Mormons and Interracial Marriage

President Spencer W Kimball, as president of the church gave a speech at BYU about Marriage and Divorce in 1976. This talk is currently referenced frequently, nearly 50 years later, in church lesson manuals and by church leaders. In this talk, he spoke against interracial marriages. He advised against marriages between those from differing economic and social and educational backgrounds as well.

“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, and above all, the same religious background, without question.” - LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball 1976 BYU Devotional, Marriage and Divorce | wasmormon.org — “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, and above all, the same religious background, without question.” – LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball 1976 BYU Devotional, Marriage and Divorce

Marriage is not easy; it is not simple, as evidenced by the ever-mounting divorce rate. Exact figures astound us. The following ones come from Salt Lake County, which are probably somewhere near average. There were 832 marriages in a single month, and there were 414 divorces. That is half as many divorces as marriages. There were 364 temple marriages, and of the temple marriages about 10 percent were dissolved by divorce. This is substantially better than the average, but we are chagrined that there should be any divorce following a temple marriage.
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 those 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…
Marriage and Divorce, by President Spencer W Kimball, September 7, 1976 (1976 Devotional Speech of the Year)
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/spencer-w-kimball/marriage-divorce/

He even speaks against the notion of “soul mates,” and claims “it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.”

“Soul mates” are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek... it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price. - LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball 1976 BYU Devotional, Marriage and Divorce | wasmormon.org — “Soul mates” are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek… it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price. – LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball 1976 BYU Devotional, Marriage and Divorce

“Soul mates” are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.
Marriage and Divorce, by President Spencer W Kimball, September 7, 1976 (1976 Devotional Speech of the Year)
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/spencer-w-kimball/marriage-divorce/

Devotional of the Year

This devotional talk was deemed so insightful and meaningful it was included in a 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year church publication. This has helped the talk remain influential over the years.

Aaronic Priesthood Manual

The church curriculum was updated in 1995 when an Aaronic Priesthood Manual was published. This manual was used continuously from that point until it was finally phased out nearly 20 years later in 2014. All Young Men Quorum lessons came from this Manual and there were enough lessons so that over the course of 2 years, every young man in the church would be taught each lesson. These lessons were taught over and over every two years in fact, so young men growing up in the church would ideally be taught each lesson 3 times at different ages of adolescence.

Explain that choosing a companion for eternity is an extremely important decision but is sometimes based on a very narrow understanding of love. A person who responds only to infatuation or romantic love might overlook many important qualities when choosing someone with whom to spend eternity.
What characteristics of young women are socially and spiritually appealing to you?
Write the young men’s answers on the chalkboard, such as—
Is unselfish.
Shows respect for me.
Has initiative.
Is considerate of others.
Shows patience in stressful situations.
Is an active Church member.
Has a testimony of the gospel and obeys the commandments.
Maintains a healthy outlook toward life.
Possesses values and goals similar to mine.
Ask each young man to select what he thinks are the three most important attributes on the chalkboard. Take a vote to determine which areas the young men consider most important. Discuss why they voted the way they did.
Compare the results of the vote with the following statement by President Spencer W. Kimball. Have a young man read it.
“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 those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question” (“Marriage and Divorce,” in 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1977], p. 144).
Aaronic Priesthood, Manual 3, 1995. Chapter 31: Choosing an Eternal Companion
https://web.archive.org/web/20170622075016/https://www.lds.org/manual/aaronic-priesthood-manual-3/lesson-31-choosing-an-eternal-companion?lang=eng&_r=1
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/34822_eng.pdf

This manual was in use from 1995 until it was replaced with the Come Follow Me curriculum in January 2014. Though in areas where the new curriculum was not available or not yet translated, the church still today recommends teachers and leaders to use the lessons in this Aaronic Priesthood Manual.

Eternal Marriage Student Manual – Institute and BYU Religion Classes

The CES Institute curriculum is shared with the BYU Religion department classes. They introduced a new manual for their eternal marriage course in 2002. Guess what talk they included in the manual. It has been in use since 2002 and is still current today, twenty-two years later, in 2024. You must purchase this student manual for these courses, they are available online on the church website in web format as well as pdf. This same exact 1976 quote is included in this 2002 student instruction manual for students studying marriage.

