Main Page: Latter-day Saint Racial History
Previous: The Church of Jesus Christ and Black People 1985-1988
Previous: The Church of Jesus Christ and Black People 1985-1988
The Church of Jesus Christ and Black People 1989-1994
BYU professor Eugene England recalled, "In January 1989, just before Martin Luther King's birthday, I received an unusual phone call. The voice was pleasant enough but the request a bit unsettling: 'I've just read your essay on blacks and the priesthood. Can I come and talk with you?'
"I said 'Sure', but as I was waiting I wondered who might still find that sixteen-year-old work troubling. It was a student, who introduced himself as a fairly recent convert from a big Eastern city, thanked me for the help my essay had given him, and told him how much he had been surprised and hurt to find, here at BYU, that most people he talked to, including professors, still believed that blacks like him had been denied the priesthood because they were 'less valiant' in the pre-existence.
"The next week, in BYU's unofficial magazine, The Student Review, Stuart Pace, reflecting on his interracial marriage, talked about the 'tacit racism' he has found in Provo. He mentioned 'professors and amateur theologians who hypothesized about what spiritual shortcoming prevented blacks from getting the priesthood all those years, never once asking themselves what the universal atonement's shortcoming was that prevented it from applying to all men.'
"About that same time one of my students told me of going to dinner with friends of roommates and being regaled with a story, by a returned missionary, about how a convert's skin gradually turned white after she joined the Church, because of her spiritual change. The roommates stared at their plates in embarrassment but said nothing; the regaler was completely oblivious to the insult he was giving my student, who despite her conversion remains as black as ever: and she was hurt to the point of impotent anger and silence and later to uncertainty and tears as she considered that the people of the Church she believes is true seem to believe there is a connection between skin color and righteousness.
"These three people, and probably thousands - even millions - of others, perhaps especially the white Mormons who believe such ideas, are being hurt, damaged, even damned up, I believe, in their spiritual progression, by a popular but false theology."
"I said 'Sure', but as I was waiting I wondered who might still find that sixteen-year-old work troubling. It was a student, who introduced himself as a fairly recent convert from a big Eastern city, thanked me for the help my essay had given him, and told him how much he had been surprised and hurt to find, here at BYU, that most people he talked to, including professors, still believed that blacks like him had been denied the priesthood because they were 'less valiant' in the pre-existence.
"The next week, in BYU's unofficial magazine, The Student Review, Stuart Pace, reflecting on his interracial marriage, talked about the 'tacit racism' he has found in Provo. He mentioned 'professors and amateur theologians who hypothesized about what spiritual shortcoming prevented blacks from getting the priesthood all those years, never once asking themselves what the universal atonement's shortcoming was that prevented it from applying to all men.'
"About that same time one of my students told me of going to dinner with friends of roommates and being regaled with a story, by a returned missionary, about how a convert's skin gradually turned white after she joined the Church, because of her spiritual change. The roommates stared at their plates in embarrassment but said nothing; the regaler was completely oblivious to the insult he was giving my student, who despite her conversion remains as black as ever: and she was hurt to the point of impotent anger and silence and later to uncertainty and tears as she considered that the people of the Church she believes is true seem to believe there is a connection between skin color and righteousness.
"These three people, and probably thousands - even millions - of others, perhaps especially the white Mormons who believe such ideas, are being hurt, damaged, even damned up, I believe, in their spiritual progression, by a popular but false theology."
The Ghanaian Freeze
In June 1989 Ed Decker's infamously absurd and sensationalistic anti-Mormon film "The God Makers," which claimed that Mormon missionaries had ties with the CIA, was shown on Ghanaian national television. One week later, citing misunderstandings of church teachings on government and race, the dictatorial government of Jerry Rawlings expelled all foreign church leaders and missionaries, barred the seventy-two native missionaries except for Joseph Billy Johnson and his wife from proselyting, and forbade public meetings for any of the fifty congregations and six thousand members. Jehovah's Witnesses and two other foreign religions were banned as well.
Alice Haney recalled that "my ninth month on my mission, June 14th 1989, the government of Ghana banned the church’s activities for allegedly conducting ourselves in a manner that undermined the sovereignty of Ghana. I was proselyting with my companion sister Hetty Brimah when the news was broadcast to the public, but we were not aware of it. We soon realized that a lot of people were staring at us (more than usual), and my companion commented, 'Why is everybody looking at us?' I ignorantly responded, 'Because we just came out of the hair salon and we look beautiful.'
"Immediately when we reached home, our landlord, the late Patriarch D. K. Boateng, told us that we needed to report to the local mission home (my parents’ home). My dad, Elder Billy Johnson, told us the sad news and advised us to gather our personal belongings, for we all needed to report to the Accra Mission home early in the morning. My dad was very calm when he told us the news and there was a period of silence. He later became very defiant and exclaimed, 'This is the work of the devil, and we must fight him with prayers and fasting.' When we reached the Accra Mission headquarters early in the morning, the yard was packed with missionaries; a sight I will never forget in my lifetime. There was not a single dry eye; everybody was crying.
"On July 12th 1989, all missionaries [including myself] were honorably released to go home until further notice. My parents were the only missionaries serving in disguise; they continued their full-time mission without wearing their name tags. Their mission was to strengthen the members during this period; to get them to hold on to their faith and wait for the reopening of the church."
