Main Page: LDS Racial History
The LDS Church and Interracial Marriage
The attitude of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints toward interracial marriage - also called amalgamation or miscegenation - has historically ranged from squeamishness to overt hostility, the latter usually rationalized by aspects of its theology that have since been disavowed. The church especially hated black-white intermarriage because of its doctrine that anyone with African blood was under the "curse of Cain" and couldn't hold the priesthood or enter the temple. These restrictions even applied to white people who married black people. (They were lifted in June 1978, but the doctrine wasn't disavowed until 2012, when it became a national embarrassment during Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.) The harshest denunciations came from Brigham Young and George Q. Cannon, who stated on multiple occasions that black-white couples and their children should be killed to prevent any of Cain's descendants from getting the priesthood. At Young's urging, Utah's all-Mormon legislature outlawed all sex between black people and white people when it legalized slavery in 1852, and it outlawed most kinds of interracial marriage from 1888 to 1963. A black Mormon named Thomas Coleman was murdered in 1866, with knife wounds resembling the penalties in the LDS endowment ceremony, allegedly for courting a white woman (though some contemporary observers and historians were/are skeptical that this was the true reason).
A notable exception to the LDS Church's attitude and Utah's law was the allowance for white men to marry Native American or "Lamanite" women so that their descendants could become "white and delightsome" - ironically in direct defiance of the Book of Mormon, which states that God cursed their ancestors with "a skin of blackness" so that white people wouldn't marry them in the first place. By the mid-twentieth century, though, Spencer W. Kimball was speaking against this form of interracial marriage as well. Kimball, at least, never taught that interracial marriage was a sin, but only discouraged it because he felt that it made spouses less likely to be compatible and caused difficulties for their children. His 1976 quote recommending that people choose spouses "of the same racial background generally" was in the LDS Church's Aaronic Priesthood Manual until 2013 and remains in the Eternal Marriage Student Manual as of 2024. In 1983, the LDS Church filed an amicus brief in Bob Jones University v. United States, arguing that the IRS had violated the evangelical university's religious freedom by revoking its tax-exempt status over its ban on interracial dating and marriage. (The university lost that case but stayed true to its sincerely held beliefs and kept the policy in place until 2000.)
The rest of this page is simply a chronological compilation of quotes, mostly from LDS leaders and publications. Some contain enough context about other churches or mainstream society to illustrate that the LDS Church's attitude, though by no means unique, was already regressive by the late nineteenth century. Its apologists' ubiquitous "We can't judge people in the past by today's standards" defense falls apart when we know that other people in the same time period did better. In my opinion, this poor track record also significantly undermines the credibility of its more recent denunciations of same-sex marriage, even if they are more "official."
A notable exception to the LDS Church's attitude and Utah's law was the allowance for white men to marry Native American or "Lamanite" women so that their descendants could become "white and delightsome" - ironically in direct defiance of the Book of Mormon, which states that God cursed their ancestors with "a skin of blackness" so that white people wouldn't marry them in the first place. By the mid-twentieth century, though, Spencer W. Kimball was speaking against this form of interracial marriage as well. Kimball, at least, never taught that interracial marriage was a sin, but only discouraged it because he felt that it made spouses less likely to be compatible and caused difficulties for their children. His 1976 quote recommending that people choose spouses "of the same racial background generally" was in the LDS Church's Aaronic Priesthood Manual until 2013 and remains in the Eternal Marriage Student Manual as of 2024. In 1983, the LDS Church filed an amicus brief in Bob Jones University v. United States, arguing that the IRS had violated the evangelical university's religious freedom by revoking its tax-exempt status over its ban on interracial dating and marriage. (The university lost that case but stayed true to its sincerely held beliefs and kept the policy in place until 2000.)
The rest of this page is simply a chronological compilation of quotes, mostly from LDS leaders and publications. Some contain enough context about other churches or mainstream society to illustrate that the LDS Church's attitude, though by no means unique, was already regressive by the late nineteenth century. Its apologists' ubiquitous "We can't judge people in the past by today's standards" defense falls apart when we know that other people in the same time period did better. In my opinion, this poor track record also significantly undermines the credibility of its more recent denunciations of same-sex marriage, even if they are more "official."
Joseph Smith Jr.
The Book of Mormon
March 1830
Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they [the Lamanites] will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. 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 him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities. And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
Ex-Mormon Ezra Booth
Letter to Reverend Ira Eddy, in Ohio Star
December 8, 1831
Another method has been invented, in order to remove obstacles which hitherto had proved insurmountable. "The Lord's store-house," is to be furnished with goods suited to the Indian trade, and persons are to obtain license from the government to dispose of them to the Indians in their own territory; at the same time they are to disseminate the principles of Mormonism among them..From this smug[g]ling method of preaching to the Indians, they anticipate a favorable result. In addition to this, and to co-operate with it, it has been made known by revelation, that it will be pleasing to the Lord, should they form a matrimonial alliance with the Natives; and by this means the Elders, who comply with the thing so pleasing to the Lord, and for which the Lord has promised to bless those who do it abundantly, gain a residence in the Indian territory, independent of the agent. It has been made known to one, who has left his wife in the State of New York, that he is entirely free from his wife, and he is at pleasure to take him a wife from among the Lamanites. It was easily perceived that this permission was perfectly suited to his desires. I have frequently heard him state that the Lord had made it known to him, that he is as free from his wife as from any other woman; and the only crime I have ever heard alleged against her is, she is violently opposed to Mormonism. But before this contemplated marriage can be carried into effect, he must return to the State of New York and settle his business, for fear, should he return after that affair had taken place, the civil authority would apprehend him as a criminal.
Citizens of Missouri
"The Manifesto of the Mob"
July 1833
They [the Mormons] declare openly that their God hath given them this country of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have possession of our lands for inheritance; and, in fine, they have conducted themselves on many other occasions, and such a manner, that we believe it a duty we owe to ourselves, our wives, and children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us, as we are not prepared to give up our pleasant places and goodly possessions to them or to receive into the bosom of our families, as fit companions for wives and daughters, the degraded and corrupted free Negroes and mulattos that are now invited to settle among us.
Oliver Cowdery
Latter-day Saint's Messenger and Advocate
April 1836
We have travelled [sic] in the south, and have seen the condition of both master and servant; and without the least disposition to deprive others of their liberty of thinking, we unhesitatingly say that if even the condition of the slave is bettered, under our present form of government, it must be by converting the master to the faith of the gospel and then teaching him to be kind to his slave. The idea of transportation is folly, the project of emansipation [sic] is destructive to our government, and the notion of amalgamation is devilish! And insensible to feeling must be the heart, and low indeed must be the mind, that would consent for a moment, to see his fair daughter, his sister, or perhaps, his bosom companion, in the embrace of a NEGRO!
Latter-day Saint's Messenger and Advocate
May 1836
I mean the efforts that have been, and are not making, by that band of disorganizers, those enemies to all that is dear to us as a people, especially to our Southern brethren, - the "ABOLITIONISTS". With the rest of the Reserve, one of their number, not long since, gave Kirtland the honor of his gracious presence; in order I presume, that he might teach us poor "deluded", "benighted" "Mormons" that we were certainly out of the way, and would have no chance of gaining our salvation* except we joined in and threw up our caps for his glorious doctrine of AMALGAMATION! But when the time come to count noses, he found he had "waked up the wrong passengers," and instead of having the "Mormons," he had gathered together a little squad of Presbyterians, - those, who you know, are always foremost in every thing that would tend to subvert our blood-bought liberties. For we as a society, do not hold to any such doctrines - neither do we fellowship those who do, - that is if they endeavor to put their sentiments into practice.
Nauvoo Mayor Joseph Smith
History of the Church
February 8, 1844
Held Mayor's court, and tried two negroes for attempting to marry white women: fined one $25 [over $1000 today], and the other $5 [over $200 today].
Mission President William Appleby
Letter to Brigham Young
June 2, 1847
At Lowell... I found a coloured brother by name of "Lewis", a barber, an Elder in the Church, ordained some years ago by Wm. Smith. This Lewis I was informed also has a son [Enoch Lovejoy Lewis] who is married to a white girl [Mary Matilda Webster Lewis] and both members of the Church there. Now dear Br. I wish to know if this is the order of God or tolerated in the Church to ordain Negroes to the priesthood and allow amalgamation. If it is, I desire to know it as I have yet to learn it.
Mission President William Appleby
Journal
June 16, 1847
Naushua, Massachusetts In looking for a Br. in the Church, I called at a House, a coloured man resided there, I set myself down for a few moments presently in came quite a good looking White Woman, about 22 years old I should think, with blushing cheeks, and was introduced to me as the negro's wife, an infant in a cradle near bore evidence of the fact. Oh! Woman, thought I, where is thy shame, (for indeed I felt ashamed and not only ashamed, but disgusted, when I was informed they were both members of a Church!) Respect for the family, thyself, for thy offspring and above all the law of God.
President Willard Richards
Meeting Minutes
Late 1847
Wm. Smith ordained a black man Elder at Lowell & he has married a white girl and they have a child
Prest. [Brigham] Young If they were far away from the Gentiles they w[oul]d. all [h]av[e]. to be killed - when they mingle it is death to all. If a black man & a white woman come to you & demand baptism, can you deny them? The law is their seed shall not be amalgamated. Mulattoes [a]r[e] like mules they cant have children, but if they will be eunuchs for the Kingdom of God's Heaven's sake they may have a place in the Temple.
B.Y. The Lamanites [a]r[e] purely of the house of Israel & it is a curse that is to be removed when the fullness of the Gospel comes
O[rson].H[yde]. Has taught that if girls marry the half breeds they r throwing themselves away & becoming as one of them
B.Y. It is wrong for them to do so
BY The Pottawatomis will not own a man who has the negro blood in him - that is the reason why the Indians disown the negro prophet [William McCary]
Prest. [Brigham] Young If they were far away from the Gentiles they w[oul]d. all [h]av[e]. to be killed - when they mingle it is death to all. If a black man & a white woman come to you & demand baptism, can you deny them? The law is their seed shall not be amalgamated. Mulattoes [a]r[e] like mules they cant have children, but if they will be eunuchs for the Kingdom of God's Heaven's sake they may have a place in the Temple.
