Moving Beyond White Supremacy
Members of this New Thought community have been meeting weekly for the last couple of months, beginning with a Life Visioning process on Moving Beyond White Supremacy.
Rev. Bill Marchiony, founder and spiritual director of New Thought Philadelphia, contacted AGNT to say they had drafted and published a statement about their call to a new consciousness. This center might soon join many other congregations around the nation to offer AGNT's original New Thought curriculum – "Spiritual Uplift Ministries" (S.U.M.) on “Healing Racism and Upholding Ethnic Fairness.”
We are pleased to share the fruits of their work with our readers, and encourage other centers to draft their own statements and send them to us. agnt@agnt.today
Our Statement on Moving Beyond White Supremacy
Members of our Community began weekly gatherings in June 2020 to gain insight on how we can support our nation in ending the racial divide that has plagued us. The process began with a series of Life Visioning exercises, to invite Spirit to guide us in our activities.
The group continued with a set of action steps to bring our new intentions to life. The first is this Statement on moving beyond the consciousness of White Supremacy. White Supremacy is Over (PDF)
White Supremacy is Over
The Civil & Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s brought an end to racism and white supremacy. Finally, the rights of Black Americans were firmly and permanently established. The notion of “separate but equal” had been quashed, and our nation was well on the road to racial equality. In 2020, though, watching the protests, riots, and looting, it was too easy to see the events of the 60s repeating themselves.
How could this be happening?
Our New Thought spiritual philosophy is based on the idea that everything begins in Consciousness. In the beginning was the Big Bang, or the Creator said “let there be light”. The intention for Light is a creative movement in Consciousness, and we believe that the Power that brought Light into being is still working. It responds to Consciousness, whether it’s one person with a creative idea, or an entire planet that believes a certain way. As we look at the current circumstances, we understand and acknowledge that behind the events on our streets and in the news, there is - there MUST BE - the consciousness that created it. And the ability to change it.
Here’s what we know: White supremacy fully took hold in this country in August of 1619, when a few dozen African captives were bought as slaves in Jamestown. That act anchored a belief in the inferiority of the Black race, and the superiority of the white race over all people of color, including Native Americans. It was this consciousness of Black slavery and white supremacy that drove our national economy, creating vast wealth along the way. Our question is, when did white supremacy end?
The Declaration of Independence clearly states that “all men are created equal”. It was written by a man who owned more than 100 enslaved Black people. Thomas Jefferson wanted it to be true, but he knew it was not. This was an aspiration to equality, with a consciousness of white supremacy. White supremacy did not end on the 4th of July in 1776.
Within 100 years, the idea that a race of humans could enslave another race of humans had become unsustainable. It divided our nation, and the consciousness of slavery met the consciousness against slavery on the battlefield. In 1865 the Confederacy surrendered, leading to the 13th amendment. It abolished all slavery except as punishment for a crime. Finally, certainly, white supremacy had come to an end.
Almost immediately, the governments in the formerly Confederate states created vagrancy laws, poll taxes, and other legal mechanisms to keep the former slaves from voting. They also created police to control and incarcerate them. While in prison, they performed slave labor as allowed by the 13th amendment. The label of slavery was gone, but the consciousness of white supremacy remained.
After the Civil Rights movement, laws were changed but our collective consciousness was not. It was followed by the War on Crime, the “Law and Order” movement, the War on Drugs, and the militarization of police sworn to “serve and protect”. Now, our country imprisons a larger portion of our population than any country on earth. Whites make up 64% of the adult population, but just 30% of prisoners. Clearly, there is still a consciousness of white supremacy.
We of New Thought Philadelphia are joining all our brothers and sisters in the Consciousness of Truth - that all ARE created equal; that white supremacy has no quarter in our minds, in our hearts, in our schools, in our communities, or our government. And we are moved to action.
We call for a revolution in Consciousness for a nation in which all people are treated justly and equally regardless of race, gender, age, religious belief, sexual preference, socio-economic status, physical capabilities, or political belief. In which every person shall have the right and freedom to fully express themselves as human beings, provided they bring no harm to themselves or others. This freedom and equity includes but is not limited to the inalienable rights to education, health care, housing, clean water, adequate nutrition, wages, law enforcement, protection under the law, criminal justice, self-expression, free speech, marriage, voting rights, access to public services and utilities, and representation in the political process.
The consciousness that allows white supremacy is over. We have seen people of all races marching in unity to end an untenable idea that never was true. We know it is possible, and we know that everyone knows it is possible. So we are setting the Conscious call for Love, forgiveness, acceptance and healing. We are inviting the Power that creates all things to respond now, as we turn from fear to Love, from supremacy to equality, from rage to peace, from suspicion to openness. And we invite all to join us in knowing, without doubt or hesitation, that white supremacy is over, and freedom rings. Our new life begins with a New Thought.
The Trustees and Members of New Thought Philadelphia
An open and loving congregation of Conscious choice
Summer 2020
