Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part series on Prince Hall Masons And Prince Hall Shriners.
Part II presents excerpts about some similarities and differences between Prince Hall Shriners and mainstream Shriners, with particular attention to the historical and contemporary racial composition of those two fraternal organizations.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/09/general-information-about-prince-hall.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents general historical information about Prince Hall Masons and presents historical information and other general information about Prince Hall Shriners (A.E.A.O.N.M.S).
This series is subtitled "for African Americans and other people in the general public" to emphasize the historical and present day fact that Prince Hall Shriners is an important (and I believe usually overlooked) part of African American history and culture.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Prince Hall for his cultural legacy and thanks to all who are quoted in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/09/prince-hall-shriners-tradition-of.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Prince Hall Shriners' Tradition Of "Riding" (Performing Processional Versions Of The Camel Walk Dance)"
Click the Prince Hall Shriners tag for additional pancocojams posts about this predominately African American organization.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S DISCLAIMER
I have no affiliation with the Prince Hall Masons's female auxiliary "The Eastern Star" or with the Prince Hall Shriners' female auxiliary "The Daughters of Isis". Nor do I have any direct or indirect contact with any Masons or Shriners.
I'm revisiting this subject [after posting videos in this blog in 2017 of Prince Hall Shriners "riding"] because of my continued cultural interest in historically Black Greek letter organizations. [I'm a long ago inactive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.] I strongly believe that Masons and Prince Hall Masons/Prince Hall Shriners in particular have heavily influenced some of the strolling performance styles of historically Black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs), and other cultural features of some BGLOs, including the pyramid symbolism that is a part of the oldest BGLO, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
My latest pancocojams series on BLGOs provides information and comments about non-Black People in those historically Black Greek letter organizations (Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/08/non-blacks-in-historically-black-greek.html for Part I of that series.). This prompted me to search online for information about racial composition in Mason and Shriner organizations. Although I found some articles on that subject, I realized that I had to go back and clarify the differences between "mainstream" Masons and Prince Hall Masons, the differences between Masons and Shriners, and the differences between mainstream Shriners and Prince Hall Shriners. The result is Part I of and Part II of this pancocojams series.
All material presented in this pancocojams series is gleaned from the internet.
****
ARTICLE EXCERPTS ABOUT RACIAL INTEGRATION BETWEEN MAINSTREAM SHRINERS AND PRINCE HALL SHRINERS
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2009/12/black-shriners-meet-in-tampa-for.html
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Black Shriners Will Meet in Tampa For Convention
“Like the more than two centuries of separation between black and white Freemasons, the appendant Masonic organizations followed the same path. The historically black Prince Hall Affiliated Shriners are the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine, and are headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. While they have contributed to the historically white Shriners Hospitals over the years, they are not officially part of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, now known as Shriners International, based in Tampa, Florida. A year ago, the AEAONMS began a partnership with the American Diabetic Association as their predominant charity.
The Prince Hall Shriners are headed to Tampa for their annual Imperial Session next year. In August 2010 an estimated 15,000 members are expected.
From an article today in the St. Petersburg times by Amanda Zayas:
[...]
Selected comments from this article:
Moose, December 30, 2009 3:54 PM
"I'm so disheartened to see that the old Prejudiced still is present in this day and age regarding skin color within lodge. I'm happy to see that some states are "recognizing" prince hall lodges, but cant we all just meld together and practice Masonry together? I live in California and I know SEVERAL Afro-American brothers who are in lodge with me who are either in line or are WM. I have no fear of any brother of any race creed or color. My heart is Masonic and all I have seen has been the Lights."
**
Reply
Tommy Desmond, November 26, 2010 11:39 AM
"Yes, in Detroit we have black guys in our Lodges (non-PH) and we all have a great time together... Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite and York... along with asians, indians and even *gasp* CANADIANS! OMG! Lol"
****
Excerpt #2:
From https://onnidan1.com/forum/index.php?topic=54407.0 Shriners still mostly segregated by choice
[re-published by] Brother Tony, August 08, 2011, 05:20:20 PM
"City, area tourism officials hope to lure primarily White organization to Daytona Beach for 2017 convention
BY JAMES HARPER
DAYTONA TIMES
"Imagine thousands of White men parading down A1A, intoxicated, wearing funny hats, with some dancing in the streets.
"That’s probably what you will see," said Illustrious Potentate Noble John Ranglin about the International Shriners if the Daytona Beach area tourist officials and city leaders are successful in luring members here for their 2017 convention.
