Interview with Dallin H. Oaks and Neal A. Maxwell regarding the lifting of the race ban: 1 New Policy Occasions Church Comment SALT LAKE CITY (AP) —Here is a partial transcript of an Associated Press interview with Elders Neal A. Maxwell and Dallin H. Oaks of the Mormon Church’s Council of the Twelve Apostles regarding … Read more
The world changes constantly and dramatically, but God, His commandments, and promised blessings do not change. They are immutable and unchanging. L. Tom PerryApril 2013 General Conferencehttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/04/obedience-to-law-is-liberty?lang=eng August 17, 1949 The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a … Read more
Excerpt from a Salt Lake Tribune article from June 8 2020, ‘Despite joining President Nelson in call to end racism, NAACP would like to see the LDS Church do more.’: 1 In yet another symbolic gesture of racial unity, LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson joined with top NAACP leaders Monday in calling for an … Read more
Excerpt from a New York Times Opinion article published August 18, 2012, ‘Why Race Is Still a Problem for Mormons’: 1 The church could begin leaving those problems behind if its leaders explained that their predecessors had confused their own racist views with God’s will and that the priesthood ban resulted from human error and … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’: 1 “Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other … Read more
Excerpt from the September 2000 Ensign magazine article by Elder Alexander B. Morrison Of the Seventy, ‘No More Strangers’: 1 How grateful I am that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has from its beginnings stood strongly against racism in any of its malignant manifestations. President Spencer W. Kimball stated the Church’s position … Read more
Doctrine and Covenants 1:37-39: 1 37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. 38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall … Read more
The Book of Mormon chapter summary, 2 Nephi 5, published 1981: 1 The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites. About 588–559 B.C. The Book of Mormon chapter … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’: 1 “Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other … Read more
Interview with Dallin H. Oaks and Neal A. Maxwell regarding the lifting of the race ban: 1 New Policy Occasions Church Comment SALT LAKE CITY (AP) —Here is a partial transcript of an Associated Press interview with Elders Neal A. Maxwell and Dallin H. Oaks of the Mormon Church’s Council of the Twelve Apostles regarding … Read more
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’: 1 “Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of … Read more
Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947: 1 “Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the preexistence of our spirits , the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we my be born, have … Read more
Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947: 1 “Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the preexistence of our spirits , the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we my be born, have … Read more
Image: Brigham Young, LDS Prophet Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses:[footnote]Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 10, p. 110[/footnote] “Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the … Read more
Image: Apostle Mark E. Petersen Apostle Mark E. Petersen, “Race Problems – as they affect the church:[footnote]Mark E. Petersen, “Race Problems – as they affect the church,” August 27, 1954, p. 17[/footnote] “In spite of all he did in the pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere … Read more
Image: George Albert Smith, LDS Prophet. LDS First Presidency, letter to Virgil H. Sponberg (critic of the anti-black ban), May 5, 1947: [footnote]LDS First Presidency (George Albert Smith), letter to Virgil H. Sponberg (critic of the anti-black ban), May 5, 1947, quoted in Lester E. Bush, Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview, p. 42 [/footnote] “Your ideas, … Read more
LDS First Presidency (George Albert Smith), letter to Virgil H. Sponberg (critic of the anti-black ban), May 5, 1947:[footnote]Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview – Lester Bush[/footnote] “From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the … Read more
From the Bible, 1 Peter 2:18:[footnote]1 Peter 2:18 – Bible[/footnote] 18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel. Crash Course: Prelude to the National “Defense of Marriage” Campaign: Civil Discrimination Against Feared or Despised Minorities – D. Michael Quinn Blacks and the Priesthood … Read more
Image: Joseph Smith Jr. – Mormon Prophet Views of Joseph Smith Jr. regarding race, from The History of the Church:[footnote]History of the Church, Volume 5, pages 218-219 [/footnote] The Prophet’s View of the Negro Race. At five went to Mr. Sollars’ with Elders Hyde and Richards. Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they … Read more
Image: Joseph Fielding Smith Excerpt from a 1963 Look Magazine interview with Joseph Fielding Smith:[footnote]Look Magazine, Oct 22, 1963, p. 79 [/footnote] “I would not want you to believe that we bear any animosity toward the Negro. ‘Darkies’ are a wonderful people, and they have their place in our church.” Crash Course: Blacks and the Priesthood – … Read more
Image: Rosa Parks, Civil Rights Activist Excerpt from Historian D. Michael Quinn’s article on ‘Utah Mormon discrimination against the Blacks’: ‘In 1953, a First Presidency secretary also informed a white Mormon about the less-obvious extent of Utah’s racial segregation: “The L.D.S. Hospital here in Salt Lake City has a blood bank which does not contain … Read more
Excerpt from Historian D. Michael Quinn’s article on ‘Utah Mormon discrimination against the Blacks’:[footnote]Prelude to the National “Defense of Marriage” Campaign: Civil Discrimination Against Feared or Despised Minorities – D. Michael Quinn [/footnote] “Even after federal emancipation of America’s slaves in the 1860s, LDS church president Brigham Young referred to African-American slavery as a religious necessity. Earlier, as … Read more
Image: Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Activist From an address by Ezra Taft Benson in the April 1965 General Conference:[footnote]Not commanded in all things – Ezra Taft Benson, April 1965 [/footnote] What are we doing to fight it? Before I left for Europe I warned how the communists were using the civil rights movement to promote … Read more
Image: Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Activist Excerpts from an address by Apostle Mark E. Peterson given at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level Brigham Young University Provo, Utah – August 27, 1954[footnote]Race Problems—As They Affect The Church – Mark E. Petersen, 1954 [/footnote] “God has commanded Israel not to intermarry. To go against … Read more
The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 5:21-25), in describing the ‘curse of dark skin’ that afflicted the Lamanites (American Indian), reads:[footnote]2 Nephi 5 – The Book of Mormon [/footnote] 21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against … Read more
Until 1981 2 Nephi 30:6 in the Book of Mormon taught that dark-skinned Lamanites (Indians) would eventually experience a change in the color of their skin should they embrace the Book of Mormon. This passage read: “And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand … Read more
Image: Spencer W. Kimball From the October 1960 LDS General Conference, Spencer W. Kimball:[footnote]The Day of the Lamanites -1960 General Conference, Spencer W. Kimball [/footnote] “At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl—sixteen—sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than … Read more