Richard Walter Thomas facts for kids

Richard Walter Thomas, born on April 2, 1939, is a retired African-American professor from Michigan State University. He is well-known for his important work on black issues and how different races get along. He has written many academic books and articles. His poems have been published in collections, and he has given many talks and workshops about race and race relations.

Thomas grew up in Detroit, Michigan. When he was older, he learned about early black power movements. In 1962, he joined the Baháʼí Faith, a religion that teaches about unity. He met famous people like poet Margaret Danner and writer Ron Milner. In 1966, Thomas started studying at Michigan State University (MSU). That summer, he experienced the 1967 Detroit riot, which was a big event in his city. After being involved in campus activism and publishing some of his writings, he attended the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. This inspired him to become more active in race issues both at school and beyond.

In his final year at college, Thomas started a program to help black students on campus. He also wrote for the school newspaper. After graduating in 1970, he joined the staff of the new Center for Urban Affairs at MSU. Around this time, he married June Manning, who was from South Carolina. She had been involved in events related to the Orangeburg massacre before coming to MSU. Richard and June both continued their studies, earning PhDs from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the mid-1970s. They also had two children.

Life Story

Growing Up in Detroit

Richard Walter Thomas was born on April 2, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were Walter and Estelle Thomas. They lived in the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, which he later called a "ghetto." These projects were built for families where a parent worked.

Thomas remembered his father did not believe in non-violence, unlike Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. However, his parents supported the union movement in Detroit. Thomas also recalled his parents talking about the 1943 Detroit race riot. He said this event affected how he saw race as he grew up. He still felt nervous about the "boundaries" and warnings his parents gave him about crossing certain areas in the 1940s and 50s.

During this time, many black people moved to Detroit from other areas, especially the South. This growth put a strain on schools and services. It also led to racial separation in the Detroit area. White families with more money moved to new suburbs. This increased social tensions. Black people felt unfair treatment from discrimination, the police, and housing rules.

Thomas graduated from Miller High School in 1957. His class was the last one that was not integrated (meaning, it was all black). After high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps. He left the Marines in 1960 and returned to Detroit to live with his parents and four siblings. He remembered being arrested in Detroit, which showed how black people were treated differently. Stores and hospitals sometimes refused to serve black people.

He thought about becoming a minister, but friends encouraged him to try poetry instead. He said this path led him to the Baháʼí Faith.

Poetry and the Baháʼí Faith

Thomas spent time at the home of Bill and Marie "Mama" Summer. There, he met people involved in different movements, including the Nation of Islam. He also met Fred, a white Baháʼí student from Wayne State University (WSU). Fred introduced Thomas to the poetry of Margaret Danner, a well-known black poet and Baháʼí. Thomas was excited to meet a published black poet. He also met black poet Ron Milner. With their help, he became more focused on his writing.

Joining the Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith had been present in Detroit since 1916. Famous Baháʼís like Martha Root and Louis George Gregory had visited. The Louhelen Baháʼí School opened nearby in 1931. In the early 1960s, Baháʼís in Detroit held events like World Religion Day and Race Amity Day talks. They also offered classes on race unity. Thomas's mother, who was a Black Baptist, thought talks about interracial unity came from communists. Despite this, Thomas joined the Baháʼí Faith in 1962 after studying its teachings.

Thomas said that after joining the Baháʼí Faith, he could see how black poets could write with a vision as wide as the world.

Louhelen School and South Carolina

In 1964, Thomas took part in a project similar to the Freedom Summer campaign. This project was connected to the Baháʼí School in Michigan (Louhelen) and the growing Baháʼí community in Greenville, South Carolina. Greenville was integrating its schools that fall. About 80 young people attended training sessions for the project. After the classes, 27 individuals went to 8 locations, including Greenville. Six young people, including Thomas, went to Greenville for a six-week program.

The group helped tutor about 55 black students who were about to attend newly integrated schools. They also held meetings about the Baháʼí Faith and supported efforts to integrate public swimming pools. Thomas remembered that black and white Baháʼís stayed in each other's homes. Their efforts sometimes received threatening notes because they held interracial meetings.

