Race Unity in America: an Oral History
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June and Richard Thomas

June and Richard Thomas

14 posts •
From South Carolina to Michigan
Bahai Religion

From South Carolina to Michigan

My church was filled with Civil Rights protestors – one of them said I should explore the Baha’i faith.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
A domestic, a laundryman & a professor
Segregation in America

A domestic, a laundryman & a professor

My parents sent me to an integrated school but I was too mischievous – so I returned to an all-black community.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Like a thief in the night
Bahai Religion

Like a thief in the night

I was a fundamentalist black Baptist who believed in the return of Christ – but the Baha’i teachings blew my mind.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Leaving home
Bahai Community

Leaving home

If you’ve been in a black church you know how dynamic it is – leaving it for an inter-racial community was traumatic.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Three years of harassment and ostracism
Civil Rights Movement

Three years of harassment and ostracism

I was part of the vanguard of black students who integrated my high school – I rode in a police car to go to class.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
The Orangeburg massacre
Racism in America

The Orangeburg massacre

It was so close – if I’d been standing on the front steps of my church at that moment I would’ve seen everything.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Growing up as a Civil Rights warrior
Bahai Community

Growing up as a Civil Rights warrior

The Baha’i community taught racial unity and they also lived it – which was the goal of the Civil Rights movement.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Hollow options in the 1960s
Racial Identity

Hollow options in the 1960s

We had friends who were Black Panthers – there was a lot of fronting with bullets and guns.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Black is beautiful
Racial Identity

Black is beautiful

here was a deeply entrenched self-hate among dark-skinned African-Americans – it dated back to slavery.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Abdu’l-Baha in America
Bahai Community

Abdu’l-Baha in America

The head of the Baha’i faith visited the United States in 1912 and described blacks and whites as sapphires and pearls.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Applying Baha’i ideas to scholarship & academia
Bahai Religion

Applying Baha’i ideas to scholarship & academia

White students felt guilty and didn’t know what to do, and students of color would feel extremely angry.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Urban redevelopment and race
Racism in America

Urban redevelopment and race

My field, urban planning, has destroyed many African-American communities. I saw it as my charge to address that.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Building new communities in the inner cities
Bahai Community Building

Building new communities in the inner cities

What’s facing us now in achieving race unity is that some people are privileged – many others are severely disadvantaged.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
Ending residential segregation is not gentrification
Segregation in America

Ending residential segregation is not gentrification

Baha’i institutions say we must live among people of different races – and to show them hospitality and love.

  • June and Richard Thomas
    June and Richard Thomas
1 min read
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