Main Page: Latter-day Saint Racial History
Moving Forward
In my opinion, the history of members of African descent within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is equal parts troubling and inspiring. Though few need or want to know all the details I've shared here, the basics should be widely available and understood by members of all skin color. They should not be swept under the rug. Insofar as is possible, legitimate answers should be given to honest questions and concerns from members and investigators alike. Ultimately, everyone has to interpret the facts for themselves and determine their own paradigm. This may not be the history any of us would have chosen, but it's the history we have as Latter-day Saints and we just have to deal with it the best we can.
Though I undertook this study on my own, and none of my views or conclusions are officially those of the Church unless noted as such (and I try to let the facts speak for themselves most of the time anyway), I felt the Spirit dozens of times suggesting new insights, enlarging my understanding, and guiding me to additional sources for research. And I do believe that even if it came about through human error and racism, the priesthood ban was allowed by God for His own undisclosed reasons. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, not of Brigham Young or any other man, and notwithstanding their fallibility I don't believe that prophets have free reign to do whatever they want with it. The ban ended on the Lord's timetable and no one else's, and contrary to popular misrepresentation, the Church has never disavowed it or said it was a mistake. But that's up to individuals to prayerfully study and resolve for themselves.
It may seem like a great loss that the Church was so late in reaching most of Africa, when tens of thousands were yearning to be baptized well before 1978. I believe, however, that had the Church been established there in the mid or early twentieth century, it would have inevitably fallen into apostasy just like the original Christian church. The lack of infrastructure and communication technology would have made it impossible for church leaders to keep up with the growth and ensure that correct doctrines and practices were being applied. Even today, they have to deliberately limit growth well below its potential and face a constant challenge in rooting out certain practices and assumptions that converts bring with them. I believe it was deliberate that God kept the gospel from Africa for so long, and not because its peoples were undeserving in any way. That is my personal belief.
So without downplaying or dismissing anything, I believe it's vital for the Church individually and collectively to move forward toward a brighter future without letting it be defined by the past. The history is still relevant and worthy of discussion, but bringing it up to belittle the Church every time its current leaders make efforts toward racial harmony, as many critics are wont to do, is cheap and lazy. Even those who don't believe the Church is guided by God - which I do, as much because as in spite of its history, which is not uniformly negative by any means - should be able to concede that its successes today are not invalidated by its failures of the past.
W. Paul Reeve wrote, "It is much more profitable, in my estimation, to learn from our collective history, rather than defend or deny it. What lessons can it teach? Latter-day Saints experienced racialization at the hands of outsiders; and Latter-day Saints engaged in racism on the inside. What better people to lead out on issues of racial inequality and social justice? Rather than be hobbled by our past racism, what if we owned it and used our shared history to stand in places of empathy? What if we were willing to work against racial injustice because we experienced a soft form of it? What if we were willing to speak up and stand up against systemic racism because we engaged in it ourselves and have come to understand its consequences? What if we were willing, like Jesus, to claim 'all flesh' as our own?"
It should be remembered, too, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is far more than this one issue. By zeroing in on it so closely for so long, I sometimes forget that fact myself, and in this historical overview I tried to hint at it as much as possible. People often express bewilderment that any black person could be part of the Church, but if their question was sincere and they bothered to look into it, they would find a rich world of doctrine and theology and come to understand how it might be compelling and beautiful to people of all races and nationalities.
Latter-day Saint Temples in Brazil
Latter-day Saint Temples in the Caribbean
Latter-day Saint Temples in Africa
Main Page: Latter-day Saint Racial History
Though I undertook this study on my own, and none of my views or conclusions are officially those of the Church unless noted as such (and I try to let the facts speak for themselves most of the time anyway), I felt the Spirit dozens of times suggesting new insights, enlarging my understanding, and guiding me to additional sources for research. And I do believe that even if it came about through human error and racism, the priesthood ban was allowed by God for His own undisclosed reasons. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, not of Brigham Young or any other man, and notwithstanding their fallibility I don't believe that prophets have free reign to do whatever they want with it. The ban ended on the Lord's timetable and no one else's, and contrary to popular misrepresentation, the Church has never disavowed it or said it was a mistake. But that's up to individuals to prayerfully study and resolve for themselves.
It may seem like a great loss that the Church was so late in reaching most of Africa, when tens of thousands were yearning to be baptized well before 1978. I believe, however, that had the Church been established there in the mid or early twentieth century, it would have inevitably fallen into apostasy just like the original Christian church. The lack of infrastructure and communication technology would have made it impossible for church leaders to keep up with the growth and ensure that correct doctrines and practices were being applied. Even today, they have to deliberately limit growth well below its potential and face a constant challenge in rooting out certain practices and assumptions that converts bring with them. I believe it was deliberate that God kept the gospel from Africa for so long, and not because its peoples were undeserving in any way. That is my personal belief.
So without downplaying or dismissing anything, I believe it's vital for the Church individually and collectively to move forward toward a brighter future without letting it be defined by the past. The history is still relevant and worthy of discussion, but bringing it up to belittle the Church every time its current leaders make efforts toward racial harmony, as many critics are wont to do, is cheap and lazy. Even those who don't believe the Church is guided by God - which I do, as much because as in spite of its history, which is not uniformly negative by any means - should be able to concede that its successes today are not invalidated by its failures of the past.
W. Paul Reeve wrote, "It is much more profitable, in my estimation, to learn from our collective history, rather than defend or deny it. What lessons can it teach? Latter-day Saints experienced racialization at the hands of outsiders; and Latter-day Saints engaged in racism on the inside. What better people to lead out on issues of racial inequality and social justice? Rather than be hobbled by our past racism, what if we owned it and used our shared history to stand in places of empathy? What if we were willing to work against racial injustice because we experienced a soft form of it? What if we were willing to speak up and stand up against systemic racism because we engaged in it ourselves and have come to understand its consequences? What if we were willing, like Jesus, to claim 'all flesh' as our own?"
It should be remembered, too, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is far more than this one issue. By zeroing in on it so closely for so long, I sometimes forget that fact myself, and in this historical overview I tried to hint at it as much as possible. People often express bewilderment that any black person could be part of the Church, but if their question was sincere and they bothered to look into it, they would find a rich world of doctrine and theology and come to understand how it might be compelling and beautiful to people of all races and nationalities.
Latter-day Saint Temples in Brazil
Latter-day Saint Temples in the Caribbean
Latter-day Saint Temples in Africa
Main Page: Latter-day Saint Racial History