College Life at Michigan State University

Thomas soon went to Michigan State University (MSU) in Lansing, Michigan. There was already Baháʼí activity on campus before he arrived in 1966. The Baháʼí club at MSU was officially started in 1963.

First Years at MSU

In his first year, Thomas was one of four Baháʼís in the campus club. The club held talks and discussions on racial issues. Thomas's poetry was also reviewed in the student newspaper. Later, Robert L. Green, who worked with Martin Luther King Jr., spoke at a campus rally. He praised black students, including Thomas, for working towards an integrated society.

That summer, Thomas was in Detroit during the 1967 Detroit riot. He called it the "rebellion." It was a very serious riot, but Thomas noted that the conflict involved more than just black-white issues.

In his second year, Thomas wrote a letter to the editor about the need for black history to be taught at MSU. He also wrote a review of black poetry, saying that both LeRoi Jones and Robert Hayden were needed to show a full picture of black identity. Thomas also published three poems in the newspaper.

A black student organization formed on campus. Thomas represented the Black Student Alliance at campus events. He spoke about the "assassination of MLK" (Martin Luther King Jr.) and its meaning for white America. He said that tears were not enough and that there would be no rest for those who inherited white racism. He also told black students to question if "law and order" was actually "orderly racism."

An essay by Thomas won first place in a campus contest. It explored ideas of a new morality and humanism. His work was also included in a book called Nine Black Poets.

Later Years at MSU

Thomas attended the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. and wrote an article about it for the student newspaper. He also gave a talk about how MSU related to "black power." Later, he wrote an article about the Baháʼís and the race crisis. He explained how the Baháʼí Faith teaches about racial unity. He emphasized the idea of "Unity in diversity" rather than just integration.

In 1969, Thomas helped start a program to assist black students on campus. He also attended a Baháʼí youth seminar about social justice. He shared his experiences as a black man and a black Baháʼí, explaining his involvement in an interracial religious movement. Thomas also spoke at a Baháʼí youth conference in South Carolina.

In the spring of 1970, Thomas spoke at a national conference on education among Baháʼís, focusing on minorities. He finished his Master's Thesis that summer.

Professor and Family Life

Center for Urban Affairs

In 1970, Thomas contributed to a book called A galaxy of black writing. He also started working at the Center for Urban Affairs (CUA) at MSU. The CUA was created to develop programs related to urban and minority issues. It also aimed to increase the number of minority faculty, staff, and students at MSU.

Thomas had recently married June Manning. June had attended a newly integrated high school in South Carolina. She was one of about a dozen black students who helped desegregate the formerly all-white school. Her parents had filed a lawsuit to make this happen. June learned about the Baháʼí Faith during her senior year of high school. She received national awards despite facing challenges at school. She later attended Furman University and then MSU, where she continued to excel.

In 1970, June was co-director in the Office of Black Affairs at MSU. She earned her bachelor's degree in Sociology with high honors. Thomas remembered his brother being surprised by the diversity of people at his Baháʼí wedding, saying, "What is this, the United Nations?!?" Thomas's job at the CUA became full-time in 1972.

Over the next few years, Richard and June continued their work and studies. Thomas became an instructor in racial and ethnic studies. In 1976, he finished his PhD on the black history of Detroit from 1915 to 1945. June finished her PhD in 1977. They had two children, Kemba and Ali.

Associate Professor

In 1979, Thomas returned to MSU as an associate professor of racial and ethnic studies. He worked in the department's new program focused on human rights. This program was the first on campus to feature African-American history alongside global examples of race issues. That year, he also helped write the book Blacks and Chicanos in Urban Michigan.

The Thomas family remained active in the Baháʼí community. Thomas gave talks at Baháʼí conferences and contributed to publications. He also helped with programs focused on racial justice and equality in communities like Chicago.

In 1986, Thomas helped start Fathers, Inc. in Detroit. This organization aimed to encourage black men to be leaders in service.

Full Professor and "The Other Tradition"

In 1987, Thomas became a full professor at MSU. He also helped write Detroit: Race and Uneven Development. In this book, Thomas highlighted what he called "The Other Tradition" of black-white cooperation and anti-racism. This idea became very important in his work. That same year, Thomas became a founding member of the Black Men's Gathering (BMG). This group encouraged black men to take on leadership roles in the Baháʼí Faith.