The scene described is not unusual in this area, especially during the Daytona 500 weekend, Bike Week, Spring Break and NASCAR Racing that occurs during the Fourth of July weekend.
Ranglin, a Black Shriner, is not a member of the International organization, whose membership is mostly White. Ranglin is a member of the Ancient City Temple No. 63 located in Daytona Beach. It’s part of the historically Black Prince Hall Affiliated Shriners, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn.
While they have contributed to the historically White Shriners Hospitals over the years, the Prince Hall Shriners are not officially part of Shriners International, based in Tampa.
In 1872, the White Masons started a fraternity called the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The Black Masons formed its own Shrine group in 1893, the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order. Both groups referred to their chapters as "temples." Both called their leader the "imperial potentate."
‘It’s about power’
Even though at one time, Blacks were not allowed to become members of the International Shriners, times have changed and the two organizations exist for different reasons besides color.
"It’s about power. In order for us to come together, one has to surrender to the other. There’s room for only one grand master. Power has been taken away from us (Blacks) too many times over the years. We’re segregated but not racist," Ranglin explained.
Ranglin says the local Black group is planning a hospitality dance on Sept. 2 and a ball on Sept. 3 at the Daytona Beach Hilton, where hundreds are expected to attend. The fundraising event is open to the public.
He added, "We want our funds to stamp out crime, drugs, health issues that affect community. That also continues to keep us separate.
[…]
.
When the Shriners were started in America, most Blacks were slaves and the logic, according to White members at that time, was in order to be freemasons you had to be free men.
Who was Prince Hall?
Also, in order to be a member of the organization, there had to be a unanimous vote by its members, therefore it was difficult for Blacks to join the group.
Prince Hall, who was Black, born in 1735, was an abolitionist and a leader of the free Black community in Boston.
Hall tried to gain New England’s enslaved and free Blacks a place in some of the most crucial spheres of society – freemasonry, education and the military.
He is considered the founder of "Black Freemasonry" in the United States, known today as Prince Hall Freemasonry.
Hall formed the African Grand Lodge of North America and was unanimously elected its Grand Master and served until his death in 1807.
Both sides have Blacks and Whites
Ranglin, who lives in Deltona, said though the local group is based out of Daytona Beach, the Prince Hall group meets in Ormond.
He said the organization is working to start Shriners clubs in Palm Coast and Ocala.
Ranglin said the organization does not discriminate based on color when inviting men to join the group, which includes Whites and other races.
"I was a grand officer for International Shriners," said Ranglin until he realized there was another brand of masonry – Prince Hall in 1990.
"Both sides have both races. There are no longer barriers. Within the last 20 years, there has been mutual respect, more so in the last five years," he explained.
The Times attempted to reach a spokesman for International Shriners but did not get a response by deadline.”...
****
Excerpt #3
From https://www.reddit.com/r/Shriners/comments/1b6hdd/are_there_black_shriners/
Posted byu/hankypinky, 2013
"Are there black Shriners?
Is the organization segregated as many of the State Grand Lodges are?
Should it be?"
**
Beezelbubba, 2013
"We have several Nobles at my Temple that happen to be black, there is also a separate institution for the PH Brothers if thats the route they want to go
Its not segregated in MOST states, there are only like 7 Grand Lodges that do not recognize the PH Lodges, and they are all below the Mason-Dixon line under the excuse that PH was improperly chartered from the GLE, GLE has came out and stated this is not the case and that PH is regular and is properly chartered by them."
****
defjamblaster, 2013
"short answer: yes, it's segregated. just like each grand lodge, and all the houses in masonry. there are Prince Hall Shriners, who were once sued by the "mainstream" Shriners to try to stop them from being Shriners. that being said, i don't think there's anything today that prohibits membership of any race other than perhaps voters. here's our Prince Hall site http://www.aeaonms.org.
****
Excerpt #4
From https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Prince-Hall-masonry-and-other-types-of-masonry
What is the difference between Prince Hall masonry and other types of masonry?
[Pancocojams Editor: Here are the seven answers to this question with alphabetical listing added for referencing purposes only.]
a) Carl Weaver, Freemason
Answered May 26, 2016
"I am not a Prince Hall member, but many of the Prince Hall Affiliated (PHA) grand lodges are recognized by my own GL, so I can say a few things here with that disclaimer.