Abomosu Branch President Stephen Abu was escorted to the local meetinghouse by civilian authorities, police, and soldiers. They inventoried everything in the building, confiscated the keys, and warned him that members were forbidden to use this property or the church farm outside the village. Similar experiences were reported by priesthood leaders in other parts of Ghana. Members began holding worship services in their homes, which was legal, though President Abu recalled that "you could not sing loudly, or you would be picked up." He and others were jailed for accusations of violating the ban, and some members were evicted by their landlords.
Alice Haney recalled that "my ninth month on my mission, June 14th 1989, the government of Ghana banned the church’s activities for allegedly conducting ourselves in a manner that undermined the sovereignty of Ghana. I was proselyting with my companion sister Hetty Brimah when the news was broadcast to the public, but we were not aware of it. We soon realized that a lot of people were staring at us (more than usual), and my companion commented, 'Why is everybody looking at us?' I ignorantly responded, 'Because we just came out of the hair salon and we look beautiful.'
"Immediately when we reached home, our landlord, the late Patriarch D. K. Boateng, told us that we needed to report to the local mission home (my parents’ home). My dad, Elder Billy Johnson, told us the sad news and advised us to gather our personal belongings, for we all needed to report to the Accra Mission home early in the morning. My dad was very calm when he told us the news and there was a period of silence. He later became very defiant and exclaimed, 'This is the work of the devil, and we must fight him with prayers and fasting.' When we reached the Accra Mission headquarters early in the morning, the yard was packed with missionaries; a sight I will never forget in my lifetime. There was not a single dry eye; everybody was crying.
"On July 12th 1989, all missionaries [including myself] were honorably released to go home until further notice. My parents were the only missionaries serving in disguise; they continued their full-time mission without wearing their name tags. Their mission was to strengthen the members during this period; to get them to hold on to their faith and wait for the reopening of the church."
Abomosu Branch President Stephen Abu was escorted to the local meetinghouse by civilian authorities, police, and soldiers. They inventoried everything in the building, confiscated the keys, and warned him that members were forbidden to use this property or the church farm outside the village. Similar experiences were reported by priesthood leaders in other parts of Ghana. Members began holding worship services in their homes, which was legal, though President Abu recalled that "you could not sing loudly, or you would be picked up." He and others were jailed for accusations of violating the ban, and some members were evicted by their landlords.
On Christmas Eve, Michael Boateng wrote to Glenn L. Pace of the Presiding Bishopric, "Dear Bishop Pace, I am very glad to write you this humble letter. My name is Michael, and I have black hair, black eyes, and fair in complexion. Now, if I could remember [remind] you, you came to Ghana sometime ago and visited our branch. You took a lot of pictures that day and if you have got those of the priests, I am the boy wearing the black suit with an usher tag.
"I think you know what has happened in Ghana, but all the same I can assure you that it has been a blessing. It is good to give you a version of the story. It all happened on the 14th of June 1989. It was on Wednesday. I had just returned from school for holidays, and I was preparing myself for choir practice, which I enjoy very much.
"So, it came to pass that I was resting in my father's car when he called, 'Michael! Have you heard what has happened?' I said, 'No,' he then went on to tell me that the government has frozen the activities of the Church. From this, I just got up and said, 'They are joking, for no power on this earth can stop this church.'
"From that time onwards in the newspapers, and news bulletins and even in town it was a topic for discussion. We had two sides: those against and those in favor. In [sic] one occasion, a riot broke out between a member of a Pentecostal church and a non-church goer. According to the Pentecostal man, he was happy that the Church activities had been frozen and this was the reply he got from the other man, 'Mr., don't be happy. I know this church very well, I have been to Britain so I know what the Church stands for. It is the only true church on earth, and I tell you that I will be the first person to be baptized when their activity is unfrozen.' Bishop, these are the words of a nonmember. Due to what has happened, people have got to know about the Church.
"In my high school, on a Sunday, some students came to me and said brother Michael, are you a Mormon? I said, 'Yes,' they then said tell us more about this church and the Book of Mormon. After hearing this, I said to myself, 'This is the hour.' So I explained everything to them and after knowing something about the Church, they became happy. Many people have been inquiring about the Church and after telling them something they pledge to join the Church when it starts to operate again.
"Bishop, all members here in our branch greet you and your family. We like to tell you that our faith is now even stronger than before, we are praying and waiting patiently for the day we will return."
Three months later Michael wrote again, "Dear Bishop Pace, I was very grateful and humble when I received your letter dated 21 January 1990. A young boy and coming from a poor home was not expecting this sort of respect. My parents were filled with tears of joy when they heard that you have written. As I am now writing, in the dormitory of my school, I am in deep humility with tears all over my eyes. For I feel for the Church and its activities, I feel for the voice of the prophet and all general authorities. But all is not lost yet. For I know that one day we shall meet again.
"Concerning the members, most families hold their sacrament meetings and family home evenings but as you would expect, unfortunately, some have fallen. We usually pay frequent visits to members to strengthen their faith in the gospel due to rising persecutions especially from other churches.
"Bishop, I attend a Catholic school where all go to worship as the Catholics do. One Sunday, a Catholic priest was invited to come and preach, but in his preaching he totally condemned the 'Mormons.' I was there and heard it, which immediately strengthened my faith. After closing, I left the church laughing and saying, 'Lord forgive him, for he does not know what he is doing.' To tell you the honest truth, I know that the Church is true and nothing can separate me and my family from it.
