Why are blacks not allowed to become true freemasons?

reply to post by duesprimusvictorimmortali


I have no experience with freemasonry, although when making a guess, I would say history. Freemasonry has a long history and during the time it was created black people were not consider equal to whites.

There are many masonic lodges and just like with churches some of them might cling to older traditions not accepting changes, while many are modernising their rules.

That is what would make the most sense to me, if it was true that some masonic lodges do not consider black members as "real" freemasons.

duesprimusvictorimmortali
reply to post by network dude

 

he told us it was like this everywhere not only in the south. i understand what your saying though. but it still doesn't answer the question.

And if what you claim is true then he is lying . There are many jurisdictions who have mutual recognition and visitation between black (PHA) and white (Mainstream) Masons . Also , there are black men in what we call Mainstream Masonry and white men in Prince Hall Masonry . If a black or white man is blackballed or refused entrance into a lodge , that lies on the shoulders of the members of said lodge , not Freemasonry as a whole .

Kentucky for example is considered a Southern state and we have several black men as members . Just not a month ago , we had a visiting brother from another state who was black and he was welcomed into our lodges with open arms .

reply to post by Cabin


I sincerely hope that your statement is incorrect, my friend. Racism has no place in true Freemasonry. All are equal, and all may have a bite of the cherry.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Hi Wrabbit, you said that your grandfather was nearly disowned by his father for marrying a Catholic girl. I never knew they were against catholics.

Do you know what religion they do accept, if any? You have sparked my curiosity.

Thanks

I wonder if the OPs proposition true.
If so, good question.

whenandwhere

duesprimusvictorimmortali
reply to post by network dude

 

he told us it was like this everywhere not only in the south. i understand what your saying though. but it still doesn't answer the question.

And if what you claim is true then he is lying . There are many jurisdictions who have mutual recognition and visitation between black (PHA) and white (Mainstream) Masons . Also , there are black men in what we call Mainstream Masonry and white men in Prince Hall Masonry . If a black or white man is blackballed or refused entrance into a lodge , that lies on the shoulders of the members of said lodge , not Freemasonry as a whole .

Kentucky for example is considered a Southern state and we have several black men as members . Just not a month ago , we had a visiting brother from another state who was black and he was welcomed into our lodges with open arms .

edit on 17-10-2013 by whenandwhere because: (no reason given)

edit on 17-10-2013 by whenandwhere because: (no reason given)

Any women member?


Not that I want to join, just don't think there are and wonder why there isn't.

I am in South Africa, and all five constitutions have, and always have had black members, even in the apartheid years.

My own Mother Lodge has about a quarter black members.

It is interesting that when South Africa was still under the apartheid government, clubs and societies were forbidden to allow both black and white members. Freemasonry managed to get exempted from this rule, and was the only society in South Africa which was legally allowed, and had, membership of both black and white men during the apartheid era.

Ironically, South Africa is the only country that has never, in all of it's racist history, excluded black men from Freemasonry.

www.phaohio.org...



SOME OF OUR NOTEABLE BROTHERS:

FAMOUS PRINCE HALL AFFILIATED FREEMASONS
Bro. Garrett A. Morgan, Sr. inventor traffice light and gas mask
Bro. Robert Abbot - Founder of the Chicago Defender
Bro. Richard Allen - Founder/first Bishop of the A.M.E. Church
Bro. Alexander T. Augusta - First African-American to head a hospital in the U.S.
Bro. Marion Barry - Former Mayor of Washington, D.C.
Bro. William "Count" Basie - Orchestra leader/composer
Bro. James J.G. Bias - Founder of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee
Bro. Henry Blair - First Black to recieve a U.S. patent
Bro. James Herbert "Eubie" Blake - Composer/Pianist
Bro. Edward Bouchet - First Black to be elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society
Bro. William Wells Brown - First Black to publish a novel
Bro. Nathaniel "Nat King" Cole - Singer
Bro. Ossie Davis - Actor/Director/Playwrite
Bro. Martin R. Delany - First Black to matriculate from Havard Medical School/First Black Major in the U.S. Army
Bro. W.E.B. DuBois - Educator/author/historian
Bro. Alexander Dumas - Author
Bro. Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington - Orchestra leader/composer
Bro. Medgar Wiley Evers - Civil Rights leader
Bro. James Forten - Abolitionist/manufacturer
Bro. Timothy Thomas Fortune - Journalist
Bro. Alex Haley - Author
Bro. William C. Handy - Composer
Bro. Matthew Henson - Explorer
Bro. Benjamin L. Hooks - Former Executive Director of the N.A.A.C.P.
Bro. Jesse Jackson - Founder of the Rainbow Coaltion and Operation Push
Bro. Maynard Jackson - First black mayor of Atlanta
Bro. John H. Johnson - Publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines
Bro. Jack Johnson - First Black heavyweight boxing champion in U.S.
Bro. Absalom Jones - First Black Priest in the Episcopal Church in U.S.
Bro. Dr. Ernest Everett Just - One of the founders of Omega Psi Phi and renowned zoologist
Bro. Don King - Boxing promotor
Bro. Lewis Howard Latimer - Inventor of the carbon filament for light
Bro. Thurgood Marshall - Former Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Bro. Benjamin E. Mays - Former President of Morehouse College
Bro. Leon M'Ba - First President of the Republic of Gabon
Bro. Kweisi Mfume - Executive Director of the N.A.A.C.P.
Bro. Richard Pryor - Comedian/Actor
Bro. Alexander Pushkin - Poet/Novelist/Playwrite
Bro. A. Philip Randolph - Founder and First President of the International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Bro. Charles Rangel - U.S. Congressman
Bro. Joseph Jenkins Robert s -First President of the Republic of Liberia
Bro. "Sugar"Ray Robinson - Former mid/light heavyweight boxing champion
Bro. Arthur A. Schomburg - Historian/Author
Bro. Rev. Al Sharpton - Civil Rights Advocate
Bro. Carl B. Stokes - First Black Mayor of Cleveland, OH
Bro. Louis Stokes - Former U.S. Congressman
Bro. David Walker - Author of "David Walker's Appeal
Bro. Booker T. Washington - Educator and Fonder of the Tuskegee University/Institute
Bro. Daniel Hale Williams - First surgeon to perform open heart surgery
Bro. Bert Williams - Actor/Comedian
Bro. Granville T. Woods - Inventor
Bro. Andrew Young - Former Mayor of Atlanta and U.N. Abassador
Bro. Lawrence Douglass Wilder - The First Black elected Governor in this country from Virginia.