Prince Hall Freemasonry was started by a freed slave named Prince Hall. It was started as a Black lodge and overseen by a British military lodge in Massachusetts. After a while, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England for a charter so they could become a “real” working independent lodge, and that charter was granted, but due to the American Revolution, the charter was supposedly lost at sea. As such, the PHA lodges operated without a charter for some time, and this reason is often given for why the Prince Hall lodges are not recognized. The PHA Grand Lodges have since rectified that over the last 200+ years, so that is no longer a valid reason to not recognize them. Sometimes that excuse is given because it is easier to say than to make a racist comment, at least in my opinion.
The big difference today is that Prince Hall Masons are mostly Black and the others are mostly white. This is not something enforced. In fact, in my lodge we have a number of African American members, and I have met white brothers who were PHA Masons. It is more just tradition. The PHA Masons generally seem to be more regimented and in touch with their Masonic history, and typically from what I have seen, they have higher dues. However, the members get a lot of value for their dues money and are more than willing to pay it.
If you are thinking of joining, I recommend checking out a number of lodges in both camps and seeing which lodge you feel most comfortable in or most pulled toward."
**
b) Peter Renzland, Toronto Society for Masonic Research. Governance, Constitution, Founding Texts.
Answered Jul 11, 2016
"1. Prince Hall lodges have always explicitly been open to people of all races, unlike the other lodges, which have, for 200 years, explicitly excluded black people. Peace and Harmony (Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Kindred Sciences) … Prince Hall Freemasonry Recognition
2. Today, Prince Hall Masons are predominantly black. “Mainstream” Masons are predominantly white.
3. Prince Hall Masonry has a close connection with OES.
4. Prince Hall Masonry has more of a Christian character.
5. Prince Hall Masonry is deeply conscious of the history, culture, and social condition of black people in the US. Lift Every Voice and Sing.
6. Prince Hall Masons are more serious and earnest about their Masonry. They were* black suits and white gloves. They are very competent in ritual.
7. Prince Hall Grand lodge Annual Communications are genuine and democratic.
8. Prince Hall lodge dues are higher.
9. Prince Hall Masons can only belong to one lodge at a time. There are only two exceptions: CT and MN.
10. Prince Hall Masons in their meetings and activities have a warmth and genuineness that is uncommon in mainstream Grand Lodges.
-snip-
*wear
**
c. Jeffrey S Hertig PM, studied at Purdue University
Answered May 27, 2016
"Very little actually, here in CA where we consider PHA to be "brothers" and we can attend each other’s meetings. Which I have done and when I was master had a group visit us. I have seen bigger differences while traveling in other jurisdictions then in the PHA lodges here.
The biggest difference that I noticed however, is that while Freemasons make every attempt to be "religiously generic", the PHA lodges here seem to be decidedly Calvinistic, Protestant Christian based.
While PHA brothers are mostly black, Freemasons (at least here in CA) are a little more “color blind”. I think this is a result the beginnings of PHA and probably a little, I'm ashamed to say, because of lingering bigotry in the 1800's.
The story I got, after time and old age memory has eroded the facts from my memory, is:
Back in 1775 in Boston, 13 Black men (Prince Hall included) joined a Military lodge consisting of British soldiers. (Think about it! One year before this country declared independence, Back and White men calling themselves brothers.)
During the war the British were forced to evacuate and left just the Black men in the lodge. As with all American lodges theirs lodge didn’t pay their dues to the GLE during the ware and when it was over, not being wealthy as you might imagine and like many lodges, they didn’t pay their back dues.
Eventually in 1808, I believe, the GLE pulled the charter of all American lodges that hadn’t paid up, including theirs. So they continued to operate without a charter. But in 1823, I believe again, when the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was founded they petitioned it for membership. However, when it was discovered that they still owed the GLE money the petitioned was revoked pending the settling of the debt.
Sometime in the 1830’s they gave up, and formed the PHA which grew among the black population. I couldn’t tell you if bigotry in the Freemason lodges, or just that they felt more comfortable among other blacks was the reason. I suspect it was a little of both.
In the 1920’s, (again I think), there was an attempt to merge the two but when the subject of the debt came up it failed.
Finally, sometime in the 90’s many Freemason jurisdictions in the US decided to forgive the debt and recognize PHA lodges. However, I believe 13 jurisdictions still do not.
As a result, if I want to go to a PHA lodge in another jurisdiction, I MUST first see if that jurisdiction recognizes PHA lodges. If they don’t it is forbidden for me to do so.
Like I implied; I researched this many years ago, and cannot vouch for the factuality of it, but I would suggest: “Google is your friend!” Just don’t believe EVERYTHING you read on it."