"This is my message for the returned missionaries. We in Ghana know perfectly well that one day we will resume activities in unity and love to build Zion for as one prophet said, the Church is moving according to the timetable of heaven. But tell them that they should be of good cheer and work hard for he who endures to the end shall be saved.
"I would like to end with a quotation I usually share with my family members to strengthen ourselves and this can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 122:6-7, which states: 'If thou are accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife... And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee..., if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.'
"This is what I leave with you, hoping to get your reply very soon in the hallowed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Your Son, Michael."
The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve sent Elders Jack H. Goaslind and Alexander B. Morrison to negotiate. During this time Elder Morrison wrote, "As always, our faithful members in Ghana have obediently followed the requirement that we honor, obey, and sustain the law of the land, and they have humbly accepted the government's decision. But the flame of faith continues to burn strong and true in their hearts as they anxiously await the day when the injunction will be lifted and they can once again meet to worship God in purity and power. We have the assurance of the Spirit that that day will come soon."
"I think you know what has happened in Ghana, but all the same I can assure you that it has been a blessing. It is good to give you a version of the story. It all happened on the 14th of June 1989. It was on Wednesday. I had just returned from school for holidays, and I was preparing myself for choir practice, which I enjoy very much.
"So, it came to pass that I was resting in my father's car when he called, 'Michael! Have you heard what has happened?' I said, 'No,' he then went on to tell me that the government has frozen the activities of the Church. From this, I just got up and said, 'They are joking, for no power on this earth can stop this church.'
"From that time onwards in the newspapers, and news bulletins and even in town it was a topic for discussion. We had two sides: those against and those in favor. In [sic] one occasion, a riot broke out between a member of a Pentecostal church and a non-church goer. According to the Pentecostal man, he was happy that the Church activities had been frozen and this was the reply he got from the other man, 'Mr., don't be happy. I know this church very well, I have been to Britain so I know what the Church stands for. It is the only true church on earth, and I tell you that I will be the first person to be baptized when their activity is unfrozen.' Bishop, these are the words of a nonmember. Due to what has happened, people have got to know about the Church.
"In my high school, on a Sunday, some students came to me and said brother Michael, are you a Mormon? I said, 'Yes,' they then said tell us more about this church and the Book of Mormon. After hearing this, I said to myself, 'This is the hour.' So I explained everything to them and after knowing something about the Church, they became happy. Many people have been inquiring about the Church and after telling them something they pledge to join the Church when it starts to operate again.
"Bishop, all members here in our branch greet you and your family. We like to tell you that our faith is now even stronger than before, we are praying and waiting patiently for the day we will return."
Three months later Michael wrote again, "Dear Bishop Pace, I was very grateful and humble when I received your letter dated 21 January 1990. A young boy and coming from a poor home was not expecting this sort of respect. My parents were filled with tears of joy when they heard that you have written. As I am now writing, in the dormitory of my school, I am in deep humility with tears all over my eyes. For I feel for the Church and its activities, I feel for the voice of the prophet and all general authorities. But all is not lost yet. For I know that one day we shall meet again.
"Concerning the members, most families hold their sacrament meetings and family home evenings but as you would expect, unfortunately, some have fallen. We usually pay frequent visits to members to strengthen their faith in the gospel due to rising persecutions especially from other churches.
"Bishop, I attend a Catholic school where all go to worship as the Catholics do. One Sunday, a Catholic priest was invited to come and preach, but in his preaching he totally condemned the 'Mormons.' I was there and heard it, which immediately strengthened my faith. After closing, I left the church laughing and saying, 'Lord forgive him, for he does not know what he is doing.' To tell you the honest truth, I know that the Church is true and nothing can separate me and my family from it.
"This is my message for the returned missionaries. We in Ghana know perfectly well that one day we will resume activities in unity and love to build Zion for as one prophet said, the Church is moving according to the timetable of heaven. But tell them that they should be of good cheer and work hard for he who endures to the end shall be saved.
"I would like to end with a quotation I usually share with my family members to strengthen ourselves and this can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 122:6-7, which states: 'If thou are accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife... And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee..., if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.'
"This is what I leave with you, hoping to get your reply very soon in the hallowed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Your Son, Michael."
The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve sent Elders Jack H. Goaslind and Alexander B. Morrison to negotiate. During this time Elder Morrison wrote, "As always, our faithful members in Ghana have obediently followed the requirement that we honor, obey, and sustain the law of the land, and they have humbly accepted the government's decision. But the flame of faith continues to burn strong and true in their hearts as they anxiously await the day when the injunction will be lifted and they can once again meet to worship God in purity and power. We have the assurance of the Spirit that that day will come soon."
BYU Survey
In the late 1980s Alan Cherry and the oral history program at BYU followed up the black Latter-day Saint oral history project (not to be confused with E. Dale LeBaron's African convert oral history project) with a mail survey that allowed him to ask more direct questions covering seven areas: "(1) interaction with non-blacks at church functions, (2) self-initiated socializing outside of church meetings, (3) inclusion or exclusion because of cultural conditioning, (4) perceptions of prejudice, (5) peer pressure from nonmember blacks, (6) ability of black and white Latter-day Saints to communicate and understand cultural language, and (7) acceptance by white Latter-day Saints." Questions from standard religiosity surveys were also included to compare respondents to other Latter-day Saints and to Americans in general.