B.Y. The Lamanites [a]r[e] purely of the house of Israel & it is a curse that is to be removed when the fullness of the Gospel comes
O[rson].H[yde]. Has taught that if girls marry the half breeds they r throwing themselves away & becoming as one of them
B.Y. It is wrong for them to do so
BY The Pottawatomis will not own a man who has the negro blood in him - that is the reason why the Indians disown the negro prophet [William McCary]
Utah Territorial Legislature
"An Act in Relation to Service"
February 4, 1852
Sec. 4. That if any master or mistress shall have sexual or carnal intercourse with his or her servant or servants of the African race, he or she shall forfeit all claim to said servant or servants to the commonwealth; and if any white person shall be guilty of sexual intercourse with any of the African race, they shall be subject, on conviction thereof to a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars nor less than five hundred, to the use of the Territory, and imprisonment, not exceeding three years.
Governor Brigham Young
Speech to Utah Territorial Legislature, Transcribed by George D. Watt
February 5, 1852
But let me tell you further. Let my seed mingle with the seed of Cain, that brings the curse upon me, and upon my generations, - we will reap the same rewards with Cain.
In the preisthood I will tell you what it will do. Where the children of God to mingle there seed with the seed of Cain it would not only bring the curse of being deprived of the power of the preisthood upon themselves but they entail it upon their children after them, and they cannot get rid of it. If a man in an ungaurded moment should commit such a transgression, if he would walk up and say cut off my head, and kill man woman and child it would do a great deal towards atoneing for the sin. Would this be to curse them? no it would be a blessing to them. - it would do them good that they might be saved with their Bren. A man would shuder should they here us take about killing folk, but it is one of the greatest blessings to some to kill them, allthough the true principles of it are not understood.
In the preisthood I will tell you what it will do. Where the children of God to mingle there seed with the seed of Cain it would not only bring the curse of being deprived of the power of the preisthood upon themselves but they entail it upon their children after them, and they cannot get rid of it. If a man in an ungaurded moment should commit such a transgression, if he would walk up and say cut off my head, and kill man woman and child it would do a great deal towards atoneing for the sin. Would this be to curse them? no it would be a blessing to them. - it would do them good that they might be saved with their Bren. A man would shuder should they here us take about killing folk, but it is one of the greatest blessings to some to kill them, allthough the true principles of it are not understood.
Apostle Wilford Woodruff
Journal Account of Brigham Young's Speech
February 5, 1852
Let me consent to day to mingle my seed with the seed of Cane[,] It would Bring the same curse upon me And it would upon any man. And if any man mingles his seed with the seed of Cane the ownly way he Could get rid of it or have salvation would be to Come forward & have his head Cut off & spill his Blood upon the ground. It would also take the life of his Children.
William W. Phelps
Memory of Alleged Revelation to Joseph Smith on July 17, 1831, in Letter to Brigham Young
August 12, 1861
Verily I say unto you that the wisdom of man in his fallen state, knoweth not the purposes and the privileges of my holy priesthood. but ye shall know when ye receive a fulness by reason of the anointing: For it is my will, that in time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity may become white, delightsome and Just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the gentiles.
President Brigham Young
Speech in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Transcribed in Journal of Discourses by George D. Watt
March 8, 1863
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 law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so. The nations of the earth have transgressed every law that God has given, they have changed the ordinances and broken every covenant made with the fathers, and they are like a hungry man that dreameth that he eateth, and he awaketh and behold he is empty.
Salt Lake Daily Telegraph
December 12, 1866
FOUND DEAD. - Thomas Coleman, generally known as "Nigger Tom," was found about 9 P.M. last night by the police with a stab in the right breast and his throat cut.
The police were informed by a citizen last night that a negro lay dead near the arsenal, just outside the city wall. Captain Burt, with a squad of men started in search, and by the assistance of lanterns found the body, as stated, just above the arsenal. It was immediately recognized as "Tom's." He lay on his back, his head westward and his own bowie knife (marked T. Coleman) laying near him. He was evidently killed on Monday night, as some boys reported having discovered the body in the afternoon of yesterday. A large sheet of paper, with the following inscription, written with a pencil in large letters, was attached to the body:
"NOTICE TO ALL NIGGERS! TAKE WARNING!! LEAVE WHITE WOMEN ALONE!!!"
The police were informed by a citizen last night that a negro lay dead near the arsenal, just outside the city wall. Captain Burt, with a squad of men started in search, and by the assistance of lanterns found the body, as stated, just above the arsenal. It was immediately recognized as "Tom's." He lay on his back, his head westward and his own bowie knife (marked T. Coleman) laying near him. He was evidently killed on Monday night, as some boys reported having discovered the body in the afternoon of yesterday. A large sheet of paper, with the following inscription, written with a pencil in large letters, was attached to the body:
"NOTICE TO ALL NIGGERS! TAKE WARNING!! LEAVE WHITE WOMEN ALONE!!!"
Foreman George Stringham
Coroner's Jury Verdict
December 14, 1866
G[reat]. S[alt]. L[ake]. CITY, Dec. 12.
We the jury empaneled and sworn to inquire as it relates to the death of Thomas Coleman, do find from the testimony and apparent circumstances that the said Coleman was found in company with a white woman, at or near the place where he was found dead, by some relative or friend of the woman, and was then and there set upon, and beat on the head with a large stone, which was lying by his head with blood on it. There was a knife lying by him which had Coleman's name engraved on it; said knife was known to belong to Coleman; said knife was bloody. There was [sic] three wounds inflicted on him; one on the neck and two on the body, which we have reason to believe were done with said knife.
The person or persons committing said murder to the jury are unknown.
GEO. STRINGHAM, Sen.,
Foreman.
We the jury empaneled and sworn to inquire as it relates to the death of Thomas Coleman, do find from the testimony and apparent circumstances that the said Coleman was found in company with a white woman, at or near the place where he was found dead, by some relative or friend of the woman, and was then and there set upon, and beat on the head with a large stone, which was lying by his head with blood on it. There was a knife lying by him which had Coleman's name engraved on it; said knife was known to belong to Coleman; said knife was bloody. There was [sic] three wounds inflicted on him; one on the neck and two on the body, which we have reason to believe were done with said knife.
The person or persons committing said murder to the jury are unknown.
GEO. STRINGHAM, Sen.,
Foreman.
"The Killing of Thos. Coleman Monday Night," in The Union Daily Vedette
December 15, 1866
Now, "not to put too fine a point on it," we take that verdict to be novelty of its kind.
What witnesses we are not informed, but we are curious to know how the jury ascertained that "said Coleman was found in company with a white woman, at or near the place where he was found dead, by some relative or friend of the woman, and was then and there" killed. If any witness swore to anything of the kind, if he was acute enough to know that it was a "relative or friend of the white woman," could he not at least have given some clue to the perpetrator of the deed, if the jurors had been of an inquiring mind? But in fact, is not the whole verdict founded entirely upon the theory suggested by the placard? We suspect so, truly, and that the only fact ascertained by the jury was, that Thos. Coleman was found with his throat cut, with his own bloody knife, in a retired spot, and a warning notice affixed to the dead body. Whether there was any white woman with him; whether he was killed elsewhere and carried to the rear of the arsenal; whether there was one, two or a dozen engaged in the bloody work of retribution, if retribution it were, we suspect are all matters of conjecture, about which anybody else can exercise their imagination as well as the jury.
What Coleman's misdeeds may have been, we neither know nor care, and it seems trifling with justice for a jury on their oaths and on so flimsy a foundation, to seek to throw a cloak over such a deed. Relations and friends of white women so cruelly wronged, as it is suggested some were in this case, do not seek the darkness of the night to avenge their insults. Individual passion and sense of wounded honor, nowhere out of Utah, go forth at night armed with written placards of warning, lest some of their neighbors may be in like danger. We submit that this killing of Thos. Coleman, negro though he was, should be sifted to some other than the lame and impotent conclusion to which the jury arrived.
What witnesses we are not informed, but we are curious to know how the jury ascertained that "said Coleman was found in company with a white woman, at or near the place where he was found dead, by some relative or friend of the woman, and was then and there" killed. If any witness swore to anything of the kind, if he was acute enough to know that it was a "relative or friend of the white woman," could he not at least have given some clue to the perpetrator of the deed, if the jurors had been of an inquiring mind? But in fact, is not the whole verdict founded entirely upon the theory suggested by the placard? We suspect so, truly, and that the only fact ascertained by the jury was, that Thos. Coleman was found with his throat cut, with his own bloody knife, in a retired spot, and a warning notice affixed to the dead body. Whether there was any white woman with him; whether he was killed elsewhere and carried to the rear of the arsenal; whether there was one, two or a dozen engaged in the bloody work of retribution, if retribution it were, we suspect are all matters of conjecture, about which anybody else can exercise their imagination as well as the jury.
What Coleman's misdeeds may have been, we neither know nor care, and it seems trifling with justice for a jury on their oaths and on so flimsy a foundation, to seek to throw a cloak over such a deed. Relations and friends of white women so cruelly wronged, as it is suggested some were in this case, do not seek the darkness of the night to avenge their insults. Individual passion and sense of wounded honor, nowhere out of Utah, go forth at night armed with written placards of warning, lest some of their neighbors may be in like danger. We submit that this killing of Thos. Coleman, negro though he was, should be sifted to some other than the lame and impotent conclusion to which the jury arrived.
"Senator Wilson Has Made a Speech!" in Deseret News
May 8, 1867
There must be some very profound meaning hidden under the announcement, that the colored population of North Carolina should beware of the white population of Utah. The old State and the young Territory lie so contiguous to each other, that it is possible we might pass over the boundary line some night, and convert our colored brethren to the doctrine that opposite races do not produce a superior race by amalgamating, and that it is better for colored ladies not to admit the promiscuous attentions of gentlemen of a lighter hue! - we like to speak of all these things in the most polite manner. The practical observation of such a doctrine would, perhaps, come hard on some who advocate miscegenation on purely personal grounds; and it may be that the freedmen of North Carolina should be warned on the point by an honorable Senator, who is paid for giving the nation the full benefit of his wisdom.
First Presidency Secretary George Reynolds
"Mixed Races - The Effects of Climate," in Juvenile Instructor
November 1, 1868
Some writers deny the possibility of a mixed race of people existing for any great length of time upon the earth. They say the race would entirely die out or return in characteristics of mind and body to one of the races from which it sprung. There is a great deal of truth in this when referring to the extreme varieties of man as they now exist. We do not believe in the permanency of a race descended from people so wide apart as the Anglo-Saxon and Negro. In fact we believe it to be a great sin in the eyes of our Heavenly Father for a white person to marry a black one. And further, that it is proof of the mercy of God that no such race appears able to continue for many generations. This idea, however, of white and black people intermarrying is very popular just now in New England and other parts of the United States, and foolish writers and preachers try to encourage it. This is what is called miscegenation. But because races so far separate from each other as the white man and the negro do not readily blend, it is no reason that others nearer allied in character and appearance should not do so, especially in the early days after the flood, when there was probably nothing like the difference in mankind, that exists between their descendants now. Indeed some of the most learned writers tell us, we do not know with how much truth, that new races of men have sprung up within the last two or three hundred years.