**
d. Douglas Chapel, Mason since 2010, Past Master since 2015
Answered May 26, 2016
"Freemasonry is organized entirely at the Grand Lodge level, and there are 51 regular Grand Lodges in the U.S. - one in each state and the District of Columbia. When moving from one Grand Lodge to another, it’s common to see slight variations in the ritual, such that the overall message is always constant but certain words or phrases or other particulars might vary a little bit. Prince Hall Freemasonry is also organized along similar Grand Lodge lines, going state by state in the U.S. Again, slight variations in ritual can exist among those Grand Lodges.
The consequence is that there are dozens and dozens of individual Grand Lodges just in the U.S., and most of them are “in amity” with one another and recognize each other as legitimate. In most states (excluding a few, mostly in the South), the regular Grand Lodge of that state and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of that state recognize each other. This is the case in Michigan, where I am a Mason, and I’ve visited a Michigan Prince Hall Lodge in the past. I found it to be a similar experience to visiting a regular Lodge in Ohio or Indiana, in that the ritual was generally the same but I could pick out a variety of variations. In short, when moving between a Prince Hall Lodge and a regular Lodge, the change is probably comparable to when one moves between Lodges in two different states.
Carl Weaver already gave a very accurate description of why two parallel tracks of Freemasonry developed in the U.S., but that is my experience with the situation in the 21st century"
**
e. Peter DiVergilio, Have studied much in the field of Arcane Arts
Answered May 26, 2016
"Prince Hall was originally designed as a lodge for Blacks - this is now a moot point, in my opinion, as most of them accept any Race and most "other types of Masonry" now accept Blacks. I qualify this with the word "most", because there appear to be vestiges of racism still present in the world, and, since human beings are imperfect creatures, not all Masonic Lodges may follow that precept."
**
f. Andrew Oxford, Master Mason and Past Master of a Lodge
Answered Jan 10, 2018
"There really isn’t that much difference. They confer the first three degrees just like the others. Lodges have the same general structure and arrangement, and the same organization. Historically Prince Hall Lodges have had mostly African-American members, and indeed was started by an African-American Freedman named Prince Hall. According to legend, Hall was a friend of Dr. Joseph Warren, who was going to bring him into his Lodge. Unfortunately, the revolutionary war broke out and Warren was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Hall was then initiated by an Irish Military Lodge which left Boston when The British army pulled out. Hall sought, and was eventually granted a charter to work. This became known as African Lodge, and Hall helped organize a number of other Lodges with African-American membership. After Hall’s death, they changed the name to Prince Hall to honor him.
Prince Hall Lodges and the mainstream Lodges didn’t always enjoy amicable relationships. In fact some of the southern Grand Lodges do not recognize Prince Hall affiliation. Segregation pretty much kept Prince Hall the Masonic lodge for Blacks, and the “mainstream” stayed white. Over the last several decades though, this trend is slowing down. Many African Americans are joining the mainstream, and most State Grand Lodges recognize Prince Hall as regular Masonry. Recently even Texas has recognized Prince Hall.
As far as ritual goes, Prince Hall Lodges tend to use the emulation ritual, which bears resemblance to the Ritual practiced by Modern British Lodges."
****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series on Prince Hall Masons And Prince Hall Shriners.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part II of a two part series on Prince Hall Masons And Prince Hall Shriners.
Part II presents excerpts about some similarities and differences between Prince Hall Shriners and mainstream Shriners, with particular attention to the historical and contemporary racial composition of those two fraternal organizations.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/09/general-information-about-prince-hall.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents general historical information about Prince Hall Masons and presents historical information and other general information about Prince Hall Shriners (A.E.A.O.N.M.S).
This series is subtitled "for African Americans and other people in the general public" to emphasize the historical and present day fact that Prince Hall Shriners is an important (and I believe usually overlooked) part of African American history and culture.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Prince Hall for his cultural legacy and thanks to all who are quoted in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/09/prince-hall-shriners-tradition-of.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Prince Hall Shriners' Tradition Of "Riding" (Performing Processional Versions Of The Camel Walk Dance)"
Click the Prince Hall Shriners tag for additional pancocojams posts about this predominately African American organization.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S DISCLAIMER
I have no affiliation with the Prince Hall Masons's female auxiliary "The Eastern Star" or with the Prince Hall Shriners' female auxiliary "The Daughters of Isis". Nor do I have any direct or indirect contact with any Masons or Shriners.
