Summary: Jan Willis, "Buddhism and Race"

Dan Waroff

Jan Willis's essay Buddhism and Race comes from the perspective of a well-educated African-American Buddhist scholar, who, by the way, is also female. Willis begins the piece by stating that she identifies herself as a "Buddhist-Baptist" and then expands and explains her position on the matter. She gives a brief description of her personal, economical, and academic history throughout the article, telling of experiences in her life that relate to her basic theory that American Buddhism is not inclusive of African-Americans and that as a culture, Buddhism would benefit many in the African-American community.

Explaining her Buddhist education, she describes that her teacher Lama Yeshe stressed "confidence" as a main factor in self-realization. This directly correlates with the historical viewpoints of the African-American struggle. The fact that the First Noble Truth of Buddhist dharma is about understanding life as suffering makes it apparent that African Americans would strongly relate, for as a people, black people in America have had, and continue to struggle with issues of slavery, segregation, and discrimination.

The problem, Willis contends, is that American Buddhism is still very non inclusive in that it can only be practiced by people with "money and leisure" (pp. 85). This makes it apparent that it is not really a racial problem, but an issue of "class". This is where Willis explains the "gap" she feels and explores.

Her point in exploring the relationship among class, race, religion, and social situations, is to point out that American Buddhism does not have as much of an "open-door policy" (pp. 84) as it thinks it has, as it is rare for upper middle class white males to recognize the distinction. Also, she points out from her own experiences, that African-American students of Buddhism find it to be extremely liberating, both spiritually as well as socially.