Certainly! Here is additional context and references from Ellen G. White’s writings regarding race, the “color line,” and the work among Black Americans in the South. These selections include both her published books and her periodical and manuscript writings, providing a fuller picture of her views and counsel.
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### 1. The Color Line and Prejudice in the South
**“We are to avoid entering into contention over the problem of the color line. If this question is much agitated, difficulties will arise that will consume much precious time to adjust. We cannot lay down a definite line to be followed in dealing with this subject. In different places and under varying circumstances, the subject will need to be handled differently. In the South, where race prejudice is so strong, we could do nothing in presenting the truth were we to deal with the color line question as we can deal with it in some places in the North. The white workers in the South will have to move in a way that will enable them to gain access to the white people.”**
— Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 213.3
**“So long were they under the curse of slavery that it is a difficult problem to know how they should now be treated.”**
— Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 213
**“It is the prejudice of the white against the black race that makes this field hard, very hard. The whites who have oppressed the colored people still have the same spirit. They did not lose it, although they were conquered in war. They are determined to make it appear that the blacks were better off in slavery than since they were set free. Any provocation from the blacks is met with the greatest cruelty. The field is one that needs to be worked with the greatest discretion. Any mingling of the white people with the colored people, as sleeping in their houses, or showing them friendship as would be shown by the whites to those of their own color, is exasperating to the white people of the South. Yet these same persons employ colored women to nurse their children, and further, not a few white men have had children by colored women. Thus the colored people have received an education from the whites in immorality, and many of them stand ready to treat the whites as the whites have treated them. The relation of the two races has been a matter hard to deal with, and I fear that it will ever remain a most perplexing problem.”**
— The Southern Work, p. 83.2
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### 2. On Social Equality and Mission
**“The colored people should not urge that they be placed on an equality with white people. The relation of the two races has been a matter hard to deal with, and I fear that it will ever remain a most perplexing problem. So far as possible, everything that would stir up the race prejudice of the white people should be avoided. There is danger of closing the door so that our white laborers will not be able to work in some places in the South. ... The work of proclaiming the truth for this time is not to be hindered by an effort to adjust the position of the Negro race. Should we attempt to do this we should find that barriers like mountains would be raised to hinder the work that God desires to have done.”**
— Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 214.3–4
**“Let as little as possible be said about the color line, and let the colored people work chiefly for those of their own race.”**
— Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 206.2
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### 3. On the Legacy of Slavery and the Need for Education
**“The land of Egypt was nearly desolated to bring freedom to the children of Israel; the Southern States were nearly ruined to bring freedom to the colored race. For four years war was carried on, and many lives were sacrificed, and there is mourning today because of broken family circles. Unspeakable outrages have been committed against the colored race. They had lived on through years of bondage with no hope of deliverance, and there stretched out before them a dark and dismal future. ... After their deliverance from captivity how earnestly should every Christian have cooperated with heavenly intelligences who were working for the deliverance of the downtrodden race. We should have sent missionaries into this field to teach the ignorant. We should have issued books in so simple a style that a child might have understood them, for many of them are only children in understanding. Pictures and object lessons should have been used to present to the mind valuable ideas. Children and youth should have been educated in such a way that they could have been instructors and missionaries to their parents.”**
— The Southern Work, p. 44.2
**“An Appeal for the Colored Race: The proclamation that freed the slaves in the Southern States opened doors through which Christian workers should have entered to tell the story of the love of God. In this field there were precious jewels that the Lord's workers should have searched for as for hidden treasure. But though the colored people have been freed from political slavery, many of them are still in the slavery of ignorance and sin. Many of them are terribly degraded. Is no message of warning to reach them? Had those to whom God has given great light and many opportunities done the work that He desires them to do, there would today be memorials all through the Southern field—churches, sanitariums, and schools. Men and women of all classes would have been called to the gospel feast.”**
— Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7, p. 222
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### 4. On the Dignity and Potential of Black People
**“There are others among the colored people who have quick perceptions and bright minds. Many of the colored race are rich in faith and trust. God sees among them precious jewels that will one day shine out brightly. The colored people deserve more from the hands of the white people than they have received. There are thousands who have minds capable of cultivation and uplifting. With proper labor, many who have been looked upon as hopeless will become educators of their race. Through the grace of God the race that the enemy has for generations oppressed may rise to the dignity of God-given manhood and womanhood.”**
— Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7, p. 229.2
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### 5. On Christian Brotherhood
**“Men may have both hereditary and cultivated prejudices, but when the love of Jesus fills the heart, and they become one with Christ, they will have the same spirit that He had. If a colored brother sits by their side, they will not be offended or despise him. They are journeying to the same heaven, and will be seated at the same table to eat bread in the kingdom of God. If Jesus is abiding in our hearts we cannot despise the colored man who has the same Saviour abiding in his heart. When these unchristian prejudices are broken down, more earnest effort will be put forth to do missionary work among the colored race.”**
— The Southern Work, p. 14.1
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### 6. Additional Manuscript and Periodical Context
- **“It is more difficult to labor for the people in the South than it is to labor for the heathen in a foreign land, because of the prejudice existing against the colored people.”**
— Manuscript Releases, Vol. 4, p. 1.6
- **“The terribly neglected condition of the colored people in the South is charged by God upon those in America who have been given light by God regarding the great necessities of that field, and yet have done so little to relieve that situation. No people have suffered such great oppression as the colored people in the South. None have through the treatment received been brought into such degradation. And for no people has so little been done to uplift. They have not been taught to read that they might know the Word of God. This field stands forth to witness against those who have had the light of truth, who have had their duty plainly presented to them, but who have neglected to do what should have been done.”**
— Manuscript Releases, Vol. 21, p. 143.3
- **“How little of the spirit of Christ has been manifested in the treatment given to the colored race in this so-called Christian country! The Negro's color, the features that tell of his African descent, are a badge of humiliation to the whole race, because of the prejudice of the white people against them. They are often treated as if it were a disgrace to sit by their side, or even to worship in the same congregation. There is a large class with white blood in their veins, and bearing in their faces only the slightest traces of African descent, whose lives are embittered by the prejudice against them, being stigmatized as unworthy to associate with the whites, even in the worship of God.”**
— Manuscript Releases, Vol. 4, p. 8.1
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**Summary:**
Ellen G. White’s writings on race reflect both the limitations and prejudices of her era and her desire to see the gospel transcend racial barriers. She often counseled caution in order to advance the mission in a racially hostile environment, but she also affirmed the dignity, potential, and spiritual equality of Black people. Her statements about not agitating for social equality or “the color line” must be understood in the context of the time and the challenges of working in the American South.
If you would like even more specific references or context from a particular type of document (books, periodicals, or manuscripts), please let me know!
**References:**
- White, E. G. (1902). *The Southern Work*, pp. 14.1, 44.2, 83.2.
- White, E. G. (1909). *Testimonies for the Church*, Vol. 9, pp. 206.2, 213, 213.3, 214.3–4.
- White, E. G. (1902). *Testimonies for the Church*, Vol. 7, pp. 222, 229.2.
- White, E. G. (1990). *Manuscript Releases*, Vol. 4, pp. 1.6, 8.1.
- White, E. G. (1993). *Manuscript Releases*, Vol. 21, p. 143.3.