I'm revisiting this subject [after posting videos in this blog in 2017 of Prince Hall Shriners "riding"] because of my continued cultural interest in historically Black Greek letter organizations. [I'm a long ago inactive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.] I strongly believe that Masons and Prince Hall Masons/Prince Hall Shriners in particular have heavily influenced some of the strolling performance styles of historically Black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs), and other cultural features of some BGLOs, including the pyramid symbolism that is a part of the oldest BGLO, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
My latest pancocojams series on BLGOs provides information and comments about non-Black People in those historically Black Greek letter organizations (Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/08/non-blacks-in-historically-black-greek.html for Part I of that series.). This prompted me to search online for information about racial composition in Mason and Shriner organizations. Although I found some articles on that subject, I realized that I had to go back and clarify the differences between "mainstream" Masons and Prince Hall Masons, the differences between Masons and Shriners, and the differences between mainstream Shriners and Prince Hall Shriners. The result is Part I of and Part II of this pancocojams series.
All material presented in this pancocojams series is gleaned from the internet.
****
ARTICLE EXCERPTS ABOUT RACIAL INTEGRATION BETWEEN MAINSTREAM SHRINERS AND PRINCE HALL SHRINERS
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2009/12/black-shriners-meet-in-tampa-for.html
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Black Shriners Will Meet in Tampa For Convention
“Like the more than two centuries of separation between black and white Freemasons, the appendant Masonic organizations followed the same path. The historically black Prince Hall Affiliated Shriners are the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine, and are headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. While they have contributed to the historically white Shriners Hospitals over the years, they are not officially part of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, now known as Shriners International, based in Tampa, Florida. A year ago, the AEAONMS began a partnership with the American Diabetic Association as their predominant charity.
The Prince Hall Shriners are headed to Tampa for their annual Imperial Session next year. In August 2010 an estimated 15,000 members are expected.
From an article today in the St. Petersburg times by Amanda Zayas:
In 1872, for fun and charity, the white Masons started a fraternity called the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The black Masons formed their own Shrine group in 1893, the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order. Both groups referred to their chapters as "temples." Both called their leader "imperial potentate."
They coexisted, sometimes in the same cities, for at least two decades. But then, the lawsuits began. In 1914, a white Georgia lodge tried to bar a black lodge from imitating its name, constitution titles, emblems and regalia. The same then happened in Arkansas. When a white Houston group sued its local black counterpart in 1918, the case expanded to include Shriner groups throughout the United States and landed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The legal battle lasted more than a decade.
On June 3, 1929, the Supreme Court concluded that even though the black Shriners formed their group out of imitation, the white Shriners knew about the group's existence and didn't take legal action for years.
In fact, evidence showed that the white groups sold their paraphernalia to black groups for ceremonial use. The black Shriners were not trying to pass themselves off as white Shriners and it was too late for the whites to claim the symbols as exclusively theirs. The black Shriners celebrate this decision every year. They call it the Jubilee Day.
Eighty years later, Tampa's historically-black Harram Temple has no white members. The spokesman for the local historically-white Egypt Shrine doesn't think his group has any black members. Both groups say they would welcome a member of the other race.
The racial divide happens naturally, not by exclusion, says Hillsborough County Judge Eric R. Myers, an officer in the black Shriners group. Think of college fraternities and sororities. Think of sons following in their fathers' footsteps.
"Think about it across the board in a lot of organizations," he says. "Churches — come on, let's be real."
Myers, who is slated to become the chief of the worldwide black Shriners group in eight years, said he was in charge of the local temple in 1995 when he met a member with the white Shriners temple.
"Nobody had ever really talked to one another," Myers said.
The white Shriners invited the black Shriners to their circus, and the tradition has continued ever since. The black Shriners are also nationwide contributors to Shriners Hospitals, the major philanthropy of the historically-white group.
Eight years ago, the worldwide leaders of the white Shriners invited the leaders of the black group to their headquarters to trade ideas about attracting members and working together, remembers Jack Jones, imperial potentate for the historically-white group. That meeting concluded with an agreement that members of both groups could visit each others' temples throughout the organizations.
"We do have good discourse with them," Jones says. "They work toward the betterment of mankind as well as we do."
There are no serious discussions to fuse the two. What would happen to all those guys in line to become imperial potentate?
"If you come together," said Warren Spears, spokesman for the worldwide black Shriners, "that means somebody's going to be on the short end."
Expect to see much of what you saw three years ago in Tampa starting on Aug. 13 and lasting approximately a week. The city will be covered with red fezzes.
The Daughters of Isis, the female counterpart to the black Shriners, will celebrate its 100th anniversary here during the convention. They're all planning service projects. Ybor City's Seventh Avenue will make way for a huge parade.
And one of those days, maybe, the leaders of the black Shriners will visit the historically-white Shriners headquarters in Tampa to trade ideas again.