In 1992, Thomas published Life for Us is what We Make it: Building Black Community in Detroit, 1915–1945. This book was based on his PhD thesis. The Thomas family also attended the Baháʼí World Congress that year.

In 1993, Thomas wrote Racial Unity: An Imperative for Social Progress and Understanding interracial unity: a study of U.S. race relations. These books further developed his idea of "The Other Tradition."

In 1996, Thomas started the Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience (MRULE) project at MSU. He founded it with one of his graduate students. This project aimed to help resolve racial tensions on campus. It later became the subject of several advanced degrees at different universities.

In 1997, Thomas wrote a chapter for a book called Social justice philanthropy. In it, he discussed how the American Baháʼí community worked to address racial injustice. From 1997 onwards, Thomas was often elected to the Regional Baháʼí Council, which oversees Baháʼí communities in several states.

In 2002, Thomas wrote Bridging Racial Divides in Michigan's Urban Communities. He also co-edited Lights of the Spirit: Historical Portraits of Black Baháʼís in North America, 1898–2004, and wrote three chapters for it. This book highlighted the lives of early black Baháʼís. In 2007, Thomas contributed to The State of black Michigan, 1967–2007 and his poetry was included in Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing.

Retirement and Continued Work

Thomas retired from MSU in 2012. In 2013, he wrote and co-wrote two books: Disenfranchisement: Social Health Issues and Implications and Detroit: Race Riots, Racial Conflicts, and Efforts to Bridge the Racial Divide. Since 2015, he has continued to give talks about his important theme of "The Other Tradition."

Key Projects

Throughout his life, Richard Thomas has been involved in several important projects and initiatives.

Early Service Projects

• In 1964, Thomas participated in a project from the Louhelen Baháʼí School. This project helped the Baháʼí community of Greenville, S.C. as its schools were integrating.
• As a senior at MSU in 1969, Thomas helped start a program to assist black students on campus.
• In 1979, as an associate professor, Thomas helped create a new program at MSU to study human rights, including black history and issues of unfair treatment.
• Thomas was a co-founder of Fathers, Inc. in Detroit in 1986. This group aimed to support black fathers and their families.

Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience (MRULE)

The MRULE project began in 1996. Thomas helped create it after the O. J. Simpson trial verdict in 1995, which caused racial tensions. The provost of MSU, Lou Anna Simon, asked Thomas to find a way to resolve these tensions on campus.

Thomas worked with a graduate student, Jeanne Gazel, to develop MRULE. The project was run in student dorms. It taught students about the idea of humanity being one family. It also provided tools for discussions and helped students understand different viewpoints. MRULE became a successful program that inspired research at other universities.

"The Other Tradition"

Thomas developed a major theme in his scholarly work called "The Other Tradition." He came up with this idea after many years of teaching about race. He noticed that students often felt sad or hopeless when learning only about violence and unfairness in race relations. He wanted to show that there was also a history of cooperation and respect between races that was not being talked about enough.

He felt that scholars often focused only on the negative parts of history. So, he decided to highlight "The Other Tradition" of American race relations. This tradition includes the history of people from different races working together for justice, unity, love, and friendship. He believed people needed to know about both the history of racism and the history of those who fought against it. These people imagined a world where everyone not only accepted each other as equals but also deeply appreciated each other as members of one human family.

His book Racial Unity: An Imperative for Social Progress, published in 1991 (and revised in 1993), was the first to use the term "The Other Tradition." In this theme, Thomas includes examples like:

• Abolitionism in the United States, where black and white people worked together to end slavery.
• The Underground Railroad, where people of different races helped slaves escape to freedom.
• The NAACP, an organization that fought for civil rights.
• The Baháʼí Faith, which teaches about the unity of humanity.
• The Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr.'s idea of the "Beloved Community."

Thomas's work aimed to show that there has always been a tradition of brave struggle for racial justice and unity.

See also

• History of African Americans in Detroit
• Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity