THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM

THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM

31st August-7th September 2001, Durban, South Africa

A Statement by the Bahá'í Community of the UK

The United Nations will hold the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa from 31st August to 7th September this year. The Bahá'í community of the UK offers this statement in support of this significant international meeting and the vital principles and values that it represents.

Racism is a pernicious and persistent evil, a major blight on human progress. The Bahá'í community opposes racism and xenophobia of any form and believes that the cancer of racial hatred can most effectively be countered by celebrating and promoting the fundamental oneness of humankind.

During the second half of the 19th century, when the concepts of empire, racial supremacy and even slavery were in full sway, Bahá'u'lláh, founder Prophet of the Bahá'í faith, offered the world a message of equality and human dignity. 'The world is but one country, and mankind its citizens,' Bahá'u'lláh says, 'Regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.' Today this message of love for and solidarity with our fellow beings moulds the outlook of almost six million Bahá'ís in 189 countries across the globe.

For many people today racial intolerance continues to exercise a malevolent, painful and corrosive influence over their lives. It is widely acknowledged that the savage murder of Stephen Lawrence, compounded by the egregious failure to bring his murderers to justice, demonstrated how deeply rooted intolerance is in the UK. But underlying such dramatic events are social processes and structures that allow ethnically-based inequities and injustices to flourish, resulting in a long-term failure to nurture the God-given talents and capacities of all and to use these talents and capacities in service to the whole of humankind.

Ultimately, the creation of a peaceful and just global civilization, in which the diverse peoples of the world live in harmony with one another will require a significant reorientation of individual and collective goals and a profound transformation in attitudes and behaviours. Such far-reaching changes will come about only if we acknowledge the spiritual dimension of human reality and draw on humanity's vast spiritual resources.

The Bahá'í community world-wide has worked actively for racial harmony from its very early days. The UK Bahá'í community is no exception. For example, local Bahá'í groups throughout the UK run World Citizenship projects in schools. In January the All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá'ís hosted a seminar in Parliament on 'Youth, Race and Social Cohesion' where an audience of Parliamentarians, policy-makers, academics and activists were addressed by well-known commentators on multi-culturalism. And the UK Bahá'í community is an affiliate of the Bahá'í International Community, which will participate directly in the Durban conference, thus continuing the long record of the Bahá'í faith in working to eradicate racism and racial intolerance.

The Bahá'ís of the UK congratulate the United Nations Organisation for facilitating this important conference and wish success for all those who participate in it.

For further information please phone 020-7590 8792, email oea@bahai.org.uk, or visit www.bahai.org.uk.

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom

May 2001 CE

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National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom

27 Rutland Gate LONDON SW7 1PD

telephone: 020-75842566 o fax: 020-7584 9402

e-mail: nsa@bahai.org.uk

website: www.bahai.org.uk

Registered in England - Company limited by guarantee No. 355737, Registered Charity (1967) 250851

The Assembly also represents the Bahá'í communities of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands