Quakers ask what to do about racism

Our uaker meeting today (by Zoom) began with a query from higher up, a rare case when a body higher in the uaker system asked us to meditate today on a questionto all meetings. Something like: "How can/should we right racism? What should we give up to do so?" We are urged not to speak unless we hear a messaage form the spirit, addressed to everyone, meeting highstandards, but for the very first time ever, I found the same message coming to my mind from the time when they asked the query until just after someone else spoke, who said almost verbatim a PART of what came to me. What I heard (as best I recall later): 'The racsm we need to struggle with most is the racism deep inside ourselves. We need to overcome the idea that our culture must bend down to take care of all those below us. In fact, what we need most is respect and love. We in our Europe- based culture have a great deal to beproud of and protect, but we need equal respect espec ially, at this time, to the equally deep values and intelligence of the most enlightened people of India and China, who wil become much bigger parts of our lives in the next five years. Yes, we see evil facsist actions by some peoplethere, but we see much of the same here as well. we need to work on our side, to make us worthy of not being viewed as fascists ourselves, and we must see past the fascists there to the deep and powerful cultures as spiritual as our own best. Our best values can be preserved but only if gthey are integrated and united more with their best values and understnading, which we need to sue with more and more, in the maximum spirit of love and respect. (Of course, I did not mentoin the posisbility that w eight actually ahvce a Presidnet of Indian descentbefore too long.)