At our regular meeting on March 18, 2021, Brother Andrew Kozinn, Washington Lodge’s Historian, made a presentation entitled “Race and Freemasonry.” Brother Kozinn had researched how Washington Lodge #21 and Freemasonry in general, have acted with regard to African American men over the Lodge’s 221 year history.
This issue had never been openly discussed in our Lodge nor, frankly, to any extent in Grand Lodge proceedings. Brother Kozinn shed light on topics such as George Washington’s attitude towards slavery, Freemasonry and the Ku Klux Klan, the recent destruction of the Albert Pike statue in Washington, why Prince Hall Freemasonry was not recognized for so long by our Grand Lodge, and a part of our Masonic ritual that appears to encourage discrimination.
You can view the presentation here.