The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 3 - Overview of Rites 103
agencies, did lead the fraternity in the fight for a permanent fair
employment practice committee in Illinois. The records also show that
employment was a concern of many local as well as Grand lodges, with
many of the more progressive ones setting up employment committees
to aid members in locating jobs. 283
Another point has to be mentioned, although it comes near to "un-Masonic
conduct": as in Caucasian Freemasonry, Prince Hall brethren also are
accustomed to put in a good word for unemployed brethren to help them through
their fraternal love. It is an often heard accusation in all countries that
appointments and promotions are "cooked up" in the lodges, and in many cases
this is true. In the American society, for a long time trade unions were not open
to blacks, and therefore they had no representative for their demands and
problems. In order to get a good reference, blacks could rely on their Masonic
ties.
[...] [T]here were no trade unions and few civil service positions open to
blacks. If a man needed a reference, someone to vouch for his good
character, belonging to a respectable fraternity such as Masonry was
mandatory. Not only that, if a brother knew of an opening where he
worked he would let his fellows know, and 'put in a good word for
them.' This practice of aiding brothers in employment has been a very
important function of the Order on an unofficial level. If blacks as a
group were more economically secure and had businesses that
employed more workers, it would have been even more important - as it
is among whites. 284
Generally speaking, it can be presumed that black Masons are financially
better off than black profanes: "Compared to the average black man, Masons
have been and are more likely to be relatively prosperous, to hold a better, more
secure job, and to own rather than rent a home." 285 Consequently, black Masons
can afford the price of a bourgeois lifestyle. They can adhere to the middle-class
ethic, and although this is not solely a matter of money, since there are also many
poor people being faithful to it, it is very helpful in retaining a living standard
resembling the one of the white middle class that serves as a model. "Prince Hall
Masonry assumes that its members are economically better off than most blacks,
and this assumption appears to be correct." 286
As an appendix to this section on job-related reasons to join Masonry, we
shall annex some articles from a French Caucasian Masonic magazine in which
people have used their Masonic title to find a job. We have further depicted an
appellation to Masons to help their brethren who are without a job to find one.
283 Muraskin, p. 154.
284 Ibid, p. 156.
285 Muraskin, p. 106.
286 Muraskin, p. 106.