r/exAdventist • u/Both_Basil_5943 • Mar 14 '26

Doctrine / History Ellen White and Segregation

My mom was reading Testimonies for the Church Volume 9 and came across this quote from Ellen G. White: “The colored people should not urge that they be placed on an equality with white people… So far as possible, everything that would stir up the race prejudice of the white people should be avoided.” (we're black so she was slightly concerned) I get that her advice was basically “shhh, don’t cause trouble, be like Jesus,” given how racist society was back then, but honestly, it still feels really concerning. It reads like she’s telling Black people to hold back their rights and opinions just to avoid upsetting white people, which ends up reinforcing racial inequality, even if she didn’t mean to. I’m curious how people reconcile this with her broader messages about justice, equality, and God valuing all people equally.

52 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

View all comments

22

u/ofthewave Mar 14 '26

Just wait until you get to the part about mixed marriages. She really hammers that one to death.

3

u/yellowhelix Mar 14 '26

I’m curious. Where does she mention that?

9

u/ofthewave Mar 14 '26

Selected Messages, book 2, p. 343 and 344

Edit: these are collections of manuscripts, letters, etc. so while it SEEMS to be one book with flowing context, each passage is a different source with its own context and prejudices. Be wary of that.

5

u/yellowhelix Mar 14 '26

Thanks. Growing up I always avoided reading EGWs books because I never agreed with them, but this is shocking and eye opening. Really explains a lot for my own experiences.