"A Methodist Preacher on Miscegenation," in Deseret News
February 24, 1869
But it was left for a gentleman by the name of Gilbert Haven, a Methodist minister, and the manager of Zion's Herald, the organ of his sect in Boston, to carry off the palm for extreme advocacy of the rights of the negroes. He said the work would not be finished until Massachusetts should be represented by a black man in Congress; till eastern pulpits should be filled by black clergymen; till all the people should look with as much pleasure and affection on a black face as on a white one; till white suitors should aspire to the hands of colored belles!
He did not propose to accomplish all these ends by legislation, but only by persuading and educating the people up to them. As he occupies a pulpit and has control of a paper he will, doubtless, devote his energies to the task while his life lasts or until the work be achieved.
We should suppose, after reading such sentiments, that the man who uttered them had, himself, a black wife, and that his influence with his congregation and the patrons of his paper would lead them to follow his example. What must the condition of society be where such ideas can be tolerated in a man holding a leading position in a sect as numerous as are the Methodists? It is frightful to think of the consequences which must attend the propagation of such atrocious doctrines among the people. Yet there are thousands who listen to them without being in the least shocked, and who accept them as a revelation of higher truths. These theories concerning miscegenation, if practically carried into effect, will prove the ruin of any people who indulge in them. We scarcely believed that they had taken possession of leading minds to the extent that had been represented until we heard a conversation which took place about three years ago in this city between one of our prominent citizens and a distinguished visitor from the East. The abolition of slavery, and the condition of the blacks, were the subjects on the tapis. A variety of remarks were made, among which was one conveying an idea of mixing the races something akin to Mr. Haven's given above. Our friend, thinking he had not heard the sentiment aright, inquired of the visitor whether he understood him correctly that he would have the whites and blacks amalgamate. He replied by asking, very significantly and in a tone that conveyed the impression that his convictions were all in favor of the idea, "Why not?" Our friend was so surprised at hearing such a doctrine endorsed by the gentleman that he made no further comment, and the subject was dropped.
But let such ideas prevail, and be carried to their logical conclusions throughout the Republic, and what a piebald race we would soon have! The nation would soon be in a worse condition than Mexico and the South American republics, and speedily fall a prey to internal dissensions and the first aggressive white race that chose to assail it.
He did not propose to accomplish all these ends by legislation, but only by persuading and educating the people up to them. As he occupies a pulpit and has control of a paper he will, doubtless, devote his energies to the task while his life lasts or until the work be achieved.
We should suppose, after reading such sentiments, that the man who uttered them had, himself, a black wife, and that his influence with his congregation and the patrons of his paper would lead them to follow his example. What must the condition of society be where such ideas can be tolerated in a man holding a leading position in a sect as numerous as are the Methodists? It is frightful to think of the consequences which must attend the propagation of such atrocious doctrines among the people. Yet there are thousands who listen to them without being in the least shocked, and who accept them as a revelation of higher truths. These theories concerning miscegenation, if practically carried into effect, will prove the ruin of any people who indulge in them. We scarcely believed that they had taken possession of leading minds to the extent that had been represented until we heard a conversation which took place about three years ago in this city between one of our prominent citizens and a distinguished visitor from the East. The abolition of slavery, and the condition of the blacks, were the subjects on the tapis. A variety of remarks were made, among which was one conveying an idea of mixing the races something akin to Mr. Haven's given above. Our friend, thinking he had not heard the sentiment aright, inquired of the visitor whether he understood him correctly that he would have the whites and blacks amalgamate. He replied by asking, very significantly and in a tone that conveyed the impression that his convictions were all in favor of the idea, "Why not?" Our friend was so surprised at hearing such a doctrine endorsed by the gentleman that he made no further comment, and the subject was dropped.
But let such ideas prevail, and be carried to their logical conclusions throughout the Republic, and what a piebald race we would soon have! The nation would soon be in a worse condition than Mexico and the South American republics, and speedily fall a prey to internal dissensions and the first aggressive white race that chose to assail it.
President George Q. Cannon
Journal
February 1, 1881
I had a remarkable conversation to-day with Hon. J. Floyd King of Louisiana, whose father [blank] of Georgia, was a man of talent and note, being very wealthy withal. He asked me our belief respecting intermarriage with inferior races, particularly the negro. I told him our views, with which he was delighted. He said such views would cause thousands to rally around us. He himself would fight for us, rather than we should be injured. He predicted great things for us in the future; that we believed in procreation and in preserving the purity of the dominant or pure Aryan race. He said that was the law of Moses. We would have a line of States yet in the Mountains that would be very strong. He related a conversation he had had with an intimate friend of his, Preston Johnson, a son of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson, who in writing his Father’s life had written a chapter in which we were greatly misrepresented, in which he astonished Johnson by telling his views concerning us; he based his views respecting our future upon the idea that he had got from some quarter that we were opposed to miscegenation, and he told him he was going to ask me about it. He had been at a dinner with nearly a dozen Episcopal Bishops and he had greatly puzzled them by his questions respecting the condition of the races in heaven. Among other things he asked them if there were negro angels. He had been a strong advocate of religious instruction, had spent some $4,000 in Sunday Schools, but had become disgusted with the attitude of the churches upon this important question. He said all the churches taught or consented to miscegenation, and he felt it would be the destruction of every people who practiced it; they ought to be killed according to the law of Moses as he viewed it.
President George Q. Cannon
"An Ex-Editor's Saturday Talk" in Deseret Weekly
February 25, 1893
A friend, who is a very prominent man in public life, remarked to me the other day that one of the great questions which was forcing itself upon the attention of thinking men concerning the future of the Republic, is the conflict of races. In the South the white and colored elements are brought in close proximity to each other, and with bad results. In the Northern States, he said, there was a great influx of low foreign element which was having a bad effect upon the character of the population, and was likely to contribute to the degradation of the Caucasian type. He deplored the tendency there was in many quarters to look with toleration, and in some instances with encouragement, upon misceg[e]nation. He had heard a prominent religious man advocate this plan of bringing about unity of the races, and he had been inspired with horror at the thought. The rapidity of increase of the lower races he viewed as something to be dreaded. In the South the colored people were increasing very rapidly, and the admixture of the white blood with them was hybridizing the race and gradually destroying the higher type.
His remarks suggested many reflections, and I could not refrain from contrasting our situation in Utah with the situation of many of the other communities to which he alluded. The people of Utah are to be congratulated upon their position. The purity of the Caucasian race is more likely to be preserved in our Territory than in many other portions of the United States. In the first place there is a well-founded dislike to inter-marriage or intimate association with inferior races. The Jews were not more particular in regard to keeping their descent pure than the people of Utah ought to be. The experience of our missionaries has taught us that there is a great difference in blood and in races. This has been proved by long years of experience.
There is no disputing the fact that there is a greater susceptibility to the truth among some races and families, than there is among others. In old times there was a chosen race. For reasons which space will not permit to be enlarged upon here, that race had greater promises made to it than were given to others. And its members were careful to marry among themselves. Numerous instances might be cited from the Bible to prove this. Through Moses, strict commands were given by the Lord to His people forbidding the contracting of marriage with certain nations. The great King Solomon, whose reign commenced so auspiciously, brought woes upon himself, his house and his people and embittered the closing years of his life by violating these injunctions and marrying "strange women."
But long before the days of Moses, "the father of the faithful," as Abraham is called, exhibited the importance which he attached to the forming of a correct marriage relation. The greatest hopes which he entertained for the future prominence and glory of his posterity centered in Isaac. It would be a misfortune, then, for Isaac to marry into an inferior family or race. To prevent this, and to secure a wife worthy to be the mother of a posterity such as Abraham had reason to believe the Lord intended to give him, he sent his steward on a journey of hundreds of miles to select a wife for his son. No doubt there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young women among the peoples surrounding Abraham from among whom he might have made a choice of a wife for Isaac; but he had higher views than that. He looked to the future, and desired his son to ally himself as a husband with a woman of the pure blood. This care resulted happily. Rebekah proved hereself [sic] to be a jewel of a woman.
The principle of which I speak was well illustrated in the lives of Isaac and Rebekah's twin sons - Esau and Jacob. Esau, disregarding the family tradition and the wishes of his parents, took as wives women of influential families of the immediate neighborhood. But they were of a lower race. The effect upon his posterity was marked. His descendants were numerous, and they formed a strong, warlike nation; but they were far inferior to the nation which sprang from his brother, who had made a long and tedious journey back to his mother's kindred to form his alliances in marriage....
In Utah we have a good foundation to start on. Our people are not of mongrel breeds. We have in our Territory today more New England people and their descendants than can be found in any other community of our number outside of New England itself. Those who have come from other parts of the United States are their congeners.
His remarks suggested many reflections, and I could not refrain from contrasting our situation in Utah with the situation of many of the other communities to which he alluded. The people of Utah are to be congratulated upon their position. The purity of the Caucasian race is more likely to be preserved in our Territory than in many other portions of the United States. In the first place there is a well-founded dislike to inter-marriage or intimate association with inferior races. The Jews were not more particular in regard to keeping their descent pure than the people of Utah ought to be. The experience of our missionaries has taught us that there is a great difference in blood and in races. This has been proved by long years of experience.
There is no disputing the fact that there is a greater susceptibility to the truth among some races and families, than there is among others. In old times there was a chosen race. For reasons which space will not permit to be enlarged upon here, that race had greater promises made to it than were given to others. And its members were careful to marry among themselves. Numerous instances might be cited from the Bible to prove this. Through Moses, strict commands were given by the Lord to His people forbidding the contracting of marriage with certain nations. The great King Solomon, whose reign commenced so auspiciously, brought woes upon himself, his house and his people and embittered the closing years of his life by violating these injunctions and marrying "strange women."
But long before the days of Moses, "the father of the faithful," as Abraham is called, exhibited the importance which he attached to the forming of a correct marriage relation. The greatest hopes which he entertained for the future prominence and glory of his posterity centered in Isaac. It would be a misfortune, then, for Isaac to marry into an inferior family or race. To prevent this, and to secure a wife worthy to be the mother of a posterity such as Abraham had reason to believe the Lord intended to give him, he sent his steward on a journey of hundreds of miles to select a wife for his son. No doubt there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young women among the peoples surrounding Abraham from among whom he might have made a choice of a wife for Isaac; but he had higher views than that. He looked to the future, and desired his son to ally himself as a husband with a woman of the pure blood. This care resulted happily. Rebekah proved hereself [sic] to be a jewel of a woman.
The principle of which I speak was well illustrated in the lives of Isaac and Rebekah's twin sons - Esau and Jacob. Esau, disregarding the family tradition and the wishes of his parents, took as wives women of influential families of the immediate neighborhood. But they were of a lower race. The effect upon his posterity was marked. His descendants were numerous, and they formed a strong, warlike nation; but they were far inferior to the nation which sprang from his brother, who had made a long and tedious journey back to his mother's kindred to form his alliances in marriage....
In Utah we have a good foundation to start on. Our people are not of mongrel breeds. We have in our Territory today more New England people and their descendants than can be found in any other community of our number outside of New England itself. Those who have come from other parts of the United States are their congeners.
First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Meeting Minutes
August 22, 1895
President [George Q.] Cannon remarked that the Prophet Joseph taught this doctrine: That the seed of Cain could not receive the Priesthood nor act in any of the offices of the priesthood until the seed of Abel should come forward and take precedence over Cain's offspring; and that any white man who mingled his seed with that of Cain should be killed, and thus prevent any of the seed of Cain's coming into possession of the priesthood.
Brother George F. Gibbs, the secretary, reminded President Woodruff of a sister Smith, whose first husband was a man named Berry, by whom she had two children - girls - who are now living, and it is held by those who knew Berry that he had negro blood in him. She separated from Berry and married a man named Smith who is not in the Church and by whom she had one child, a boy, that she now desires to be sealed to her second husband for whom her son will stand proxy, but that President Angus M. Cannon had refused to sign her recommend to the temple for the reason that she had married a man with negro blood in him and borne him children, and she had appealed to the First Presidency to have President Angus M. Cannon's action overruled, denying at the same time that her first husband was part negro.
It being understood that Mr. Berry was part negro, President [George Q.] Cannon raised the question: What would become of the girls? One at least of whom was in the Church, as they could not be admitted to the temple, and he thought it would be unfair to admit their mother and deny them this privilege. President Cannon thought too that to let down the bars in the least on this question would only tend to complications, and that it is perhaps better to let all such cases alone, believing, of course that the Lord would deal fairly with them all.
President Woodruff assented to this.
Brother George F. Gibbs, the secretary, reminded President Woodruff of a sister Smith, whose first husband was a man named Berry, by whom she had two children - girls - who are now living, and it is held by those who knew Berry that he had negro blood in him. She separated from Berry and married a man named Smith who is not in the Church and by whom she had one child, a boy, that she now desires to be sealed to her second husband for whom her son will stand proxy, but that President Angus M. Cannon had refused to sign her recommend to the temple for the reason that she had married a man with negro blood in him and borne him children, and she had appealed to the First Presidency to have President Angus M. Cannon's action overruled, denying at the same time that her first husband was part negro.
It being understood that Mr. Berry was part negro, President [George Q.] Cannon raised the question: What would become of the girls? One at least of whom was in the Church, as they could not be admitted to the temple, and he thought it would be unfair to admit their mother and deny them this privilege. President Cannon thought too that to let down the bars in the least on this question would only tend to complications, and that it is perhaps better to let all such cases alone, believing, of course that the Lord would deal fairly with them all.
President Woodruff assented to this.
First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Meeting Minutes
December 16, 1897
A letter from Elder Francis M. Lyman was read, dated at Vanceburg, Kentucky, 5th Instant, enclosing a letter from Elder S.P. Oldham, who asked Brother Lyman the following questions, and Brother Lyman forwarded it to be answered by the First Presidency:
"Can a man (white) be permitted to receive the priesthood, who has a wife who is either black or is tainted with negro blood?"
President Cannon said he had understood President [John] Taylor to say that a man who had the priesthood who would marry a woman of the accursed seed, that if the law of the Lord were administered upon him, he would be killed, and his offspring, for the reason that the Lord had determined that the seed of Cain should not receive the priesthood in the flesh; and that this was the penalty put upon Cain, because if he had received the priesthood the seed of the murderer would get ahead of the seed of Abel who was murdered. The point, President Cannon said, which President Taylor sought to make was that if a white man who had received the priesthood should have children by a negro woman, he could go back and act for his dead ancestors on his wife's side, and he therefore thought it would be improper for a man, as for instance the case referred to, to receive the priesthood for the reasons assigned as being those given by President Taylor.
While there was no formal action taken, this seemed to be the mind of the Council, President [Lorenzo] Snow adding that the way might be opened for the man referred to in the case under consideration to get a divorce from his present wife and marry a white woman, and he would then be entitled to the priesthood.
"Can a man (white) be permitted to receive the priesthood, who has a wife who is either black or is tainted with negro blood?"
President Cannon said he had understood President [John] Taylor to say that a man who had the priesthood who would marry a woman of the accursed seed, that if the law of the Lord were administered upon him, he would be killed, and his offspring, for the reason that the Lord had determined that the seed of Cain should not receive the priesthood in the flesh; and that this was the penalty put upon Cain, because if he had received the priesthood the seed of the murderer would get ahead of the seed of Abel who was murdered. The point, President Cannon said, which President Taylor sought to make was that if a white man who had received the priesthood should have children by a negro woman, he could go back and act for his dead ancestors on his wife's side, and he therefore thought it would be improper for a man, as for instance the case referred to, to receive the priesthood for the reasons assigned as being those given by President Taylor.
While there was no formal action taken, this seemed to be the mind of the Council, President [Lorenzo] Snow adding that the way might be opened for the man referred to in the case under consideration to get a divorce from his present wife and marry a white woman, and he would then be entitled to the priesthood.
George Q. Cannon
Journal
December 16, 1897
The question also came up whether a white man who was married to a woman having negro blood in her veins could receive the Priesthood. I explained what President Taylor had taught me when I was a boy in Nauvoo concerning this matter; he had received it from the Prophet Joseph, who said that a man bearing the Priesthood who should marry or associate with a negress, or one of that seed, if the penalty of the law were executed upon him, he and her and the offspring would be killed; that it was contrary to the law of God for men bearing the Priesthood to have association with that seed. In this case submitted to us a white man had married a woman with negro blood in her ignorantly; yet if he were to receive the Priesthood and still continue his association with his wife the offspring of the marriage might make a claim or claims that would interfere with the purposes of the Lord and His curse upon the seed of Cain.
"Are Negroes Children of Adam?" in The Latter-day Saints Millennial Star
December 3, 1903
Though the Latter-day Saints believe, as do all other thoughtful people among both whites and negroes, that marriages between the two races should be strictly prohibited, yet we have no hatred toward the colored people, and would do nothing to make their lot any harder to bear. They are the children of God, and we strive to love all His creatures.
William Benjamin Smith
Quoted by Seventy B.H. Roberts in A Seventy's Course in Theology Volume 1
1907
We affirm, then, that the south is entirely right in thus keeping open at all times, at all hazards, and at all sacrifices an impassible social chasm between black and white. This she must do in behalf of her blood, her essence, of the stock of her Caucasian race. To the writer the correctness of this thesis seems as clear as the sun - so evident as almost to forestall argument; nor can he quite comprehend the frame of mind that can seriously dispute it. But let us look at it closely. Is there any doubt whatever as to the alternative? If we sit with negroes at our tables, if we entertain them as our guests and social equals, if we disregard the color line in all other relations, is it possible to maintain it fixedly in the sexual relation, in the marriage of our sons and daughters, in the propagation of our species? Unquestionably, No! It is certain as the rising of tomorrow's sun, that, once the middle wall of social partition is broken down, the mingling of the tides of life would begin instantly and proceed steadily. Of course, it would be gradual, but none the less sure, none the less irresistible. It would make itself felt at first most strongly in the lower strata of the white population; but it would soon invade the middle and menace insidiously the very uppermost. Many bright mulattoes would ambitiously woo, and not a few would win, well-bred women disappointed in love or goaded by impulse or weary of the stern struggle for existence. As a race, the Southern Caucasian would be irrevocably doomed. For no possible check could be given to this process once established. Remove the barrier between two streams flowing side by side - immediately they begin to mingle their molecules; in vain you attempt to replace it. The moment the bar of absolute separation is thrown down in the South, that moment the bloom of her spirit is blighted forever, the promise of her destiny is annulled, the proud fabric of her future slips into dust and ashes. No other conceivable disaster that might befall the South could, for an instant, compare with such miscegenation within her borders. Flood and fire, fever and famine and the sword - even ignorance, indolence, and carpet-baggery - she may endure and conquer while her blood remains pure; but once taint the well-spring of her life, and all is lost - even honor itself. It is this immediate jewel of her soul that the South watches with such a dragon eye, that she guards with more than vestal vigilance, with a circle of perpetual fire. The blood thereof is the life thereof; he who would defile it would stab her in her heart of hearts, and she springs to repulse him with the fiercest instinct of self-preservation. It may not be that she is distinctly conscious of the immeasurable interests at stake or of the real grounds of her roused antagonism; but the instinct itself is none the less just and true and the natural bulwark of her life.
At this point we hear some one exclaim, "Not so fast! To sit at table, to mingle freely in society with certain persons, does not imply you would marry them." Certainly not, in every case. We may recognize socially those whom we personally abhor. This matters not, however; for wherever social commingling is admitted, there the possibility of intermarriage must be also admitted. It becomes a mere question of personal preference, of like and dislike. Now, there is no accounting for tastes. It is ridiculous to suppose that no negroes would prove attractive to any white. The possible would become actual - as certainly as you will throw double-double sixes, if only you keep on throwing. To be sure, where the number of negroes is almost vanishingly small, as in the north and in Europe, there the chances of such mesalliances are proportionally divided; some may even count them negligible. But in the South, where in many districts the black outnumbers the white, they would be multiplied immensely, and crosses would follow with increasing frequency. But some may deny that the mongrelization of the Southern people would offend the race notion - would corrupt or degrade the Southern stock of humanity. If so, then such a one has yet to learn the largest-writ lessons of history and the most impressive doctrines of biological science. That the negro is markedly inferior to the Caucasian is proved both craniologically and by six thousand years of planet-wide experimentation; and that the commingling of inferior with superior must lower the higher is just as certain as that the half-sum of two and six is only four.
At this point we hear some one exclaim, "Not so fast! To sit at table, to mingle freely in society with certain persons, does not imply you would marry them." Certainly not, in every case. We may recognize socially those whom we personally abhor. This matters not, however; for wherever social commingling is admitted, there the possibility of intermarriage must be also admitted. It becomes a mere question of personal preference, of like and dislike. Now, there is no accounting for tastes. It is ridiculous to suppose that no negroes would prove attractive to any white. The possible would become actual - as certainly as you will throw double-double sixes, if only you keep on throwing. To be sure, where the number of negroes is almost vanishingly small, as in the north and in Europe, there the chances of such mesalliances are proportionally divided; some may even count them negligible. But in the South, where in many districts the black outnumbers the white, they would be multiplied immensely, and crosses would follow with increasing frequency. But some may deny that the mongrelization of the Southern people would offend the race notion - would corrupt or degrade the Southern stock of humanity. If so, then such a one has yet to learn the largest-writ lessons of history and the most impressive doctrines of biological science. That the negro is markedly inferior to the Caucasian is proved both craniologically and by six thousand years of planet-wide experimentation; and that the commingling of inferior with superior must lower the higher is just as certain as that the half-sum of two and six is only four.
"Contract Marriages Now," in Deseret Evening News
January 5, 1907
But is this kind of marriage desirable?... There is nothing in the mere signing of an agreement to comport with the seriousness of marriage. It makes bigamy, miscegenation and the marriage of those who are under legal age easy.
Deseret Evening News
June 8, 1910
A year ago in March a young California lady wedded a Japanese gentleman. Now the American wife of the Japanese gentleman is in Nevada suing for a divorce. It was bound to come, and perhaps the sooner the better. Such marriages are doomed to failure and are a striking evidence of the wisdom of laws against miscegenation.
Bishop John M. Whitaker
Journal
March 31, 1913
[I asked Booker T. Washington,] "If perchance under discussion on some negro problem the question arose as to how a negro would vote if only one drop of negro blood run [sic] in his veins which way would that drop of blood vote on a question, white or black?" Without hesitation he said, "If there was one drop of blood in a person and such a question arose, it would always vote with the negro." I was struck with his ready answer, showing he had thought out almost every conceivable connection [between] white and black. And I have been told that pure white blood through intermarriage with any other blood runs out in four generations. I am told that negro blood will persist up to eight generations. There seems to be something in that accursed blood that will not yield to white blood.
Wallace Thurman
"Quoth Brigham Young: This is the Place," in The Messenger
August 1926
There is little difference between the few Negroes in Utah and their middle class white brethren. The only difference is one of color, and those Aframericans who have been in the state longest have done everything in their power to abolish even this difference. Miscegenation was the common thing for years, and until a state law was passed prohibiting intermarriage the clerks at the county court house were kept busy signing up fair ladies with dusky men. Then when the prohibitive law was passed the roads to Wyoming and Montana were crowded until those commonwealths also passed anti-miscegenation laws. What is more it reached such proportions that even as late as 1915 there was in Salt Lake a club catering only to Negro men and white women, and, when I was last there, which was a year ago, there were three super-bawdy houses that I knew of, where white ladies of joy with itching palms cavorted for the pleasure of black men only.
This situation was of course not peculiar to Utah alone. It was also true of most western states, and the "Manassa" group of the middle-west was far more notorious than any like group Utah has produced. However, this happened only because the population of Utah was considerably less than that of some of her sister states. Statistics will readily prove, I believe, that comparatively speaking the intermixing of races was as great or greater in Utah than in any other western state.
This situation was of course not peculiar to Utah alone. It was also true of most western states, and the "Manassa" group of the middle-west was far more notorious than any like group Utah has produced. However, this happened only because the population of Utah was considerably less than that of some of her sister states. Statistics will readily prove, I believe, that comparatively speaking the intermixing of races was as great or greater in Utah than in any other western state.
President J. Reuben Clark Jr.
"Plain Talk to Girls," in Improvement Era
August 1946
We should hate nobody, and having said that, I wish to urge a word of caution, particularly to you young girls. It is sought today in certain quarters to break down all race prejudice, and at the end of the road, which they who urge this see, is intermarriage. That is what it finally comes to. Now, you should hate nobody; you should give to every man and every woman, no matter what the color of his and her skin may be, full civil rights. You should treat them as brothers and sisters, but do not ever let that wicked virus get into your systems that brotherhood either permits or entitles you to mix races which are inconsistent. Biologically, it is wrong; spiritually, it is wrong.
First Presidency Secretary Joseph Anderson
Letter to Long Beach Stake President Virgil H. Sponberg
May 5, 1947
Your undated letter has been received, in which you raise certain questions regarding affiliation with colored people. I am directed by the Brethren to suggest that you take this matter up with your bishop, who, if he needs assistance in advising you, will take it up with the president of the Stake. You doubtless are fully acquainted with the attitude of the Church regarding colored people. As you know, the Church has already drawn the line against the mixture of the colored with the white race in marriage.... No special effort has ever been made to proselyte among the Negro race, and social intercourse between the Whites and the Negroes should certainly not be encouraged because of leading to intermarriage, which the Lord has forbidden. This move which has now received some popular approval of trying to break down social barriers between the Whites and the Blacks is one that should not be encouraged because inevitably it means the mixing of the races if carried to its logical conclusion.
Southern States Mission President Heber Meeks
Letter to Dr. Lowry Nelson
June 2, 1947
[Chester W. Young] advised me that you spent two years in Cuba making a study of rural communities. Your study there would be very helpful to us. I would appreciate your opinion as to the advisability of doing missionary work particularly in the rural sections of Cuba, knowing, of course, our concept of the Negro and his position as to the Priesthood.
Are there groups of pure white blood in the rural sections, particularly in the small communities? If so, are they maintaining segregation from the Negroes? The best information we received was that in the rural communities there was not segregation of the races and it would be very difficult to find, with any degree of certainty, groups of pure white people.
Are there groups of pure white blood in the rural sections, particularly in the small communities? If so, are they maintaining segregation from the Negroes? The best information we received was that in the rural communities there was not segregation of the races and it would be very difficult to find, with any degree of certainty, groups of pure white people.
Dr. Lowry Nelson
Letter to Heber Meeks, cc'd to President George Albert Smith
June 26, 1947
I am talking about the white people now; the rural people are predominantly white. That is, they are as white as Mediterranean peoples are - Spanish, Italians, etc., who have been in contact with "color" for centuries. The Moors occupied Spain, you know, for seven centuries. There are no pure races; on this anthropologists are in general agreement. Of course, this does not mean that Negro blood exists throughout the white race or vice versa. There is grave doubt, however, as to the purity of the Nordic, Mediterranean, or even the Negro. Because I think our system of religious organization could serve the rural Cuban people as no other system could, I am sad to have to write you and say, for what my opinion is worth, that it would be better for the Cubans if we did not enter their island - unless we are willing to revise our racial theory. To teach them the pernicious doctrine of segregation and inequalities among races where it does not exist, or to lend religious sanction to where it has raised its ugly head would, it seems to me, be tragic. It seems to me we just fought a war over such ideas.
First Presidency (George Albert Smith, J. Reuben Clark Jr., and David O. McKay)
Letter to Dr. Lowry Nelson
July 17, 1947
From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been a doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.
Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now. God's rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogamous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed.
We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.
Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now. God's rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogamous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed.
We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.
Southern States Mission President Heber Meeks
Report on Visit to Cuba
July 23, 1947
THE NEGRO PROBLEM
The negro situation in Cuba presents a problem. There is no race discrimination other than social with groups as previously stated. They mingle together freely in all social, business and political activities. They have intermarried freely. There are not available accurate records to determine who has negro blood among the average Cuban. As previously stated, there are approximately one million of the total population that are free from negro blood. The future will see an increase in this group in proportion to total population....
WHY WE SHOULD STAY OUT OF CUBA
Unfavorable Factors
1. Possible reactions against the Church in introducing a doctrine of "race superiority" into an existing condition of race equality. The reaction may come (a) from government (b) from Negro leaders (c) entire mulatto element (d) general public (e) our own government officials in Cuba.
2. Difficulty of determining the negro blood in large part of the population. Co-mingling of the races has been going on for many years. No adequate records kept by which color can be determined.
3. The sins of the people (mixing white and colored blood through marriage) have denied them the blessings of the gospel.
4. They are of Latin blood and if opposition arose, local or general, it would be swift, intense and ruthless.
The negro situation in Cuba presents a problem. There is no race discrimination other than social with groups as previously stated. They mingle together freely in all social, business and political activities. They have intermarried freely. There are not available accurate records to determine who has negro blood among the average Cuban. As previously stated, there are approximately one million of the total population that are free from negro blood. The future will see an increase in this group in proportion to total population....
WHY WE SHOULD STAY OUT OF CUBA
Unfavorable Factors
1. Possible reactions against the Church in introducing a doctrine of "race superiority" into an existing condition of race equality. The reaction may come (a) from government (b) from Negro leaders (c) entire mulatto element (d) general public (e) our own government officials in Cuba.
2. Difficulty of determining the negro blood in large part of the population. Co-mingling of the races has been going on for many years. No adequate records kept by which color can be determined.
3. The sins of the people (mixing white and colored blood through marriage) have denied them the blessings of the gospel.
4. They are of Latin blood and if opposition arose, local or general, it would be swift, intense and ruthless.
First Presidency (George Albert Smith, J. Reuben Clark Jr., and David O. McKay)
Letter to Southern States Mission President Heber Meeks
August 8, 1947
We note that you seem to attach considerable importance to a communication sent to you by Dr. Lowry Nelson, that communication bearing date of June 26, 1947, which apparently was in response to a letter from you to Dr. Nelson under date of June 20, a copy of which was sent to us by Dr. Nelson.
For your information we quote below a letter which we sent to Dr. Lowry Nelson covering some of the more important parts of his letter which he wrote to you. We wish to reiterate to you that the Church cannot view with any tolerance or symptom of approval this idea of the intermarriage of whites and blacks, and therefore all activities which would tend either directly or indirectly to encourage such intermarriages must be carefully avoided by the Church. The letter to Brother Nelson reads as follows...
For your information we quote below a letter which we sent to Dr. Lowry Nelson covering some of the more important parts of his letter which he wrote to you. We wish to reiterate to you that the Church cannot view with any tolerance or symptom of approval this idea of the intermarriage of whites and blacks, and therefore all activities which would tend either directly or indirectly to encourage such intermarriages must be carefully avoided by the Church. The letter to Brother Nelson reads as follows...
Apostle Mark E. Petersen
Speech to BYU Faculty: "Race Problems - As They Affect the Church"
August 27, 1954
I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after. He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn't that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feeling to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, "First we pity, then endure, then embrace."
How different is the Chinese attitude on intermarriage! Sister Belle S. Spafford, president of the Relief Society, has been attending the conference of the International Council of Women in Europe. I asked her what she learned there about inter-racial marriages as affecting other races than the negroes. She said there was one outstanding figure in the conference who expressed herself most emphatically on this subject. She was the Chinese representative, Matilda Ng. She is chairman of the Chinese council and heads the moral welfare section of the I.C.W. and this is what she said...
The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negroes we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that He placed a dark skin upon them as a curse - as a punishment and as a sign to all others. He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of extension of the curse. (2 Nephi 5:21) And He certainly segregated the descendants of Cain when He cursed the Negro as to the Priesthood, and drew an absolute line. You may even say He dropped an Iron curtain there. The Negro was cursed as to the Priesthood, and therefore, was cursed as to the blessings of the Priesthood. Certainly God made a segregation there....
What is our advice with respect to intermarriage with Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians and so on? I will tell you what advice I give personally. If a boy or girl comes to me claiming to be in love with a Chinese or Japanese or a Hawaiian or a person of any other dark race, I do my best to talk them out of it. I tell them that I think that Hawaiians should marry Hawaiians, the Japanese ought to marry the Japanese, and the Chinese ought to marry Chinese, and the Caucasians should marry Caucasians, just exactly as I tell them that Latter-day Saints ought to marry Latter-day Saints. And I'm glad to quote the 7th chapter of Deuteronomy to them on that. I teach against inter-marriage of all kinds.
How different is the Chinese attitude on intermarriage! Sister Belle S. Spafford, president of the Relief Society, has been attending the conference of the International Council of Women in Europe. I asked her what she learned there about inter-racial marriages as affecting other races than the negroes. She said there was one outstanding figure in the conference who expressed herself most emphatically on this subject. She was the Chinese representative, Matilda Ng. She is chairman of the Chinese council and heads the moral welfare section of the I.C.W. and this is what she said...
The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negroes we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that He placed a dark skin upon them as a curse - as a punishment and as a sign to all others. He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of extension of the curse. (2 Nephi 5:21) And He certainly segregated the descendants of Cain when He cursed the Negro as to the Priesthood, and drew an absolute line. You may even say He dropped an Iron curtain there. The Negro was cursed as to the Priesthood, and therefore, was cursed as to the blessings of the Priesthood. Certainly God made a segregation there....
What is our advice with respect to intermarriage with Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians and so on? I will tell you what advice I give personally. If a boy or girl comes to me claiming to be in love with a Chinese or Japanese or a Hawaiian or a person of any other dark race, I do my best to talk them out of it. I tell them that I think that Hawaiians should marry Hawaiians, the Japanese ought to marry the Japanese, and the Chinese ought to marry Chinese, and the Caucasians should marry Caucasians, just exactly as I tell them that Latter-day Saints ought to marry Latter-day Saints. And I'm glad to quote the 7th chapter of Deuteronomy to them on that. I teach against inter-marriage of all kinds.
Seventy Bruce R. McConkie
"Caste System," in Mormon Doctrine
1958
However, in a broad general sense, caste systems have their origin in the gospel itself, and when they operate according to the divine decree, the resultant restrictions and segregation are right and proper and have the approval of the Lord. To illustrate: Cain, Ham, and the whole negro race have been cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry. (Gen. 4; Moses 5.)
Apostle Spencer W. Kimball
Speech to BYU Faculty
June 27, 1958
Cultural differences pose dangers for marriage. When I said you must teach your people to overcome their prejudices and accept the Indians, I did not mean that you would encourage intermarriage. I mean that they should be brothers, to worship together and to work together and to play together; but we must discourage intermarriage, not because it is sin. I would like to make this very emphatic. A couple has not committed sin if an Indian boy and a white girl are married, or vice versa. It isn't a transgression like the transgressions of which many are guilty. But it is not expedient. Marriage statistics and our general experience convince us that marriage is not easy. It is difficult when all factors are favorable. The divorces increase constantly, even where the spouses have the same general background of race, religion, finances, education, and otherwise.
Apostle Spencer W. Kimball
January 1959
The interrace marriage problem is not one of inferiority or superiority. It may be that your son is better educated and may be superior in his culture, and yet it may be on the other hand that she is superior to him. It is a matter of backgrounds. The difficulties and hazards of marriage are greatly increased where backgrounds are different....
When one considers marriage, it should be an unselfish thing, but there is not much selflessness when two people of different races plan marriage. They must be thinking selfishly of themselves. They certainly are not considering the problems that will beset each other and that will beset their children.
If your son thinks he loves this girl, he would not want to inflict upon her loneliness and unhappiness; and if he thinks that his affection for her will solve all her problems, he should do some more mature thinking.
We are unanimous, all of the Brethren, in feeling and recommending that Indians marry Indians, and Mexicans marry Mexicans; the Chinese marry Chinese and the Japanese marry Japanese; that the Caucasians marry the Caucasians, and the Arabs marry Arabs.
When one considers marriage, it should be an unselfish thing, but there is not much selflessness when two people of different races plan marriage. They must be thinking selfishly of themselves. They certainly are not considering the problems that will beset each other and that will beset their children.
If your son thinks he loves this girl, he would not want to inflict upon her loneliness and unhappiness; and if he thinks that his affection for her will solve all her problems, he should do some more mature thinking.
We are unanimous, all of the Brethren, in feeling and recommending that Indians marry Indians, and Mexicans marry Mexicans; the Chinese marry Chinese and the Japanese marry Japanese; that the Caucasians marry the Caucasians, and the Arabs marry Arabs.
President Joseph Fielding Smith
Answers to Gospel Questions
1960
The dark skin was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from the Nephites and to keep the two peoples from mixing. The dark skin was the sign of the curse. The curse was the withdrawal of the Spirit of the Lord and the Lamanites becoming a "loathsome and filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations." (I Nephi 12:23.) The Lord commanded the Nephites not to intermarry with them, for if they did they would partake of the curse.
USU English Professor John J. Stewart
Mormonism and the Negro
1960
There is nothing in Church policy that forbids nor discourages us from extending brotherly Christian love to the Negro. This, however, does not and should not include intermarriage, for we would bring upon our children the curse of Cain, or rather, we would bring unto ourselves children from those spirits destined to be of the seed of Cain.
Apostle Harold B. Lee
In BYU President Ernest Wilkinson's Journal
1960
If a granddaughter of mine should ever go to BYU and become engaged to a colored boy there, I would hold you responsible.
Presidents Hugh B. Brown and Henry D. Moyle
Letter to US Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall
September 27, 1961
Now, so far as the Tooele situation is concerned, we must leave it entirely to the community of Tooele. Whether they welcome the Negro, lend him money, or what they do, is their responsibility. The fact is that we do not welcome negroes into social affairs, because if we did, it would lead to intermarriage, and we do not favor intermarriage. We recommend that negroes marry negroes, and that whites marry whites, and we cannot modify this statement. We recommend that Japanese marry Japanese, and that Hawaiians marry Hawaiians. The cross between the Hawaiian and the Chinese makes a good citizen, and we do not oppose it, but we look with disfavor upon negroes marrying whites, for their own happiness. The only reason we object to their social participation is because that inevitably will lead to intermarriage, and we cannot change that until the Lord gives a revelation otherwise.
Apostle Delbert L. Stapley
Letter to Presidential Candidate George Romney
January 23, 1964
I am not against a Civil Rights Bill if it conforms to the views of the Prophet Joseph Smith according to the references above given. I fully agree the Negro is entitled to considerations also stated above, but not full social benefits nor inter-marriage privileges with the Whites, nor should the Whites be forced to accept them into restricted White areas.
Apostle Spencer W. Kimball
Speech to Native American BYU Students
January 5, 1965
Now, the brethren feel that it is not the wisest thing to cross racial lines in dating and marrying. There is no condemnation. We have had some of our fine young people who have crossed the lines. We hope they will be very happy, but experience of the brethren through a hundred years has proved to us that marriage is a very difficult thing under any circumstances and the difficulty increases in interrace marriages.
President David O. McKay
Diary
January 12, 1966
Consideration was given to a letter from [redacted], also a letter from Bishop [redacted] and Counselors [redacted], these letters having reference to the problems involved in this sister's marriage to a Negro. She became a member in 1961, received her endowments in 1963, and was divorced from her former husband in 1965. She has subsequently married a Negro non-member, and has been told by the Bishopric that no further Temple visits would be allowed her, and that because of her marriage to a Negro her Temple endowments are ineffective.
It was decided to write the bishopric asking that they inform this sister that the fact of her marriage to a Negro does not cancel her endowments; that, however, under the circumstances she should not be recommended to the Temple for further ordinance work. The Bishopric also are to be told that any children born of this marriage cannot hold the Priesthood; however, there is no reason why she cannot be active in the Ward and Stake.
It was decided to write the bishopric asking that they inform this sister that the fact of her marriage to a Negro does not cancel her endowments; that, however, under the circumstances she should not be recommended to the Temple for further ordinance work. The Bishopric also are to be told that any children born of this marriage cannot hold the Priesthood; however, there is no reason why she cannot be active in the Ward and Stake.
President Joseph Fielding Smith
Letter to Morris L. Reynolds
May 9, 1966
The descendants of Cain were barred from the blessings of the Priesthood. They may be baptized for the remission of their sins, but they cannot hold the Priesthood by divine decree, as pointed out in the Book of Abraham. It would be a serious error for a white person to marry a Negro, for the Lord forbad[e] it.
CES Teacher John L. Lund
"Interracial Marriage and the Negro," in The Church and the Negro
1967
Before the doctrine on interracial marriage can be understood, it becomes necessary to examine the concept of a Chosen People. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." It has already been mentioned that each one received an assignment to a race, time, and nation on this earth according to his individual worthiness and preparation in the pre-existence....
Each race and nation is afforded different opportunities. Those of similar blessings, preparation, and worthiness in the pre-existence were sent to this earth through the race for which they were best prepared. It is for this reason that God warned Israel not to intermarry with those of other races. Intermarriage would bring a polution [sic] of the seed with its subsequent loss of blessings. In the case of modern Israel, intermarriage with the Negro means the loss of Priesthood blessings.