The white Shriners say they plan to extend an invitation.
[...]
Selected comments from this article:
Moose, December 30, 2009 3:54 PM
"I'm so disheartened to see that the old Prejudiced still is present in this day and age regarding skin color within lodge. I'm happy to see that some states are "recognizing" prince hall lodges, but cant we all just meld together and practice Masonry together? I live in California and I know SEVERAL Afro-American brothers who are in lodge with me who are either in line or are WM. I have no fear of any brother of any race creed or color. My heart is Masonic and all I have seen has been the Lights."
**
Reply
Tommy Desmond, November 26, 2010 11:39 AM
"Yes, in Detroit we have black guys in our Lodges (non-PH) and we all have a great time together... Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite and York... along with asians, indians and even *gasp* CANADIANS! OMG! Lol"
****
Excerpt #2:
From https://onnidan1.com/forum/index.php?topic=54407.0 Shriners still mostly segregated by choice
[re-published by] Brother Tony, August 08, 2011, 05:20:20 PM
"City, area tourism officials hope to lure primarily White organization to Daytona Beach for 2017 convention
BY JAMES HARPER
DAYTONA TIMES
"Imagine thousands of White men parading down A1A, intoxicated, wearing funny hats, with some dancing in the streets.
"That’s probably what you will see," said Illustrious Potentate Noble John Ranglin about the International Shriners if the Daytona Beach area tourist officials and city leaders are successful in luring members here for their 2017 convention.
The scene described is not unusual in this area, especially during the Daytona 500 weekend, Bike Week, Spring Break and NASCAR Racing that occurs during the Fourth of July weekend.
Ranglin, a Black Shriner, is not a member of the International organization, whose membership is mostly White. Ranglin is a member of the Ancient City Temple No. 63 located in Daytona Beach. It’s part of the historically Black Prince Hall Affiliated Shriners, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn.
While they have contributed to the historically White Shriners Hospitals over the years, the Prince Hall Shriners are not officially part of Shriners International, based in Tampa.
In 1872, the White Masons started a fraternity called the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The Black Masons formed its own Shrine group in 1893, the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order. Both groups referred to their chapters as "temples." Both called their leader the "imperial potentate."
‘It’s about power’
Even though at one time, Blacks were not allowed to become members of the International Shriners, times have changed and the two organizations exist for different reasons besides color.
"It’s about power. In order for us to come together, one has to surrender to the other. There’s room for only one grand master. Power has been taken away from us (Blacks) too many times over the years. We’re segregated but not racist," Ranglin explained.
Ranglin says the local Black group is planning a hospitality dance on Sept. 2 and a ball on Sept. 3 at the Daytona Beach Hilton, where hundreds are expected to attend. The fundraising event is open to the public.
He added, "We want our funds to stamp out crime, drugs, health issues that affect community. That also continues to keep us separate.
[…]
.
When the Shriners were started in America, most Blacks were slaves and the logic, according to White members at that time, was in order to be freemasons you had to be free men.
Who was Prince Hall?
Also, in order to be a member of the organization, there had to be a unanimous vote by its members, therefore it was difficult for Blacks to join the group.
Prince Hall, who was Black, born in 1735, was an abolitionist and a leader of the free Black community in Boston.
Hall tried to gain New England’s enslaved and free Blacks a place in some of the most crucial spheres of society – freemasonry, education and the military.
He is considered the founder of "Black Freemasonry" in the United States, known today as Prince Hall Freemasonry.
Hall formed the African Grand Lodge of North America and was unanimously elected its Grand Master and served until his death in 1807.
Both sides have Blacks and Whites
Ranglin, who lives in Deltona, said though the local group is based out of Daytona Beach, the Prince Hall group meets in Ormond.
He said the organization is working to start Shriners clubs in Palm Coast and Ocala.
Ranglin said the organization does not discriminate based on color when inviting men to join the group, which includes Whites and other races.
"I was a grand officer for International Shriners," said Ranglin until he realized there was another brand of masonry – Prince Hall in 1990.
"Both sides have both races. There are no longer barriers. Within the last 20 years, there has been mutual respect, more so in the last five years," he explained.
The Times attempted to reach a spokesman for International Shriners but did not get a response by deadline.”...
****
Excerpt #3
From https://www.reddit.com/r/Shriners/comments/1b6hdd/are_there_black_shriners/
Posted byu/hankypinky, 2013
"Are there black Shriners?
Is the organization segregated as many of the State Grand Lodges are?
Should it be?"
**
Beezelbubba, 2013
"We have several Nobles at my Temple that happen to be black, there is also a separate institution for the PH Brothers if thats the route they want to go
Its not segregated in MOST states, there are only like 7 Grand Lodges that do not recognize the PH Lodges, and they are all below the Mason-Dixon line under the excuse that PH was improperly chartered from the GLE, GLE has came out and stated this is not the case and that PH is regular and is properly chartered by them."
****
defjamblaster, 2013
"short answer: yes, it's segregated. just like each grand lodge, and all the houses in masonry. there are Prince Hall Shriners, who were once sued by the "mainstream" Shriners to try to stop them from being Shriners. that being said, i don't think there's anything today that prohibits membership of any race other than perhaps voters. here's our Prince Hall site http://www.aeaonms.org.
****
Excerpt #4
From https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Prince-Hall-masonry-and-other-types-of-masonry
What is the difference between Prince Hall masonry and other types of masonry?
[Pancocojams Editor: Here are the seven answers to this question with alphabetical listing added for referencing purposes only.]
a) Carl Weaver, Freemason
Answered May 26, 2016
"I am not a Prince Hall member, but many of the Prince Hall Affiliated (PHA) grand lodges are recognized by my own GL, so I can say a few things here with that disclaimer.
Prince Hall Freemasonry was started by a freed slave named Prince Hall. It was started as a Black lodge and overseen by a British military lodge in Massachusetts. After a while, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England for a charter so they could become a “real” working independent lodge, and that charter was granted, but due to the American Revolution, the charter was supposedly lost at sea. As such, the PHA lodges operated without a charter for some time, and this reason is often given for why the Prince Hall lodges are not recognized. The PHA Grand Lodges have since rectified that over the last 200+ years, so that is no longer a valid reason to not recognize them. Sometimes that excuse is given because it is easier to say than to make a racist comment, at least in my opinion.
The big difference today is that Prince Hall Masons are mostly Black and the others are mostly white. This is not something enforced. In fact, in my lodge we have a number of African American members, and I have met white brothers who were PHA Masons. It is more just tradition. The PHA Masons generally seem to be more regimented and in touch with their Masonic history, and typically from what I have seen, they have higher dues. However, the members get a lot of value for their dues money and are more than willing to pay it.
If you are thinking of joining, I recommend checking out a number of lodges in both camps and seeing which lodge you feel most comfortable in or most pulled toward."
**
b) Peter Renzland, Toronto Society for Masonic Research. Governance, Constitution, Founding Texts.
Answered Jul 11, 2016
"1. Prince Hall lodges have always explicitly been open to people of all races, unlike the other lodges, which have, for 200 years, explicitly excluded black people. Peace and Harmony (Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Kindred Sciences) … Prince Hall Freemasonry Recognition
2. Today, Prince Hall Masons are predominantly black. “Mainstream” Masons are predominantly white.
3. Prince Hall Masonry has a close connection with OES.
4. Prince Hall Masonry has more of a Christian character.
5. Prince Hall Masonry is deeply conscious of the history, culture, and social condition of black people in the US. Lift Every Voice and Sing.
6. Prince Hall Masons are more serious and earnest about their Masonry. They were* black suits and white gloves. They are very competent in ritual.
7. Prince Hall Grand lodge Annual Communications are genuine and democratic.
8. Prince Hall lodge dues are higher.
9. Prince Hall Masons can only belong to one lodge at a time. There are only two exceptions: CT and MN.
10. Prince Hall Masons in their meetings and activities have a warmth and genuineness that is uncommon in mainstream Grand Lodges.
-snip-
*wear
**
c. Jeffrey S Hertig PM, studied at Purdue University
Answered May 27, 2016
"Very little actually, here in CA where we consider PHA to be "brothers" and we can attend each other’s meetings. Which I have done and when I was master had a group visit us. I have seen bigger differences while traveling in other jurisdictions then in the PHA lodges here.
The biggest difference that I noticed however, is that while Freemasons make every attempt to be "religiously generic", the PHA lodges here seem to be decidedly Calvinistic, Protestant Christian based.
While PHA brothers are mostly black, Freemasons (at least here in CA) are a little more “color blind”. I think this is a result the beginnings of PHA and probably a little, I'm ashamed to say, because of lingering bigotry in the 1800's.
The story I got, after time and old age memory has eroded the facts from my memory, is:
Back in 1775 in Boston, 13 Black men (Prince Hall included) joined a Military lodge consisting of British soldiers. (Think about it! One year before this country declared independence, Back and White men calling themselves brothers.)
