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
Statement of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, August 17, 1949, Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City. Note: The image above is designed to resemble the family proclamation. August 17, 1949 The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it … Read more
Image: George Albert Smith, President of the LDS Church, May 21, 1945 – April 4, 1951 [footnote]George Albert Smith – Wikipedia[/footnote] Excerpt from ‘Statement of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’, August 17, 1949 “The attitude of the Church with reference to the Negroes remains as it has always stood. It … 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
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: Apostle LeGrand Richards In a 1978 interview Apostle LeGrand Richards spoke on the topic of ‘giving the priesthood to the Negro’:[footnote]Interview with Apostle LeGrand Richards -16th August 1978, Church office Building [/footnote] WALTERS (Interviewer): Is there still a tendency to feel that people are born with black skin because of some previous situation, or do we … Read more