The Church is aware that its stand on interracial marriage may not be a popular one. It nevertheless believes that there is a greater tribunal than social opinion and that keeping the commandments of the Lord is more important than pleasing the masses. In a letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowery [sic] Nelson, one time head of the Dept. of Sociology at B.Y.U., the question of interracial marriage was discussed...
Brigham Young made a very strong statement on this matter when he said, "I would like the President of the United States and all the world to hear this. 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 law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." God has commanded Israel not to intermarry. To go against this commandment of God would be to sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come. This is spiritual death.
President Joseph F. Smith has said, "I would rather go myself to the grave than to be associated with a wife outside of the bonds of the new and everlasting covenant." Let Negroes marry Negroes and let whites marry white and let every other race do the same. There will be Negroes, whites, and those of all races in the Celestial Kingdom if each will follow the commandments of God. All can be assured, however, that no one who rebels against the order of heaven will ever be allowed to live there.
Certainly there are few on the earth today who could claim a pure lineage unspotted by interracial marriage. However, this does not change the fact that it is still against the commandments of God. In regard to intermarriage with the Negro, all must be similarly warned. God does not approve! Brigham Young admonished, "Be careful, O ye mothers in Israel, and do not teach your daughters in the future, as many of them have been taught, to marry out of Israel. Wo to you who do it; you will lose your crowns as sure as God lives."
The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. "No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood." It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-one hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is still the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a "Nation of Priesthood holders."
Each race and nation is afforded different opportunities. Those of similar blessings, preparation, and worthiness in the pre-existence were sent to this earth through the race for which they were best prepared. It is for this reason that God warned Israel not to intermarry with those of other races. Intermarriage would bring a polution [sic] of the seed with its subsequent loss of blessings. In the case of modern Israel, intermarriage with the Negro means the loss of Priesthood blessings.
The Church is aware that its stand on interracial marriage may not be a popular one. It nevertheless believes that there is a greater tribunal than social opinion and that keeping the commandments of the Lord is more important than pleasing the masses. In a letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowery [sic] Nelson, one time head of the Dept. of Sociology at B.Y.U., the question of interracial marriage was discussed...
Brigham Young made a very strong statement on this matter when he said, "I would like the President of the United States and all the world to hear this. 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 law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." God has commanded Israel not to intermarry. To go against this commandment of God would be to sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come. This is spiritual death.
President Joseph F. Smith has said, "I would rather go myself to the grave than to be associated with a wife outside of the bonds of the new and everlasting covenant." Let Negroes marry Negroes and let whites marry white and let every other race do the same. There will be Negroes, whites, and those of all races in the Celestial Kingdom if each will follow the commandments of God. All can be assured, however, that no one who rebels against the order of heaven will ever be allowed to live there.
Certainly there are few on the earth today who could claim a pure lineage unspotted by interracial marriage. However, this does not change the fact that it is still against the commandments of God. In regard to intermarriage with the Negro, all must be similarly warned. God does not approve! Brigham Young admonished, "Be careful, O ye mothers in Israel, and do not teach your daughters in the future, as many of them have been taught, to marry out of Israel. Wo to you who do it; you will lose your crowns as sure as God lives."
The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. "No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood." It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-one hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is still the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a "Nation of Priesthood holders."
BYU Football Coach Tom Hudspeth
Speech to Springville Chamber of Commerce, in Provo Daily Herald
February 16, 1970
In the past we felt we should discourage the Negroes because we felt they would not be happy in the social situation here. We have certain rules and regulations which we won't change. They must meet academic standards. We will not allow inter-racial dating. We are only 35 minutes from Salt Lake City where there is a Negro community, and we are setting up appointments and introductions there.
Lester E. Bush, Jr.
"Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: A Historical Overview," in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
Spring 1973
An aversion to miscegenation has been the single most consistent facet of Mormon attitudes towards the Negro. Though the attitudes towards the priesthood, slavery, or equal rights have fluctuated significantly, denunciations of interracial marriage can be identified in discourses in virtually every decade from the Restoration to the present day. Though these sentiments can never be said to have dominated Mormon thought, they did become a major theme in the years following the Second World War and are to be found in both published and private remarks, generally in connection with the civil rights discussion. The Church viewed miscegenation from the unique perspective of the priesthood policy, but was, of course, by no means unique in its conclusions; in fact, the leadership generally invoked "biological and social" principles in support of their conclusions on the subject.
Apostle Spencer W. Kimball
Speech to BYU Students and Faculty
September 7, 1976
We are grateful that this one survey reveals that about 90 percent of the temple marriages hold fast. Because of this, we recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background. Some of these are not an absolute necessity, but preferred; and above all, the same religious background, without question. In spite of the most favorable matings, the evil one still takes a monumental toll and is the cause for many broken homes and frustrated lives.
Apostle Boyd K. Packer
"Follow the Rule," Speech to BYU Students and Faculty
January 14, 1977
It’s been the policy of the Church - and it’s been spoken on many occasions - that as the gathering of Israel is in Mexico for the Mexicans, in Tonga for the Tongans, in China for the Chinese, and so on, so has been our counsel as it relates to marriage.
We’ve always counseled in the Church for our Mexican members to marry Mexicans, our Japanese members to marry Japanese, our Caucasians to marry Caucasians, our Polynesian members to marry Polynesians. The counsel has been wise. You may say again, "Well, I know of exceptions." I do, too, and they’ve been very successful marriages. I know some of them. You might even say, "I can show you local Church leaders or perhaps even general leaders who have married out of their race." I say, "Yes - exceptions." Then I would remind you of that Relief Society woman’s near-scriptural statement, "We’d like to follow the rule first, and then we’ll take care of the exceptions."...
For every exception we can show you tens and hundreds, and I suppose thousands, who were not happy. Plan, young people, to marry into your own race. This counsel is good, and I hope our branch presidents are listening and paying attention. The counsel is good.
Now, someone may say, "Well, I’ve never heard that in general conference."... The point I make, simply, is this: It isn’t a question of who said it or when; the question is whether it is true.
We’ve always counseled in the Church for our Mexican members to marry Mexicans, our Japanese members to marry Japanese, our Caucasians to marry Caucasians, our Polynesian members to marry Polynesians. The counsel has been wise. You may say again, "Well, I know of exceptions." I do, too, and they’ve been very successful marriages. I know some of them. You might even say, "I can show you local Church leaders or perhaps even general leaders who have married out of their race." I say, "Yes - exceptions." Then I would remind you of that Relief Society woman’s near-scriptural statement, "We’d like to follow the rule first, and then we’ll take care of the exceptions."...
For every exception we can show you tens and hundreds, and I suppose thousands, who were not happy. Plan, young people, to marry into your own race. This counsel is good, and I hope our branch presidents are listening and paying attention. The counsel is good.
Now, someone may say, "Well, I’ve never heard that in general conference."... The point I make, simply, is this: It isn’t a question of who said it or when; the question is whether it is true.
Church Spokesman Don LeFevre
Salt Lake Tribune
June 14, 1978
So there is no ban on interracial marriage. If a black partner contemplating marriage is worthy of going to the Temple, nobody's going to stop him... if he's ready to go to the Temple, obviously he may go with the blessings of the church.
"Interracial marriage discouraged," in Deseret News
June 17, 1978
For a number of years, President Spencer W. Kimball has counseled young members of the Church to not cross racial lines in dating and marrying.
Following are some excerpts of his messages on the subject:...
Following are some excerpts of his messages on the subject:...
Interview with Apostle LeGrand Richards by Chris Vlachos and Reverend Wesley P. Walters
August 16, 1978
Richards: So we figured the same with spiritual blessings. If the colored man lives as good as I do, he can serve the Lord and so forth, why isn’t he as much entitled to the blessings as I am? It’s been a united decision, there’s been no adverse comment by anyone of the General Authorities.
Vlachos: What about intermarriage? Is it okay?
Richards: What?
Vlachos: Is it okay to marry?
Walters: Intermarriage, is that in view too?
Richards: Well, no. Never before this decision was reached we've always recommended that people live within their own race - the Japanese ought to marry Japanese, the Chinese ought to marry Chinese, Hawaiians ought to marry Hawaiians and the colored people ought to marry colored.
Walters: And that would still be your position?
Richards: That is still our position. But they are entitled to the temple blessings and the sealing of their wives to them. It's all conditioned on their living. Now if they live right and they're devoted and they're good clean living – why shouldn't they get the blessings?
Vlachos: What about intermarriage? Is it okay?
Richards: What?
Vlachos: Is it okay to marry?
Walters: Intermarriage, is that in view too?
Richards: Well, no. Never before this decision was reached we've always recommended that people live within their own race - the Japanese ought to marry Japanese, the Chinese ought to marry Chinese, Hawaiians ought to marry Hawaiians and the colored people ought to marry colored.
Walters: And that would still be your position?
Richards: That is still our position. But they are entitled to the temple blessings and the sealing of their wives to them. It's all conditioned on their living. Now if they live right and they're devoted and they're good clean living – why shouldn't they get the blessings?
Apostle Bruce R. McConkie
"Negroes," in Mormon Doctrine, Third Edition
1978
This means that worthy males of all races can now receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, perform ordinances, and hold positions of presidency and responsibility. It means that members of all races may now be married in the temple, although interracial marriages are discouraged by the Brethren, and that the full blessings of the gospel may be made available to their ancestors through vicarious temple ordinances.
Apostle Boyd K. Packer
Speech to Native American BYU Students
1979
We counsel you... to marry... within your race. Now inter-racial marriages are not prohibited but they are not encouraged, for the blood that’s in your veins is the blood of the children of the covenant.... You have a destiny. You are chosen to serve.
Mary Frances Sturlaugson
He Restoreth My Soul
1982
I knew I had to face the turmoil that was steadily building inside of me. I must eventually answer the pounding question of 'What if this relationship grows to a question of marriage?' I desperately wanted to feel that I was capable of an unconditional love that could extend beyond the boundaries of friendship, yet from all that I had heard from others, to feel this kind of love was wrong in the eyes of the Lord if the loved one was of a different race. Statements people made seemed especially geared toward love between whites and blacks. I felt lost. It was hard to understand how I could ever know the fullness of the Savior's love if I had to place a condition on my own. It was a contradiction that said, "Okay, you may like this person, but you cannot love him in the eternal sense unless he's of your race." It all seemed so contrary to the love of the Savior. If he was no respecter of persons, why must I be?
