On November 21, 2008, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina made the decision in a vote of 642-328 to finally recognize the Prince Hall Lodges of North Carolina.
For those of you that don’t really understand Masonry at its core, I will try to explain why this is, and is not a big deal.
When masonry was founded here in the America’s around the time of the American Revolution, yet much before that around 1390 in Europe, membership to join a Masonic lodge was not open to African-Americans. Rather, it was open to African-Americans, but to become a member of the fraternity you must pass a unanimous voting to join and the possibility of a black man joining the fraternity could be denied by a simple one-vote deny if a member did not wish to have a black member of his lodge.
Around the year of 1775, a freedman by the name of Prince Hall was initiated into a British formed lodge (before the revolution) along with 14 other black men. They practiced under normal dispensation of the Grand Lodge of that state. Soon after however, Prince Hall and the members of the lodge were petitioned for membership by other black men from other states that were denied membership into their lodge (often by the unanimous rule). To allow those men initiation into the lodge, the “Prince Hall Grand Lodge” was formed, without dispensation from any state to allow black men to become masons.
This firstly violated the rules of a governing lodge. In order for a chapter of the fraternity to exist, they must be granted a charter from their state’s Grand Lodge. Otherwise, your chapter of the fraternity is non-existent and therefore anyone initiated into that chapter is a “clandestine mason”. When being initiated into any lodge, it is required of you to vow never to communicate with clandestine masons. It is against the Masonic obligation. If you are a Mason and break this obligation you will be immediately stripped of your membership.
This is where the problem lies. Out of the 50 states, 9 of them still recognize Prince Hall Masons as clandestine masons, not having received their initiation rites from a lodge given a charter of dispensation from a Grand Lodge. Therefore, it has created a divide between the black and white masons in these states. White men join white lodges. Black men join black lodges. It’s just how it goes… and they don’t talk about it.
Four years ago, the Prince Hall Masons ratified their constitution to allow “white masons” into their lodges and recognize them as members. The Grand Lodge of North Carolina voted that same year not to recognize PH. Effective January 1st, 2009 of this year, that was all changed.
Having been initiated under the Grand Lodge of New York (where PH Masonry doesn’t exist - it’s just “masonry”) I always felt uncomfortable attending lodges in Georgia and North Carolina where black men were not welcome. It felt wrong, yet I could understand the reason behind it (not the racist reason, the clandestine one). It all seemed pretty shitty to be honest. I can now rest easy knowing that no matter the knock on the door, having proven his worth, any man may enter lodge with me.
I haven’t attended lodge since moving to NC for this very reason. Being a very young Mason, I see now that the “old” Masons are coming to grips that they are a dying breed. The fraternity is changing, and everyone realizes this. If it doesn’t, the fraternity will just die. At best the average age of a Mason at any given lodge is 55+. Prince Hall Lodges often see averages much lower, in the 30’s. This is especially appealing to me.
Welcome, all Brethren.
