Hundreds of Baha'i communities throughout the United States observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day by helping to organize public events to commemorate the great, slain civil rights leader.

For more than a century, American Baha'is have worked for social justice and racial harmony in keeping with the Faith’s belief in the oneness of humanity. "Dr. King", says one Baha'i, "still represents the idea of racial unity," a cause near and dear to the hearts of American Baha’is, who take their inspiration from the Faith and its main figures.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

As early as 1912, Abdu'l-Baha, while on his historic journey across North America, made race unity a key feature of public addresses, for example at Howard University and before the Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He encouraged loving interaction between blacks and whites, including interracial marriage. As a result of his vision, the American Baha'i community hosted its first racial amity conference in Washington D.C. in 1921 and later formed race unity committees.

In the late 1930s, Abdu'l-Baha’s successor, Shoghi Effendi, wrote:

"As to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well-nigh a century, has bitten into the fiber, and attacked the whole social structure of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Baha'i community at the present stage of its evolution."

"I have a dream that one day… little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls
as sisters and brothers." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1991, the NSA issued a landmark statement on “The Vision of Race Unity: America’s Most Challenging Issue.” Baha’is have distributed the statement widely and presented it to local government officials, civic organizations and interfaith groups to encourage dialogue and activities to foster an end to racism.

"In no other country is the promise of organic unity more immediately demonstrable than in the United States, because it is a microcosm of the diverse populations of the earth,” the statement reads. ”Yet this promise remains largely unrealized even here because of the endemic racism that, like a cancer, is corroding the vitals of the nation."

Baha’is believe that achieving racial unity in America will have a profound influence on the world, as expressed in the Baha'i Prayer for America, excerpted here: “Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world.”

Related items: 

• Watch the video A Conversation and Dialogue on Race Unity - This event was videotaped on January 15, 1999 at the African Meeting House in Boston, Mass. It pulled together participants from the social services and education sectors to discuss issues related to race confronting our nation. It was sponsored by the African American Federation of Greater Boston, the Regional Baha'i Council of the Northestern States and the Urban Leagues of Eastern and Western Mass.