I decided that instead of accepting what people told me I would look for information on the issue of interracial marriage. I didn't want to paralyze my thinking and growth by the "hearsay" of others.
Being unable to find any concrete information on the issue, I decided to go directly to those whom everyone declared as the source: the apostle [sic] and the Prophet. I made various appointments with different brethren in Salt Lake City. I decided it was best to talk to more than one to see if their answers correlated. I met first with Elder Hartman Rector, Jr., then with Elders Dean L. Larsen, LeGrand Richards, and finally with the Prophet. Their answers were the same.
I don't know if President Kimball knew the turmoil I had suffered, but as I expressed to him my sincere desire to know the Lord's will on interracial marriage, tears slowly rolled down his face. Reaching out, he gently embraced me as one would a delicate and small child. Then he quietly but emphatically whispered, "My child, it is not wrong. It is not wrong. The only reason we counsel against it is because of the problems the children could face. As far as its being incompatible with the Lord's gospel, or with your Father in Heaven, it is not." He paused, still looking into my eyes. I felt that he saw into my soul. Then with another brief embrace he uttered, "Be of good cheer; the Lord loves you dearly."
As I walked down the steps of the Church Administration Building that day, I felt as if the arms of the Prophet were still around me. Once I reached that last step I turned to look back at the building, the door, the Prophet still inside. No longer did I carry the burdens of frustration.
I decided that instead of accepting what people told me I would look for information on the issue of interracial marriage. I didn't want to paralyze my thinking and growth by the "hearsay" of others.
Being unable to find any concrete information on the issue, I decided to go directly to those whom everyone declared as the source: the apostle [sic] and the Prophet. I made various appointments with different brethren in Salt Lake City. I decided it was best to talk to more than one to see if their answers correlated. I met first with Elder Hartman Rector, Jr., then with Elders Dean L. Larsen, LeGrand Richards, and finally with the Prophet. Their answers were the same.
I don't know if President Kimball knew the turmoil I had suffered, but as I expressed to him my sincere desire to know the Lord's will on interracial marriage, tears slowly rolled down his face. Reaching out, he gently embraced me as one would a delicate and small child. Then he quietly but emphatically whispered, "My child, it is not wrong. It is not wrong. The only reason we counsel against it is because of the problems the children could face. As far as its being incompatible with the Lord's gospel, or with your Father in Heaven, it is not." He paused, still looking into my eyes. I felt that he saw into my soul. Then with another brief embrace he uttered, "Be of good cheer; the Lord loves you dearly."
As I walked down the steps of the Church Administration Building that day, I felt as if the arms of the Prophet were still around me. Once I reached that last step I turned to look back at the building, the door, the Prophet still inside. No longer did I carry the burdens of frustration.
Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Bob Jones University v. United States
1983
The question is not whether we like or dislike the university's policy. The question is whether the Internal Revenue Service, public servants, shall have power to grant or deny the lifeline of tax exemption based on what they choose to call "public policy." This raises questions of fundamental importance to all churches in the United States. It is the admitted public policy of the nation favoring freedom of religion as expressed in the First Amendment be limited by a public policy assuring, in the words of a divided United States circuit court, that Americans will not be providing indirect support for any educational organization that discriminates on the basis of race. This question goes to the heart of the very existence of religious organizations. It has to do with the power to tax as the power to destroy.
Apostle Russell M. Nelson
Footnote to General Conference Talk "Children of the Covenant"
April 1995
The commandment to love our neighbors without discrimination is certain. But it must not be misunderstood. It applies generally. Selection of a marriage partner, on the other hand, involves specific and not general criteria. After all, one person can only be married to one individual.
The probabilities of a successful marriage are known to be much greater if both the husband and wife are united in their religion, language, culture, and ethnic background. Thus, in choosing an eternal companion, wisdom is needed. It’s better not to fly in the face of constant head winds. Occasional squalls provide challenge enough. Once marriage vows are taken, absolute fidelity is essential - to the Lord and to one’s companion.
The probabilities of a successful marriage are known to be much greater if both the husband and wife are united in their religion, language, culture, and ethnic background. Thus, in choosing an eternal companion, wisdom is needed. It’s better not to fly in the face of constant head winds. Occasional squalls provide challenge enough. Once marriage vows are taken, absolute fidelity is essential - to the Lord and to one’s companion.
Dr. Robert Millet
Church Response to Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven
June 27, 2003
Krakauer also slips the following into a note: "A horror of miscegenation is something Mormon Fundamentalists have in common with their Mormon brethren: Even after LDS President Spencer W. Kimball’s 1978 revelation reversing the church doctrine that banned blacks from the priesthood, official LDS policy has continued to strongly admonish white saints not to marry blacks" (331, note). I assume he means by "official church policy" the Church Handbook of Instructions, which is the guide for all Church leaders on doctrine and practice. There is, in fact, no mention whatsoever in this handbook concerning interracial marriages. In addition, having served as a Church leader for almost 30 years, I can also certify that I have never received official verbal instructions condemning marriages between black and white members.
Foundation for Apologetics Information and Research
"Brigham Young on Race Mixing," FAIR Wiki, circa 2007
Brigham made his remarks, then, in the context of a civil war over the issue of slavery. Brigham condemned the white male (and perhaps priesthood holder) who "mixes" with black Africans. Why?
When would a white person "mix their seed" with the blacks? At the time, black slaves could not legally marry—this was a "human right," and the slave-holding states were very careful not to let blacks marry, since to do so implied that they had human rights (and, if they have one right, why not a right to be free?)...
So, under what conditions would a white priesthood holder (or any white) be mixing their seed with a black woman? All too often, this was under the context of what was essentially rape and assault. Many slave-holders kept their own children in slavery, as they sired children on black slaves who could not refuse. By law, any child born to a slave was automatically a slave....
Blacks created a variety of their own arrangements which formalized these "informal" marriages, but families were always at risk of being broken up and sold by their owners, with no recourse. A major element of post-Civil War federal policy was the establishment of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, which had "the aim to reorient slaves' sexual and family behavior around legal marriage," a goal which had been impossible under generations of slavery.
Intermarriage with blacks was either illegal or virtually unheard of, and for decades after the Civil War, courts repeatedly rebuffed efforts by mixed race couples to legalize their unions.
Thus, a good part of Brigham's objection likely rested on the circumstances which would attend most white male/black woman pairings in his day. He would have likely known of no counter-examples—no relationships with blacks could be legal, and most resulted from duress.
Spiritual death seems an appropriate punishment for a priesthood holder who behaved in such a way, and literal capital punishment might not be too severe if "the law of God" could be administered by a genuine prophet. There are few crimes more grievous than to treat others as subhuman, and rape the powerless.
Conclusion
In 1863, couplings between black women and white men would virtually always be a relationship of a staggering power imbalance, with few rights for the woman, who was often forced into sexual activity. Her children would have been automatic slaves if she was a slave, and the men under no legal responsibility to provide for her or the children. (This failure to provide for offspring was a common Mormon criticism of Gentile non-marriage relationships when contrasted with plural marriage.)
Unlike contemporary 1860s fears for the virtue of white women when subjected to the predation of black men, Brigham was far more worried about white men abusing their position of political and cultural superiority.
This is not to say that Brigham did not share some ideas about the desirablity of keeping races separate; virtually everyone of his era did. American ethnologists taught that whites and blacks were separately created races, the mixture of which would corrupt both.
But, when in the same speech Brigham Young condemns the whites for their treatment of blacks, and threatens punishment for white men who have intercourse with black women, it is not really fair to portray him as a ravening racist with no concern for the downtrodden. His fire and brimstone is all for the aggressor; his sympathy is for those who were mistreated.
When would a white person "mix their seed" with the blacks? At the time, black slaves could not legally marry—this was a "human right," and the slave-holding states were very careful not to let blacks marry, since to do so implied that they had human rights (and, if they have one right, why not a right to be free?)...
So, under what conditions would a white priesthood holder (or any white) be mixing their seed with a black woman? All too often, this was under the context of what was essentially rape and assault. Many slave-holders kept their own children in slavery, as they sired children on black slaves who could not refuse. By law, any child born to a slave was automatically a slave....
Blacks created a variety of their own arrangements which formalized these "informal" marriages, but families were always at risk of being broken up and sold by their owners, with no recourse. A major element of post-Civil War federal policy was the establishment of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, which had "the aim to reorient slaves' sexual and family behavior around legal marriage," a goal which had been impossible under generations of slavery.
Intermarriage with blacks was either illegal or virtually unheard of, and for decades after the Civil War, courts repeatedly rebuffed efforts by mixed race couples to legalize their unions.
Thus, a good part of Brigham's objection likely rested on the circumstances which would attend most white male/black woman pairings in his day. He would have likely known of no counter-examples—no relationships with blacks could be legal, and most resulted from duress.
Spiritual death seems an appropriate punishment for a priesthood holder who behaved in such a way, and literal capital punishment might not be too severe if "the law of God" could be administered by a genuine prophet. There are few crimes more grievous than to treat others as subhuman, and rape the powerless.
Conclusion
In 1863, couplings between black women and white men would virtually always be a relationship of a staggering power imbalance, with few rights for the woman, who was often forced into sexual activity. Her children would have been automatic slaves if she was a slave, and the men under no legal responsibility to provide for her or the children. (This failure to provide for offspring was a common Mormon criticism of Gentile non-marriage relationships when contrasted with plural marriage.)
Unlike contemporary 1860s fears for the virtue of white women when subjected to the predation of black men, Brigham was far more worried about white men abusing their position of political and cultural superiority.
This is not to say that Brigham did not share some ideas about the desirablity of keeping races separate; virtually everyone of his era did. American ethnologists taught that whites and blacks were separately created races, the mixture of which would corrupt both.
But, when in the same speech Brigham Young condemns the whites for their treatment of blacks, and threatens punishment for white men who have intercourse with black women, it is not really fair to portray him as a ravening racist with no concern for the downtrodden. His fire and brimstone is all for the aggressor; his sympathy is for those who were mistreated.
"Race and the Priesthood" Gospel Topics Essay
December 6, 2013
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 actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form.
Matthew L. Harris and Newell G. Bringhurst
The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History
November 6, 2015
The church’s position on miscegenation became somewhat fuzzy after the civil rights era ended in the early 1970s. Even today, the church’s position remains ambiguous. On the one hand, general authorities claim they do not oppose interracial marriages; on the other hand, they still reprint old talks in their current manuals discouraging the practice.
