To discriminate against any race, on the ground of its being
socially backward, politically immature, and numerically in a minority, is a
flagrant violation of the spirit that animates the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. The
consciousness of any division or cleavage in its ranks is alien to its very
purpose, principles, and ideals. Once its members have fully recognized the
claim of its Author, and, by identifying themselves with its Administrative
Order, accepted unreservedly the principles and laws embodied in its teachings,
every differentiation of class, creed, or color must automatically be obliterated,
and never be allowed, under any pretext, and however great the pressure of
events or of public opinion, to reassert itself. If any discrimination is at
all to be tolerated, it should be a discrimination not against, but rather in
favor of the minority, be it racial or otherwise. Unlike the nations and
peoples of the earth, be they of the East or of the West, democratic or
authoritarian, communist or capitalist, whether belonging to the Old World or
the New, who either ignore, trample upon, or extirpate, the racial, religious,
or political minorities within the sphere of their jurisdiction, 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.
(The
Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated 22 September 1991; compilation
on ‘Baha’i Elections and Defining a “Minority”’, prepared by the Research
Department of the Universal House of Justice)