The survey was sent out through the weekly Church News, and those who responded were asked if they knew of other black Saints in their area. Eventually the survey reached approximately five hundred black church members in the United States, 201 of whom responded. 81.5 percent, the vast majority recent converts, "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they were optimistic about their futures within the Church. The survey summarized: "Most black Americans who have joined the LDS Church experience genuine and heartfelt acceptance; at the same time they have concerns over the past priesthood exclusion and latent forms of racism and prejudice exhibited by some white members."
The survey was sent out through the weekly Church News, and those who responded were asked if they knew of other black Saints in their area. Eventually the survey reached approximately five hundred black church members in the United States, 201 of whom responded. 81.5 percent, the vast majority recent converts, "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they were optimistic about their futures within the Church. The survey summarized: "Most black Americans who have joined the LDS Church experience genuine and heartfelt acceptance; at the same time they have concerns over the past priesthood exclusion and latent forms of racism and prejudice exhibited by some white members."
The Dawning of a Brighter Day
In 1990 Elder Alexander B. Morrison published The Dawning of a Brighter Day: The Church in Black Africa. It briefly described African history, culture, and challenges, as well as the Church's beginnings in several African nations following the 1978 revelation. In the final chapter he concluded, "I have proclaimed boldly in this book that with the coming of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Africa, a new day has dawned on that great continent. But is it all presumptuous claptrap or sentimental nonsense? Can Africa ever truly be free from her ancient enemies? Can the myriad peoples of that vast land, hounded and harried for so long by the grim quartet of poverty, ignorance, disease, and famine, ever escape from their implacable pursuers?... Even the most optimistic observers have their doubts.
"Yet with it all, in spite of it all, a new and brighter day is dawning over Africa. That is my simple faith. It is a day whose light is the Son of God, a day made brighter by the glow of the glorious gospel of Christ. It is a day when the power of the priesthood of God, the power by which the universe itself was formed and put into place, is being exercised to lift, leaven, and exalt people long shackled and held powerless. The light of the restored gospel falls on a prepared people - a people prepared by the Spirit of God to receive the Word. It dispels the spiritual gloom and drives away the shackles of error and superstition that long have lain like a black shroud over the 'dark continent'...
"Why the optimism in the face of grim reality? The answer will no doubt seem simpleminded to many. The truth often does. A new day is dawning over Africa because God in His wisdom wills it to be so, and that makes all the difference. In many ways the key to it all - or at least the signal of divine intentions - was the revelation on the priesthood in 1978. That symbol of God's love for all of His children signified that a critical point had been reached in the divine timetable for earth and its inhabitants, and that the time had come to call up the last laborers to serve in the vineyard of the Lord."
"Yet with it all, in spite of it all, a new and brighter day is dawning over Africa. That is my simple faith. It is a day whose light is the Son of God, a day made brighter by the glow of the glorious gospel of Christ. It is a day when the power of the priesthood of God, the power by which the universe itself was formed and put into place, is being exercised to lift, leaven, and exalt people long shackled and held powerless. The light of the restored gospel falls on a prepared people - a people prepared by the Spirit of God to receive the Word. It dispels the spiritual gloom and drives away the shackles of error and superstition that long have lain like a black shroud over the 'dark continent'...
"Why the optimism in the face of grim reality? The answer will no doubt seem simpleminded to many. The truth often does. A new day is dawning over Africa because God in His wisdom wills it to be so, and that makes all the difference. In many ways the key to it all - or at least the signal of divine intentions - was the revelation on the priesthood in 1978. That symbol of God's love for all of His children signified that a critical point had been reached in the divine timetable for earth and its inhabitants, and that the time had come to call up the last laborers to serve in the vineyard of the Lord."
The First Black General Authority
After serving as a bishop, stake president's counselor, and president of the Brazil Fortaleza Mission, Helvécio Martins was called by President Ezra Taft Benson to the Second Quorum of the Seventy and sustained on March 31, 1990, becoming the first General Authority of African descent (Elijah Ables was in the Third Quorum and therefore not a General Authority).
The Freeze is Lifted
That day came after eighteen months of negotiation, in December 1990, when the government determined that the Church promoted racial harmony and patriotism. At this time, all of the original Ghanaian missionaries who had not married or left the country chose to complete their interrupted missions. During this lull in church activity, which came to be known as "the Freeze", members had been faithful in sharing the gospel with friends and neighbors and the Church had grown more rapidly than before.
Kola Tusey Kapumba Daniel
Kola Tusey Kapumba Daniel of Zaire (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo) wrote, "As I investigated the Church, I felt the strong desire to become a member. When I would enter the church building, I would usually go to the Relief Society room where there were photographs of the temples of the Church attached to the walls. I started to think about these buildings frequently. I pondered their relationship to temples in ancient times. I was very interested in the fact that the Lord Himself visited His House and that His Spirit truly could be found in the temple.
"After my baptism, it was the desire of my heart to go to the temple and be sealed to my wife. One evening, I said to her: 'We will go to the temple. I have vowed in my heart that before I leave this world every saving ordinance will be accomplished.'
"I did not hide my feelings on the subject and shared them with some of my brothers and sisters. One day I expressed my desire to go to the temple in a letter to Carol B. Kmetzsch, an American sister who had written her testimony in a copy of the Book of Mormon that I had received from Elder and Sister Shepherd as an investigator in 1988. She replied: 'Brother Kola, the Lord will arrange things for you. He will help you to go to the nearest temple with your wife. I know that this will happen.' After I read this, I felt an assurance that my desire would come to pass. Although I did not know how it would happen, I knew the Lord would help us.
