…every organized
community enlisted under the banner of Bahá'u'lláh should feel it to be its
first and inescapable obligation to nurture, encourage, and safeguard every
minority belonging to any faith, race, class, or nation within it. So
great and vital is this principle that in such circumstances, as when an equal
number of ballots have been cast in an election, or where the qualifications
for any office are balanced as between the various races, faiths or
nationalities within the community, priority should unhesitatingly be accorded
the party representing the minority, and
this for no other reason except to stimulate and encourage it, and afford it an
opportunity to further the interests of the community. In the light of
this principle, and bearing in mind the
extreme desirability of having the minority elements participate and share responsibility
in the conduct of Bahá'í activity, it should be the duty of every Bahá'í
community so to arrange its affairs that in cases where individuals belonging
to the divers minority elements within it are already qualified and fulfill the necessary requirements,
Bahá'í representative institutions, be they Assemblies, conventions,
conferences, or committees, may have represented on them as many of these
divers elements, racial or otherwise, as possible. The adoption of such a course, and faithful adherence to it, would not
only be a source of inspiration and encouragement to those elements that are
numerically small and inadequately represented, but would demonstrate to the
world at large the universality and representative character of the Faith of
Bahá'u'lláh, and the freedom of His followers from the taint of those
prejudices which have already wrought such havoc in the domestic affairs, as
well as the foreign relationships, of the nations.
(Shoghi Effendi, from
a letter dated March 28, 1941; ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’; quoted by the
Universal House of Justice in a letter written on its behalf dated 22 September
1991)
