Quakers show value of looking hard at history | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/06/2009

Quakers show value of looking hard at history | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/06/2009: "After revisiting its past, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting cannot rightfully take credit for the heroic efforts of individual Quakers who jeopardized their livelihoods - and, in some cases, their lives - to end slavery. Many of these abolitionists were in fact alienated or disowned by the meeting leadership. To admit that historical fact is a necessary first step in thoughtful discussion and constructive action on race.

This was the goal of Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye, whose recent work, Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice, offers a refreshingly candid revision of the history of Quaker abolitionism. Let's hope the book serves as a starting point for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and a model for other denominations as this country moves forward on race relations."