"Another time, I wrote to Brother Kazadi Big Musungayi, hoping he could strengthen and encourage me, and help me to keep the Spirit because of his own experience. I hoped that he could give me counsel about finding some way I could go to the temple. For me, the temple had become a symbol of my membership in the Church. In a letter dated September 5, 1990 written from Provo, Utah, he sent me a reply that brought me great joy. He wrote: "You shouldn’t worry too much about it, for our Heavenly Father has a plan for you. If you exercise faith and keep the commandments, He will bless you with the desires of your heart. Rather than trying to rush to the temple right now, it is better for you to focus on living the Gospel fully. The covenants that you will make with the Lord there must be kept throughout your life or else you will be under condemnation. I know that you are sufficiently mature in the Gospel. Everything will happen when the time is right.'"
"After my baptism, it was the desire of my heart to go to the temple and be sealed to my wife. One evening, I said to her: 'We will go to the temple. I have vowed in my heart that before I leave this world every saving ordinance will be accomplished.'
"I did not hide my feelings on the subject and shared them with some of my brothers and sisters. One day I expressed my desire to go to the temple in a letter to Carol B. Kmetzsch, an American sister who had written her testimony in a copy of the Book of Mormon that I had received from Elder and Sister Shepherd as an investigator in 1988. She replied: 'Brother Kola, the Lord will arrange things for you. He will help you to go to the nearest temple with your wife. I know that this will happen.' After I read this, I felt an assurance that my desire would come to pass. Although I did not know how it would happen, I knew the Lord would help us.
"Another time, I wrote to Brother Kazadi Big Musungayi, hoping he could strengthen and encourage me, and help me to keep the Spirit because of his own experience. I hoped that he could give me counsel about finding some way I could go to the temple. For me, the temple had become a symbol of my membership in the Church. In a letter dated September 5, 1990 written from Provo, Utah, he sent me a reply that brought me great joy. He wrote: "You shouldn’t worry too much about it, for our Heavenly Father has a plan for you. If you exercise faith and keep the commandments, He will bless you with the desires of your heart. Rather than trying to rush to the temple right now, it is better for you to focus on living the Gospel fully. The covenants that you will make with the Lord there must be kept throughout your life or else you will be under condemnation. I know that you are sufficiently mature in the Gospel. Everything will happen when the time is right.'"
Encyclopedia of Mormonism
In 1992, under the approval of the First Presidency, Brigham Young University and Macmillan Publishing Company produced the quasi-official four-volume Encyclopedia of Mormonism and distributed it to libraries throughout the United States. Black Latter-day Saints Alan Cherry and Jessie L. Embry contributed an article entitled "Blacks", which read: "The history of black membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be divided between the era from 1830 to June 1978 and the period since then.
"HISTORY. Though few in number, blacks have been attracted to the Church since its organization. Early converts (such as Elijah Abel) joined during the 1830s; others (such as Jane Manning James) joined after the Saints moved to Illinois. Among those who came to Utah as pioneers were Green Flake, who drove Brigham Young’s wagon into the Salt Lake Valley, and Samuel Chambers, who joined in Virginia as a slave and went west after being freed. Throughout the twentieth century, small numbers of blacks continued to join the Church, such as the Sargent family of Carolina County, Virginia, who joined in 1906; Len and Mary Hope, who joined in Alabama during the 1920s; Ruffin Bridgeforth, a railroad worker in Utah, converted in 1953; and Helvecio Martins, a black Brazilian businessman, baptized in 1972 (he became a general authority in 1990). These members remained committed to their testimonies and Church activities even though during this period prior to 1978 black members could not hold the priesthood or participate in temple ordinances.
"The reasons for these restrictions have not been revealed. Church leaders and members have explained them in different ways over time. Although several blacks were ordained to the priesthood in the 1830s, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith authorized new ordinations in the 1840s, and between 1847 and 1852 Church leaders maintained that blacks should be denied the priesthood because of their lineage. According to the book of Abraham (now part of the Pearl of Great Price), the descendants of Cain were to be denied the priesthood of God (Abr. 1:23–26). Some Latter-day Saints theorized that blacks would be restricted throughout mortality. As early as 1852, however, Brigham Young said that the 'time will come when they will have the privilege of all we have the privilege of and more' (Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives, February 5, 1852), and increasingly in the 1960s, Presidents of the Church taught that denial of entry to the priesthood was a current commandment of God, but would not prevent blacks from eventually possessing all eternal blessings.
"Missionaries avoided proselytizing blacks, and General Authorities decided not to send missionaries to Africa, much of the Caribbean, or other regions inhabited by large populations of blacks. Before World War II, only German-speaking missionaries were sent to Brazil, where they sought out German immigrants. When government war regulations curtailed proselytizing among Germans, missionary work was expanded to include Portuguese-speaking Brazilians. Determining genealogically who was to be granted and who denied the priesthood became increasingly a sensitive and complex issue.
"During the civil rights era in the United States, denial of the priesthood to blacks drew increasing criticism, culminating in athletic boycotts of Brigham Young University, threatened lawsuits, and public condemnation of the Church in the late 1960s. When questioned about the Church and blacks, Church officials stated that removal of the priesthood restriction would require revelation from God—not policy changes by men.
"RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. On June 9, 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball announced the revelation that all worthy males could hold the priesthood (see Doctrine and Covenants: Official Declaration 2). Following the 1978 priesthood revelation, proselytizing was expanded worldwide to include people of African descent. Between 1977 and 1987, Church membership grew from 3,969,000 to 6,440,000, an increase of 62 percent. Because LDS membership records do not identify race, it is impossible to measure accurately the growth of black membership, except in areas where people are largely or exclusively of African descent. In the Caribbean, excepting Puerto Rico, membership grew from 836 to 18,614 and in Brazil from 51,000 to 250,000 during that decade.
"In other areas of Latin America, such as Colombia and Venezuela, increasing numbers of blacks also joined the Church. In Europe, blacks, including African immigrants to Portugal, joined the Church. Moreover, in Ghana, Nigeria, and throughout west and central Africa, missionary work expanded at a phenomenal rate. Excluding South Africa, where the membership was predominantly white, membership grew from 136 in 1977 to 14,347 in 1988, almost all in west Africa (see Africa, the Church in).
"The LDS Afro-American Oral History Project, conducted by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University, demonstrated the increasing number of black members in the United States. Through interviews with black Latter-day Saints throughout the country, a symposium on LDS Afro-Americans held at Brigham Young University, and responses to a mailed survey, a more reliable flow of data was generated about the thoughts, feelings, convictions, and experiences of LDS Afro-Americans. The study found that within the Church Afro-Americans experience both high acceptance and, paradoxically, cultural miscommunications. For example, in response to the survey, 81 percent felt their future as blacks in the Church was hopeful. They explained that they experienced more social interactions and more meaningful relationships with Church members of all races, especially whites. At the same time, however, 46 percent said white members were not aware of the 'needs and problems of black members.' Some felt a lack of fellowship as well as economic and racial prejudice from white members.
"Black Latter-day Saints are a nonhomogeneous mix of various 'kindreds, tongues, and peoples' emerging from thousands of years of unprecedented religious and cultural exclusions. As with LDS Afro-Americans, many black members outside the United States encounter contrasting circumstances of full ecclesiastical involvement, on the one hand, and general Church ignorance of their respective cultures, on the other hand. Local leaders and members (primarily white Latter-day Saints) often lack a good working knowledge of black members’ needs, concerns, and circumstances. Despite the 1978 priesthood revelation and expanded missionary work among blacks, unexplored challenges to their growth and retention remain in counterpoint to their happiness with priesthood inclusion.
"Despite the cultural miscommunications that remain, black Latter-day Saints enjoy opportunities in all phases of Church activity, including missionary work, quorum leadership, bishoprics, and stake presidencies, along with other members. The first entirely black African stake was organized in 1988. Indeed, black Latterday Saints may be an LDS historical enigma that has emerged as a prime example of success in LDS brotherhood and sisterhood."
In July 1992 the New Era, the Church's magazine for teenagers, carried this Mormonad.
"HISTORY. Though few in number, blacks have been attracted to the Church since its organization. Early converts (such as Elijah Abel) joined during the 1830s; others (such as Jane Manning James) joined after the Saints moved to Illinois. Among those who came to Utah as pioneers were Green Flake, who drove Brigham Young’s wagon into the Salt Lake Valley, and Samuel Chambers, who joined in Virginia as a slave and went west after being freed. Throughout the twentieth century, small numbers of blacks continued to join the Church, such as the Sargent family of Carolina County, Virginia, who joined in 1906; Len and Mary Hope, who joined in Alabama during the 1920s; Ruffin Bridgeforth, a railroad worker in Utah, converted in 1953; and Helvecio Martins, a black Brazilian businessman, baptized in 1972 (he became a general authority in 1990). These members remained committed to their testimonies and Church activities even though during this period prior to 1978 black members could not hold the priesthood or participate in temple ordinances.
"The reasons for these restrictions have not been revealed. Church leaders and members have explained them in different ways over time. Although several blacks were ordained to the priesthood in the 1830s, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith authorized new ordinations in the 1840s, and between 1847 and 1852 Church leaders maintained that blacks should be denied the priesthood because of their lineage. According to the book of Abraham (now part of the Pearl of Great Price), the descendants of Cain were to be denied the priesthood of God (Abr. 1:23–26). Some Latter-day Saints theorized that blacks would be restricted throughout mortality. As early as 1852, however, Brigham Young said that the 'time will come when they will have the privilege of all we have the privilege of and more' (Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives, February 5, 1852), and increasingly in the 1960s, Presidents of the Church taught that denial of entry to the priesthood was a current commandment of God, but would not prevent blacks from eventually possessing all eternal blessings.
"Missionaries avoided proselytizing blacks, and General Authorities decided not to send missionaries to Africa, much of the Caribbean, or other regions inhabited by large populations of blacks. Before World War II, only German-speaking missionaries were sent to Brazil, where they sought out German immigrants. When government war regulations curtailed proselytizing among Germans, missionary work was expanded to include Portuguese-speaking Brazilians. Determining genealogically who was to be granted and who denied the priesthood became increasingly a sensitive and complex issue.
"During the civil rights era in the United States, denial of the priesthood to blacks drew increasing criticism, culminating in athletic boycotts of Brigham Young University, threatened lawsuits, and public condemnation of the Church in the late 1960s. When questioned about the Church and blacks, Church officials stated that removal of the priesthood restriction would require revelation from God—not policy changes by men.
"RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. On June 9, 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball announced the revelation that all worthy males could hold the priesthood (see Doctrine and Covenants: Official Declaration 2). Following the 1978 priesthood revelation, proselytizing was expanded worldwide to include people of African descent. Between 1977 and 1987, Church membership grew from 3,969,000 to 6,440,000, an increase of 62 percent. Because LDS membership records do not identify race, it is impossible to measure accurately the growth of black membership, except in areas where people are largely or exclusively of African descent. In the Caribbean, excepting Puerto Rico, membership grew from 836 to 18,614 and in Brazil from 51,000 to 250,000 during that decade.
"In other areas of Latin America, such as Colombia and Venezuela, increasing numbers of blacks also joined the Church. In Europe, blacks, including African immigrants to Portugal, joined the Church. Moreover, in Ghana, Nigeria, and throughout west and central Africa, missionary work expanded at a phenomenal rate. Excluding South Africa, where the membership was predominantly white, membership grew from 136 in 1977 to 14,347 in 1988, almost all in west Africa (see Africa, the Church in).
"The LDS Afro-American Oral History Project, conducted by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University, demonstrated the increasing number of black members in the United States. Through interviews with black Latter-day Saints throughout the country, a symposium on LDS Afro-Americans held at Brigham Young University, and responses to a mailed survey, a more reliable flow of data was generated about the thoughts, feelings, convictions, and experiences of LDS Afro-Americans. The study found that within the Church Afro-Americans experience both high acceptance and, paradoxically, cultural miscommunications. For example, in response to the survey, 81 percent felt their future as blacks in the Church was hopeful. They explained that they experienced more social interactions and more meaningful relationships with Church members of all races, especially whites. At the same time, however, 46 percent said white members were not aware of the 'needs and problems of black members.' Some felt a lack of fellowship as well as economic and racial prejudice from white members.
"Black Latter-day Saints are a nonhomogeneous mix of various 'kindreds, tongues, and peoples' emerging from thousands of years of unprecedented religious and cultural exclusions. As with LDS Afro-Americans, many black members outside the United States encounter contrasting circumstances of full ecclesiastical involvement, on the one hand, and general Church ignorance of their respective cultures, on the other hand. Local leaders and members (primarily white Latter-day Saints) often lack a good working knowledge of black members’ needs, concerns, and circumstances. Despite the 1978 priesthood revelation and expanded missionary work among blacks, unexplored challenges to their growth and retention remain in counterpoint to their happiness with priesthood inclusion.
"Despite the cultural miscommunications that remain, black Latter-day Saints enjoy opportunities in all phases of Church activity, including missionary work, quorum leadership, bishoprics, and stake presidencies, along with other members. The first entirely black African stake was organized in 1988. Indeed, black Latterday Saints may be an LDS historical enigma that has emerged as a prime example of success in LDS brotherhood and sisterhood."
In July 1992 the New Era, the Church's magazine for teenagers, carried this Mormonad.
It would have been more accurate to say that God created people with differing levels of brown skin pigmentation, and then Johann Friedrich Blumenbach created the races, but that would have been less memorable.
Also in 1992, a recent black convert named A. David Jackson in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, was asked by his stake president to give a talk on black people and the Church. In preparing for it he discovered the racial folklore in Elder McConkie's book Mormon Doctrine and the teachings of former leaders, and was offended. He raised the issue with his home teacher, Dennis Gladwell, and then in 1995 sent a twelve-page appeal directly to President Gordon B. Hinckley, asking him to order Mormon Doctrine removed from church stores and libraries and to issue a declaration for the Doctrine and Covenants "repudiating any interpretation of doctrine that ties racial characteristics of any kind to spiritual conditions or spiritual worthiness in this life or in the pre-existence." The First Presidency sent a letter to his bishop assuring them that current teachings were devoid of racism, but this did not satisfy him.
Black Saints in a White Church
In 1994 Jessie L. Embry published Black Saints in a White Church: Contemporary African American Mormons, sharing the results of the LDS Afro-American Oral History Project and subsequent mail survey. She wrote, "According to surveys, most African Americans are still more comfortable in traditional black churches. But the fact that their ranks in Mormonism have grown to thousands raises questions about what they see in a church that previously excluded them from full participation. This is a question not only for Mormons but for the sociology of religion as well. What changes are taking place in the black community that allow some black members to leave their traditional churches and join another church with such strong ties that it has been called an ethnic group? How are blacks accepted, and how do they adapt to new religions teachings?...
"The perception of the Mormon church has been changing since the 1950s. It is generally no longer considered a 'cult'. But it has not completely broken out of its western American model, and blacks are not completely integrated. Consequently the story of African American Mormons is not without problems. Yet despite the dilemmas, most black Latter-day Saints look beyond the past to the role they can play in the church. The LDS African American experience is one of integration and discrimination, yet it promises hope for assimilation as black and white Mormons replace stereotypes with individual faces."
"The perception of the Mormon church has been changing since the 1950s. It is generally no longer considered a 'cult'. But it has not completely broken out of its western American model, and blacks are not completely integrated. Consequently the story of African American Mormons is not without problems. Yet despite the dilemmas, most black Latter-day Saints look beyond the past to the role they can play in the church. The LDS African American experience is one of integration and discrimination, yet it promises hope for assimilation as black and white Mormons replace stereotypes with individual faces."