Marriage is not easy; it is not simple, as evidenced by the ever-mounting divorce rate. Exact figures astound us. The following ones come from Salt Lake County [prior to 1976], which are probably somewhere near average. There were 832 marriages in a single month, and there were 414 divorces. That is half as many divorces as marriages. There were 364 temple marriages, and of the temple marriages about 10 percent were dissolved by divorce. This is substantially better than the average, but we are chagrined that there should be any divorce following a temple marriage.
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 those 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.
Institute Eternal Marriage Student Manual: Marriage and Divorce, 2002 – present
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/eternal-marriage-student-manual/marriage-for-eternity/marriage-and-divorce?lang=eng#figure1_p13

Racist Church Positions on Interracial Marriage

This same racist sentiment is shared by church leaders since (nearly) the beginning of the church. We can find blatantly racist statements from Brigham Young, as he was the one who started the priesthood ban and was in favor of slavery in Utah.

"Were the children of God to mingle their seed with the seed of Cain it would not only bring the curse of being deprived of the power of the priesthood upon themselves but entail it upon their children after them, and they cannot get rid of it. If a man in an unguarded moment should commit such a transgression, if he would walk up and say cut off my head, and kill man mother and child it would do a great deal towards atoning 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 brethren. A man would shudder should they hear us talk about killing folk, but it is one of the greatest blessings to some to kill them." - Mormon Prophet, LDS Church President, Governor of Utah, Brigham Young on February 5, 1852 | wasmormon.org — “Were the children of God to mingle their seed with the seed of Cain it would not only bring the curse of being deprived of the power of the priesthood upon themselves but entail it upon their children after them, and they cannot get rid of it. If a man in an unguarded moment should commit such a transgression, if he would walk up and say cut off my head, and kill man mother and child it would do a great deal towards atoning 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 brethren. A man would shudder should they hear us talk about killing folk, but it is one of the greatest blessings to some to kill them.” – Mormon Prophet, LDS Church President, Governor of Utah, Brigham Young on February 5, 1852

"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." - Brigham Young, LDS Prophet 1863 | wasmormon.org — “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.” – Brigham Young, LDS Prophet 1863

The First Presidency in 1947 discussed ideas of race and specifically interracial marriage with Lowry Nelson in a series of letters, where Lowry Nelson, a faithful member and sociologist counseled the church to drop the priesthood ban as it was un-Christlike and hurting missionary work, especially in Haiti at the time. He was told clearly that the racist doctrines of the church were from the beginning, and from God. They also state that interracial marriage is repugnant and does not have the sanction of the church because interracial marriage is contrary to church doctrine. This is a statement the church has never recanted and is still taught in lesson books today.

"Your ideas, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people. We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency 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." - First Presidency of George Albert Smith to Dr Lowry Nelson, 1947 | wasmormon.org — “Your ideas, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people. We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency 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.” – First Presidency of George Albert Smith to Dr Lowry Nelson, 1947

Also, once the church finally did lift the priesthood ban in 1978, a senior apostle of the time was interviewed and asked about interracial marriage specifically He answered that it is never ok. He reiterates the same position of Spencer W Kimball above, that the church recommends people marry their own race.

What about intermarriage? Is it okay? “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.” That would still be your position? “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.”- LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban | wasmormon.org — What about intermarriage? Is it okay? “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.”That would still be your position? “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.”- LeGrand Richards, Senior Apostle Recounting a behind-the-scenes look at the 1978 Priesthood Ban

Not surprisingly, Rusty said the same thing in a BYU talk – in 1995! He was careful to couch the racism in a statement regarding “probabilities of a successful marriage” and changed the word racial background to ethnic, but he learned this from Kimball’s talk.

“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...
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 your eternal companion, please be wise. It’s better not to fly in the face of constant head winds. Occasional squalls provide challenge enough.” - LDS President, Russell M. Nelson, 1995 BYU Devotional, A More Excellent Hope | wasmormon.org — “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… 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 your eternal companion, please be wise. It’s better not to fly in the face of constant head winds. Occasional squalls provide challenge enough.” – LDS President, Russell M. Nelson, 1995 BYU Devotional, A More Excellent Hope

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, you 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 your eternal companion, please be wise. It’s better not to fly in the face of constant head winds. Occasional squalls provide challenge enough.
“A More Excellent Hope” Russell M. Nelson, Apostle. January 8, 1995. BYU Devotional
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/excellent-hope/

What were you taught about interracial marriage within the church? They have performed the ceremonies, but they have never recommended it and have never liked it. It’s amazing that still today these sentiments are taught to the youth of the church. It may not be openly racist, but it is institutionally sanctioned racist attitudes attempting to keep whites and blacks separate. Did this teaching surface in your church attendance? How did it feel? What was your reaction to it? Please share your own Mormon faith transition journey in your I was a Mormon story at wasmormon.org today!

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