Dr. Richard W. Thomas' Vision of America

Dr. Richard W. Thomas was born in Detroit in 1939. He was raised as a Baptist in an all black community on the east side of the city. Thomas attended an all black school until the 1950’s, when his parents urged him to switch to an integrated school, which they thought would help prepare him for a future in a more racially diverse world. In 1957, at the age of 18, Thomas joined the Marin

In 1964, Dr. Thomas began attending Michigan State University to earn his bachelor’s degree. He had to stop several times to earn money for his tuition by working in a factory and paying for school year by year. When the GI bill was finally enacted, Thomas was able to stay enrolled as a full time student, eventually earning his Master’s degree in History. While attending MSU, Dr. Thomas also met his wife. Next, they both attended the University of Michigan, where Thomas received his doctorate in 1976. He has been teaching at MSU since 1971, focusing mostly on racial issues. (Personal Interview) Thomas is the co-founder of the Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience (MRULE) at the university. The program, which began in 1996, offers students living in residence halls the opportunity to increase their understanding of what they can do to improve race relations on campus and in the community. This is achieved through discussions, presentations, and activities which promote multiracial unity. Dr. Thomas has also lectured on race relations at universities in the United States, Canada, and England. He is the author of several books on race-relations, including Racial Unity: An Imperative for Social Progress, which was published in 1993 (“The Multi Racial” 2).

In this very secular world with its over reliance on science, politics, war, and revolution as key instrumentalities of social change, this emphasis on "one true religion” as “the perfect means for engendering fellowship and union” is often summarily dismissed as too simpleminded and naïve. But few can deny at this stage of human history that the world is undergoing a process of fragmentation on every level of social, political, and economic life, or that even the present hopeful signs of world unification cannot be sustained without some unifying force capable of not only overcoming the countless divisions among humankind but also elevating it to a higher level of unity and cooperation. (Racial Unity 117)

es, which he remembers as his first true multiracial experience. At that time, however, it had only been racially integrated for ten years. As a Marine, Thomas spent the next three years traveling to Okinawa, Japan, Formosa, and the Philippines. While in Japan, he says he experienced his first true understanding of racism when other Marines were calling the Japanese “Chinks” and “Japs.” Witnessing that racism towards the Asians sensitized him to the other forms of racism in the world around him (Personal Interview).

These scholars, along with Dr. Thomas, see the problems America is currently facing in the area of race relations. The necessity of racial unity to American social progress is obvious. Thomas believes that the interracial love, fellowship, and unity which is required can be found in the ideals of the Baha’I Faith. Dr. Thomas has seen America at its worst. He has seen its slow progression and improvement to what it is today. And, through his involvement with the Baha’I Faith, he has seen what America can become through the oneness of humankind.

Many scholars agree that America has a long way to go in the areas of social progress and race relations. For example, in his article “Race Relations in the 1980’s: The Case of the United States,” Benjamin P. Bowser writes that “despite declines in survey-reported racial prejudice and the elimination of legally sanctioned and overt discrimination, blacks apparently are still experiencing racially motivated restrictions.” He believes that little hope exists for the further improvement of blacks’ circumstances relative to that of whites in the near future (Bowser 307). Another scholar with similar ideas is Lewis M. Killian, who had an article published i

Some topics in this essay:
America Thomas, Baha’I Faith, Dr Thomas, International Community, Richard Thomas, Michigan University, Rights Act, Black Studies, English Dictionary, United States’, baha’i faith, dr thomas, racial unity, race relations, social progress, thomas believes, racial equality, dr richard thomas, blacks whites, article published, dr richard, interracial love fellowship, progress dr thomas, baha’i international community, imperative social progress,