The Kingdom Progresses in Africa
In the October 1994 General Conference, Elder James O. Mason of the Seventy recounted, "We heard the music and stirring words of 'Onward Christian Soldiers' as we entered the house used as the chapel of the Lagos Nigeria Fourth Branch. The singers - eighteen elders, two sisters, and one missionary couple - were preparing for their zone conference. We were impressed by their bright, eager smiles and faces glowing with enthusiasm. The single missionaries had been called to serve from homes in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. The couple from Canada were on their second mission....
"A few days earlier I had presided at a stake conference in Benin City, Nigeria. The stake had been created a year earlier and had grown by over 260 members, mostly families, during that period. The percentage of member families receiving home teaching visits in this large, sprawling city is well within the range of established stakes in developed countries, even though few families in Benin City own cars or telephones. Attendance at sacrament meeting in the new stake is high in spite of ongoing political turmoil and frequent public transportation disruptions. Nearly 50 percent of stake members were present at the Sunday morning session of stake conference; many families walked considerable distances to attend. A well-trained choir sang with joy the hymns of Zion. Comparable levels of participation and dedicated, competent leadership are evident wherever the Church is established in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is truly seeing the dawning of a brighter day.
"The first stake on the continent was created in South Africa in 1970. There are now five stakes in that country. The Johannesburg South Africa Temple was dedicated in 1985. Five additional stakes have more recently been organized in Nigeria and Ghana, the first a mere decade after the 1978 revelation on the priesthood. Over fifty districts of the Church are growing in Africa under inspired local leadership. The Church is authorized to do missionary work in twenty-six of the forty-four countries included in the Africa Area.
"Growth of the Church in Africa moves forward deliberately and steadily according to inspired design. Altogether there are 80,000 members, 12 missions, 10 stakes, and 425 wards and branches. The number of baptisms during 1993 totaled over 9,000. Even greater numbers of baptisms would be possible if that were the sole measure of success. However, we are anxious that each of our African brothers and sisters be remembered and 'nourished by the good word of God' (Moro. 6:4). The Church therefore proceeds in an orderly and planned fashion. Efforts are focused to create centers of strength. The goal is to establish deep pools of leadership that will become the foundation for future Church expansion.
"Missionary work is concentrated geographically around existing chapels. Buildings are sited for occupancy by two or more Church units. The missionaries concentrate their efforts on converting families and potential leaders. Major attention is given to training local leadership, which is made easy because members in Africa are eager to be taught and quick to learn and abide by gospel principles.
"Nearly half of the 960 full-time missionaries serving in Africa are Africans, and the number is growing. Retired couples from the United States and Canada play a significant role. Unselfishly leaving behind home, children, and grandchildren, these devoted couples are ministering angels to grateful, loving people. Finding, testifying, baptizing, and, above all else, loving are duties eagerly assumed by the missionary couples who truly comprehend what retirement can be. These couples also provide deeply appreciated gifts of literacy, better health, and humanitarian service to members and nonmembers."
Next: The Church of Jesus Christ and Black People 1995-1998
Main Page: Latter-day Saint Racial History
"A few days earlier I had presided at a stake conference in Benin City, Nigeria. The stake had been created a year earlier and had grown by over 260 members, mostly families, during that period. The percentage of member families receiving home teaching visits in this large, sprawling city is well within the range of established stakes in developed countries, even though few families in Benin City own cars or telephones. Attendance at sacrament meeting in the new stake is high in spite of ongoing political turmoil and frequent public transportation disruptions. Nearly 50 percent of stake members were present at the Sunday morning session of stake conference; many families walked considerable distances to attend. A well-trained choir sang with joy the hymns of Zion. Comparable levels of participation and dedicated, competent leadership are evident wherever the Church is established in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is truly seeing the dawning of a brighter day.
"The first stake on the continent was created in South Africa in 1970. There are now five stakes in that country. The Johannesburg South Africa Temple was dedicated in 1985. Five additional stakes have more recently been organized in Nigeria and Ghana, the first a mere decade after the 1978 revelation on the priesthood. Over fifty districts of the Church are growing in Africa under inspired local leadership. The Church is authorized to do missionary work in twenty-six of the forty-four countries included in the Africa Area.
"Growth of the Church in Africa moves forward deliberately and steadily according to inspired design. Altogether there are 80,000 members, 12 missions, 10 stakes, and 425 wards and branches. The number of baptisms during 1993 totaled over 9,000. Even greater numbers of baptisms would be possible if that were the sole measure of success. However, we are anxious that each of our African brothers and sisters be remembered and 'nourished by the good word of God' (Moro. 6:4). The Church therefore proceeds in an orderly and planned fashion. Efforts are focused to create centers of strength. The goal is to establish deep pools of leadership that will become the foundation for future Church expansion.
"Missionary work is concentrated geographically around existing chapels. Buildings are sited for occupancy by two or more Church units. The missionaries concentrate their efforts on converting families and potential leaders. Major attention is given to training local leadership, which is made easy because members in Africa are eager to be taught and quick to learn and abide by gospel principles.
"Nearly half of the 960 full-time missionaries serving in Africa are Africans, and the number is growing. Retired couples from the United States and Canada play a significant role. Unselfishly leaving behind home, children, and grandchildren, these devoted couples are ministering angels to grateful, loving people. Finding, testifying, baptizing, and, above all else, loving are duties eagerly assumed by the missionary couples who truly comprehend what retirement can be. These couples also provide deeply appreciated gifts of literacy, better health, and humanitarian service to members and nonmembers."
Next: The Church of Jesus Christ and Black People 1995-1998
Main Page: Latter-day Saint Racial History
