What’s the Deal With Black Mormons?

July 2, 2009

If you follow the LDS Church in the media, you may have heard a number of myths:

Blacks can’t be Mormons.

Blacks can’t participate in the Mormon priesthood.

Mormons are all racist.

Some are true. Some were true. Some are quite false.

Fair LDS has a great explanation of the history of the black race in the Mormon Church.

It’s true that Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) wouldn’t allow black members to join the priesthood. But that’s no longer the policy. The original policy, enacted by Brigham Young in 1852, was based on Biblical passages. The Church used those passages to claim that God had set aside the lineage of Cain (yes, Cain and Abel) as a cursed race — purportedly the black race.

Eventually the Church admitted that there is no such cursed lineage in the Bible – just cursed individuals, like Cain himself. The Bible does mention that Cain’s lineage became black, but it doesn’t say why. And it’s certainly not directly connected to Cain’s behavior. The Church reversed its policies in 1978 under then-president Spencer Kimball.

The author of the Fair LDS article explains that keeping blacks out of the priesthood was, quite simply, racist and unnecessary. It would be wrong to generalize and claim that all Mormons are racist. In fact, founder Joseph Smith did not see reason to keep any specific races out of the priesthood.

Unsatisfied? Still think Mormons are racist as a group? Check out the Q&A section of the article for the Fair LDS response. It’s really quite interesting. It doesn’t excuse it. But it explains it away.

Want more? Their store has a DVD documentary about black Mormons.

Learn more about Mormons on Religion Transcends.

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