discussion as the pamphlet challenges some long-held assumptions about Quakers’ history with the abolition movement. Watkins investigates the history of slave-owning by European American Quakers in Barbados and the Southern United States, including her own family, despite George Fox’s message of equality and the admonition for Friends to follow the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). Despite some Friends’ early protests against slavery, the practice persisted among Friends for over a hundred years.

Bringing the topic of Friends’ involvement in oppression from past wrongs to the present day, Watkins asks: “What slowed and hobbled [the path to abolition], costing so many African-descended people a hundred years of brutal forced servitude in Quaker households and businesses? What shadow do these hundred years still cast? What can we learn from integrating this extruded history and how might what we learn influence our reparative actions?” (page 3)

This pamphlet joins other texts providing an in-depth look at Friends’ history with slavery and racism, including Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans and the Myth of Racial Justice by Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye. Like Watkins’ pamphlet, this book addresses common misperceptions about our history, illustrating the lingering racism that has been part of the Religious Society of Friends through to the present day.

One thing that struck me in doing the research for this article was the importance of perspective-taking as Friends investigate our past and continue to work towards equity. As a historian, activist, and convinced Friend, Watkins was surprised to find that her own ancestors had been Quaker enslavers. Vanessa Julye, on the other hand, in her Stephen G. Carey Memorial lecture (2021), acknowledges the legacy of her enslaved ancestors. It’s important to keep in mind that many times when “we” is used in discussing Friends’ history, “we” refers to Quakers of European descent rather than the diversity of Friends. As we reflect on Watkins’ pamphlet, let us hold space for new perspectives, building better understandings of our past as we work to create more diverse, inclusive communities. - Karen Warren