During the war the British were forced to evacuate and left just the Black men in the lodge. As with all American lodges theirs lodge didn’t pay their dues to the GLE during the ware and when it was over, not being wealthy as you might imagine and like many lodges, they didn’t pay their back dues.
Eventually in 1808, I believe, the GLE pulled the charter of all American lodges that hadn’t paid up, including theirs. So they continued to operate without a charter. But in 1823, I believe again, when the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was founded they petitioned it for membership. However, when it was discovered that they still owed the GLE money the petitioned was revoked pending the settling of the debt.
Sometime in the 1830’s they gave up, and formed the PHA which grew among the black population. I couldn’t tell you if bigotry in the Freemason lodges, or just that they felt more comfortable among other blacks was the reason. I suspect it was a little of both.
In the 1920’s, (again I think), there was an attempt to merge the two but when the subject of the debt came up it failed.
Finally, sometime in the 90’s many Freemason jurisdictions in the US decided to forgive the debt and recognize PHA lodges. However, I believe 13 jurisdictions still do not.
As a result, if I want to go to a PHA lodge in another jurisdiction, I MUST first see if that jurisdiction recognizes PHA lodges. If they don’t it is forbidden for me to do so.
Like I implied; I researched this many years ago, and cannot vouch for the factuality of it, but I would suggest: “Google is your friend!” Just don’t believe EVERYTHING you read on it."
**
d. Douglas Chapel, Mason since 2010, Past Master since 2015
Answered May 26, 2016
"Freemasonry is organized entirely at the Grand Lodge level, and there are 51 regular Grand Lodges in the U.S. - one in each state and the District of Columbia. When moving from one Grand Lodge to another, it’s common to see slight variations in the ritual, such that the overall message is always constant but certain words or phrases or other particulars might vary a little bit. Prince Hall Freemasonry is also organized along similar Grand Lodge lines, going state by state in the U.S. Again, slight variations in ritual can exist among those Grand Lodges.
The consequence is that there are dozens and dozens of individual Grand Lodges just in the U.S., and most of them are “in amity” with one another and recognize each other as legitimate. In most states (excluding a few, mostly in the South), the regular Grand Lodge of that state and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of that state recognize each other. This is the case in Michigan, where I am a Mason, and I’ve visited a Michigan Prince Hall Lodge in the past. I found it to be a similar experience to visiting a regular Lodge in Ohio or Indiana, in that the ritual was generally the same but I could pick out a variety of variations. In short, when moving between a Prince Hall Lodge and a regular Lodge, the change is probably comparable to when one moves between Lodges in two different states.
Carl Weaver already gave a very accurate description of why two parallel tracks of Freemasonry developed in the U.S., but that is my experience with the situation in the 21st century"
**
e. Peter DiVergilio, Have studied much in the field of Arcane Arts
Answered May 26, 2016
"Prince Hall was originally designed as a lodge for Blacks - this is now a moot point, in my opinion, as most of them accept any Race and most "other types of Masonry" now accept Blacks. I qualify this with the word "most", because there appear to be vestiges of racism still present in the world, and, since human beings are imperfect creatures, not all Masonic Lodges may follow that precept."
**
f. Andrew Oxford, Master Mason and Past Master of a Lodge
Answered Jan 10, 2018
"There really isn’t that much difference. They confer the first three degrees just like the others. Lodges have the same general structure and arrangement, and the same organization. Historically Prince Hall Lodges have had mostly African-American members, and indeed was started by an African-American Freedman named Prince Hall. According to legend, Hall was a friend of Dr. Joseph Warren, who was going to bring him into his Lodge. Unfortunately, the revolutionary war broke out and Warren was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Hall was then initiated by an Irish Military Lodge which left Boston when The British army pulled out. Hall sought, and was eventually granted a charter to work. This became known as African Lodge, and Hall helped organize a number of other Lodges with African-American membership. After Hall’s death, they changed the name to Prince Hall to honor him.
Prince Hall Lodges and the mainstream Lodges didn’t always enjoy amicable relationships. In fact some of the southern Grand Lodges do not recognize Prince Hall affiliation. Segregation pretty much kept Prince Hall the Masonic lodge for Blacks, and the “mainstream” stayed white. Over the last several decades though, this trend is slowing down. Many African Americans are joining the mainstream, and most State Grand Lodges recognize Prince Hall as regular Masonry. Recently even Texas has recognized Prince Hall.
As far as ritual goes, Prince Hall Lodges tend to use the emulation ritual, which bears resemblance to the Ritual practiced by Modern British Lodges."
****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series on Prince Hall Masons And Prince Hall Shriners.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.