After a google search....This should answer your question.

reply to post by duesprimusvictorimmortali


Because most of the secret orders where founded by Caucasian males, who at the start were secure in the thought that by order of superiority it was their right and duty to impose their will on others as the superior people.

Any time you join something like the masons look at their rituals and tenets, all of them about how good and masterful they all are.

They seemed to never learn it's not your race or linage that defines you. It's what you do with it.


Just look at the knights of Columbus successful push to get us all to celebrate a mass murdering slave trader. Didn't matter because he did that to brown people, it's shameful we still celebrate Columbus Day.

reply to post by Tsu322


It matters not as to what religion you are. As long as you believe in a universal creator, you are welcome.

reply to post by duesprimusvictorimmortali


To offer more information, in the western part of NC I know of a few brothers who say that they have black members and there is no issue with accepting any brother into their lodges.

The disconnect comes with the old south mentality.

But just to bring duality into the mix, the prince hall lodge in my area isn't interested in any white masons coming to see them, even though we do have recognition in the state.

I sincerely hope that in my lifetime, my brethren can all learn how to follow all the teachings of masonry and not just the ones that are easy.

Merlynn


Any women member?


Not that I want to join, just don't think there are and wonder why there isn't.

Regular masonry is a Fraternity. So no. There are irregular groups that allow women and there are even a few women members on this site. But as far as recognized masonry, no.

Tsu322
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

Hi Wrabbit, you said that your grandfather was nearly disowned by his father for marrying a Catholic girl. I never knew they were against catholics.

Do you know what religion they do accept, if any? You have sparked my curiosity.

Thanks

The Catholic church has a problem with masonry in that they forbid it's members from becoming one, but as far as I know, masonry has no problem with any religion. I was a Catholic when I became a mason. ( If I went back to church, they would tell me I am no longer a Catholic, but I think I will get by just fine either way.)

He may have had some bad experiences with the church that made him bitter towards it. (or perhaps just some of it's overzealous members)

reply to post by duesprimusvictorimmortali

Most Grand Lodges do allow black men to join, there are very few Grand Lodges who won't let black men join.

reply to post by duesprimusvictorimmortali

He is mistaken.

reply to post by paraphi

I have a friend and Brother going to Africa to attend some meetings as they are trying to start some York Rite bodies there as well. I wish I could go, but the airline prices are too pricey for me.

reply to post by Cabin

If you ever get a chance, read the story of Prince Hall, the man who really founded the African Lodges in America during the Revolutionary War.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I am a Master Mason in Texas. We have African-American Masons in our Lodge. The same goes for the Scottish Rite and Shriners, of which I am a member of each.

The color of someone's skin isn't a factor in Freemasonry.

Now, there are African-American lodges called Prince Hall. Some African-American Masons choose to attend them. That's their decision. If there are lodges that don't allow African-Americans, then that's that specific lodge's decision. It doesn't represent Freemasonry as a whole.

Blacks should be dancing in the streets over this. Its like not being allowed to saw your own hand off

reply to post by abacus10



By all means enlighten us with all your profound wisdom of the evils of Freemasonry . Tell us why they should be happy that they "are not allowed" to become Masons . Don't go making some one liner post without expanding on it , I am on the edge of my seat with bated breath waiting for the wisdom you are about to drop on us .

maybe because at one point in history freemasons were connected to the K.K.K ?

I am a Master Mason and a Shriner in Northern CA. Obviously I can not speak for every state since they each have their own Grand Lodge and by laws. Here in CA all are welcome. It does not matter what religion you are as lomg as you believe in a Supream Being. I know Brothers who are Catholic, Jewish,and Wican. They all sit at the same table for food and fellowship in harmony.

As far as blacks being admited, the same applies, all are welcome. Unfortunatly, as with any organization that dates back before the end of segregation, you have an "Old Guard" who still hold tight to the old ways and are unwilling to change.

For a new member to be admitted there must be a unanimus vote. If one member has am objection he is not required to explain. At my Lodge, we are in a rural community with a large faction of "Good O'l Boys". This makes it nearly impossible for any minorities to get in. I wish it were not so. Most black men choose to joing Prince Hall for this reason.

I can tell you there is a change in the guard coming. These hard liners are all in their 80's and 90's. Soon the new Brothers who understand the true nature of Masonry will be running the show. Keep an eye open, for in another 10 years Masonry will be rededicating itself to its true purpose.

reply to post by CactusJim

Texas?! Another one? I don't know if we can allow that.

reply to post by TheBaphomet

LOL...no we weren't.