Mormon Church Whitewashes Racist History in Essay

The LDS Church had a longstanding policy that restricted men of African descent from holding the priesthood, which is the authority to act in God’s name, and even entering the temple, where members make holy covenants with God. This policy was based on teachings and interpretations that linked African lineage to the biblical story of Cain and the curse of Ham. The official church essay on Race and the Priesthood does state however that this is not “accepted today as the official doctrine of the church” but it was clearly accepted as official doctrine until 1978 when it finally began to stop these racist practices.

"In two speeches delivered before the Utah territorial legislature in January and February 1852, Brigham Young announced a policy restricting men of black African descent from priesthood ordination. At the same time, President Young said that at some future day, black Church members would “have [all] the privilege and more” enjoyed by other members." - Race and the Priesthood, LDS Church Gospel Topic Essay | wasmormon.org — “In two speeches delivered before the Utah territorial legislature in January and February 1852, Brigham Young announced a policy restricting men of black African descent from priesthood ordination. At the same time, President Young said that at some future day, black Church members would “have [all] the privilege and more” enjoyed by other members.” – Race and the Priesthood, LDS Church Gospel Topic Essay

In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Following the death of Brigham Young, subsequent Church presidents restricted blacks from receiving the temple endowment or being married in the temple. Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions. None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church…
In January and February 1852, Brigham Young announced a policy restricting men of black African descent from priesthood ordination. At the same time, President Young said that at some future day, black Church members would “have [all] the privilege and more” enjoyed by other members…
Gospel Topic Essay: Race and the Priesthood
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood

The church essay omits the rest of Brigham Young’s racist speech in which he shares what he really thinks about blacks and slavery. They are quick to say that Brigham Young said “at some future day, black Church members would “have [all] the privilege and more” enjoyed by other members” but they don’t mention that the future day he meant was the millennium.

The Lord told Cain that he should not receive the blessings of the preisthood nor his seed, until the last of the posterity of Able had received the preisthood, until the redemtion of the earth.

"What is that mark? You will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see upon the face of the earth, or ever will see. Now I tell you what I know; when the mark was put upon Cain, Abels's children were in all probability young; the Lord told Cain that he should not receive the blessings of the priesthood nor his seed, until the last of the posterity of Able had received the priesthood, until the redemption of the earth. If there never was a prophet or apostle of Jesus Christ who spoke it before, I tell you, the people that are commonly called negroes are the children of old Cain. I know they are, I know that they cannot bear rule in the priesthood." - Mormon Prophet, LDS Church President, Governor of Utah, Brigham Young on February 5, 1852 | wasmormon.org — “What is that mark? You will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see upon the face of the earth, or ever will see. Now I tell you what I know; when the mark was put upon Cain, Abels’s children were in all probability young; the Lord told Cain that he should not receive the blessings of the priesthood nor his seed, until the last of the posterity of Able had received the priesthood, until the redemption of the earth. If there never was a prophet or apostle of Jesus Christ who spoke it before, I tell you, the people that are commonly called negroes are the children of old Cain. I know they are, I know that they cannot bear rule in the priesthood.” – Mormon Prophet, LDS Church President, Governor of Utah, Brigham Young on February 5, 1852

The gospel topic essay continues to rationalize the priesthood ban as based on theories that were never part of church doctrine.

The justifications for this restriction echoed the widespread ideas about racial inferiority that had been used to argue for the legalization of black “servitude” in the Territory of Utah. According to one view, which had been promulgated in the United States from at least the 1730s, blacks descended from the same lineage as the biblical Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Those who accepted this view believed that God’s “curse” on Cain was the mark of a dark skin. Black servitude was sometimes viewed as a second curse placed upon Noah’s grandson Canaan as a result of Ham’s indiscretion toward his father. Although slavery was not a significant factor in Utah’s economy and was soon abolished, the restriction on priesthood ordinations remained…
The curse of Cain was often put forward as justification for the priesthood and temple restrictions. Around the turn of the century, another explanation gained currency: blacks were said to have been less than fully valiant in the premortal battle against Lucifer and, as a consequence, were restricted from priesthood and temple blessings. (Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith, for example, wrote in 1907 that the belief was “quite general” among Mormons that “the Negro race has been cursed for taking a neutral position in that great contest.” Yet this belief, he admitted, “is not the official position of the Church, [and is] merely the opinion of men.” Joseph Fielding Smith to Alfred M. Nelson, Jan. 31, 1907, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.)…
Church leaders believed that a revelation from God was needed to alter the policy, and they made ongoing efforts to understand what should be done…
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 unrighteous 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.
Gospel Topic Essay: Race and the Priesthood
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood

But we see from Brigham Young’s racist rhetoric as well as 100 years later the First Presidency still expresses the ban on the priesthood as doctrine when writing to Lowry Nelson and not just a policy that can be changed willy-nilly. Though when they do reverse the “policy” in 1978, they begin to reframe it as a policy, even though multiple church leaders in the past had done the opposite. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad they stopped the ban and began treating all races with equality, but they don’t own the troubling church history by whitewashing the narrative. Though we know all too well that the church leaders prefer a faith-promoting narrative to the damning truth any day of the week, especially on Sunday!

How did learning about the church’s racist history and racist leaders affect your faith journey? How does it feel to learn that the church has not been honest with members about church history and changing doctrine? Share your faith journey experience at wasmormon.org.

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