When was blacks allowed to be Jehovahs witness?

Answer 1

Of course they were. (Acts 10:34) The early Witnesses did not have a segregational or racist policies nor was there a selection of privileges based on race or colour; the Watchtower of July 15th 1902 stated (quoted above) states:

[QUOTE] "From the Scriptural standpoint we must and do recognize all of the human family as one race, of which father Adam was the original head.." [UNQUOTE] and, referred to black Americans who were the descendents of African slaves, as one group "from among whom no doubt the Lord is making choice of some for the prospective "royal priesthood." From it's very beginning the Jehovah's Witnesses believed that people of any races (including blacks) could be in line for heavenly life to rule with Jesus as kings.

Still, very early Jehovah's Witness beliefs did teach a theology referred to as "restistituion" in which they believed that the return to the original Edenic standards would include a "restoration" of humans to Adam and Eves original skin colour. This was believed to be neither extremely white nor very dark. as the Watchtower July 15th 1902 puts it "...the EXTREME WHITENESS of some peoples is not to be considered the original standard, but A DEFLECTION ...". This of course is somewhat distasteful to todays reader but it did not reflect any teaching that the white (or black) race was defective or inferior rather that ALL MANKIND fell short of edenic perfection. Jehovah's Witnesses have never hidden the fact that they have been a progressive organisation, continually refining their beliefs thanks to increasing spiritual light and this is no exception. In time this teaching was abandoned in favor of one that closer reflected biblical truth. (Proverbs 18: 4).

Another, more disturbing, point of view

While the Watchtower Society has as good (or bad) attitudes to race and race equality as many other institutions in the USA (especially in the south) even today there are almost no black leaders in the JW movement as opposed to a high percentage in Christian denominations, despite the majority (52%) of JW members being black or ethnic.

Nonetheless, a large number of official statements in their publications clearly reflected racist attitudes that have permeated the JW movement since its conception:

For example, an October 15, 1919, Golden Age article (a JW publication) about prohibition (p. 44) stated, "from a criminal viewpoint the desirability of sobering the southern negro speaks volumes for national prohibition."

Another article refers to those from the Far East of all oriental nationalities as "coolies" who were "cutthroats and murderers" (Golden Age, March 10, 1926, p. 374).

Another article states that the 'British Empire' nations are all ruled by Whites, whom the Watchtower describes as having "superior mental, moral, or physical force" and that this superiority is disappearing because the "powers of the colored races are expanding" (May 5, 1926:483).

A Golden Age article vehemently condemned a book sympathetic to blacks, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which it called "the work of Satan" and they even once stated that the Spaniards were a "backward" race (Bolling, 1927:141).

Racism is also obvious in statements such as "careful observations in a London school showed that children enjoyed the heartiest laughs, not from slapstick comedies, but from [such activities as] ... watching a negro miner enjoying a square meal" (Golden Age, 1928:684).

Although the Watchtower claims to believe that all races are biological brothers, all descendants of Adam and Eve, they have for decades officially taught the doctrine of biological inferiority of the black race as formal segregation of blacks was once rigidly enforced in their organization, both during the rule of their first president, C.T. Russell (1852-1916) and their second, Joseph F. Rutherford (1869-1942) and even until the late 1950's. This, again, is corroborated in the Watchtower's own publications, included here so that JWs reading this article cannot accuse me, as the writer, of hatred or bias:

Recognizing that it meant either the success or the failure of the...[Photo] Drama as respects the whites, we have been compelled to assign the colored friends to the gallery... Some were offended at this arrangement. We have received numerous letters from the colored friends, some claiming that it is not right to make a difference, others indignantly and bitterly denouncing [us] as enemies of the colored people. Some ... told us that they believe it would be duty to stand up for equal rights and always to help the oppressed.... We again suggested that if a suitable place could be found in which the Drama could be presented for the benefit of the colored people alone, we would be glad to make such arrangements, or to cooperate with any others in doing so (Watchtower, April 1,1914:110).

Being viewed as inferior supposedly made a person a better 'servant' and consequently the official Watchtower publication The Golden Age magazine (now called Awake!) commented that (bold type mine):

...the curse which Noah pronounced upon Canaan was the origin of the black race. Certain it is that when Noah said, "Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren," he pictured the future of the Colored race. They have been and are a race of servants, but now in the dawn of the twentieth century, we are all coming to see this matter of service in its true light and to find that the only real joy in life is in serving others; not bossing them. There is no servant in the world as good as a good Colored servant, and the joy that he gets from rendering faithful service is one of the purest joys there is in the world (The Golden Age, July 24, 1929: 702).

As recent as 1952, the Watchtower extolled the "servant" and "teachable" qualities of blacks in their publications - not just condescending but, more to the point, treating black people as subserviant to white.

The above are just a few examples of many references from the JW's own literature that betrays a systematic catalogue of racist attitudes. This is a real shame as the JW movement has attracted over half of its converts in the USA from black and ethnic peoples - more than any other group of its sort in the USA, despite its white supremacist leadership.

Answer 2

Yes black people were allowed. One of the basis of the Jehovahs Witnesses as an organization treat each other is with love. Racial discrimination is not loving.

[QUOTE] "From the Scriptural standpoint we must and do recognize all of the human family as one race, of which father Adam was the original head.." [UNQUOTE] and, referred to black Americans who were the descendents of African slaves, as one group "from among whom no doubt the Lord is making choice of some for the prospective "royal priesthood." -- The Watchtower of July 15th 1902

Answer 3

The answer is simple: yes. There are Jehovah's Witnesses in every country around the globe, and consist of people from all nationalities and races. The color of one's skin has no significance whatsoever.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a united Christian brotherhood, made up "of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues." (Revelation 7:9) They endeavor to imitate their leader, Jesus Christ, and accept "that God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:34,35)

Answer 4

All races and nationalities have always and will continue to be accepted and loved in our organization.

Jehovah's Witnesses have never had any racial restrictions in their religion.

Answer 5

Blacks have been a part of Jehovah's Witnesses from the beginning, as do other races who ebrace the truth.