Of African descent and the Church / Blacks in the Priesthood

Of African descent and the Church

            For over 150 years the Church has taught and sustained racially prejudiced doctrines; while attributing these teachings to God’s will. These teachings include a ban on black members from holding the priesthood and participating in the temple, and went as far as preaching death as a consequence for inter-race marriage. Recently, the Church has tried to clean up this part of its image by disavowing these past teachings.

            Racist Doctrines taught very early in the church: 

President Brigham Young

“Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man 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, Journal of Discourses, vol.10, p.110)

“How long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them? That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof. Until the last ones of the residue of Adam's children are brought up to that favourable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first ordinances of the Priesthood. They were the first that were cursed, and they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol7, pp.290)

“You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation ...When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break his covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel; but by‑and‑by they will become a white and delightsome people. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol.7, pp.335-338)

“You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol.7, pp.282-291)

President George Albert Smith

“The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fullness of glory in the celestial kingdom. What is the reason for this condition, we ask, and I find it to my satisfaction to think that as spirit children of our Eternal Father they were not valiant in the fight.” (George Albert Smith, General Conference, April 1939)

“The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the priesthood at the present time… The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the pre-mortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality.” (George Albert Smith, statement by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the Negro Question, August 17, 1949)

President Joseph Fielding Smith

“That negro race, for instance, have been placed under restrictions because of their attitude in the world of spirits, few will doubt. It cannot be looked upon as just that they should be deprived of the power of the Priesthood without it being a punishment for some act, or acts, performed before they were born.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, 1984, p.43)

“Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race. A curse was placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, 1984, p.101-2)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

“Negroes in this life are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty. The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them…Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man’s origin. It is the Lord’s doing, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of Spiritual valiance of those concerned in their first estate.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, pp.527-528)

President David O. McKay

“The seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man; but goes back into the beginning with God… Revelation assures us that this plan antedates man's mortal existence, extending back to man's preexistent state. (Pres. David O. McKay, Hugh B. Brown, N. Eldon Tanner. Letter of the First Presidency Clarifies Church’s Position on the Negro – Dec. 15, 1969. Printed in The Improvement Era, Feb. 1970, p.70-71)

            OK, one of the first things that I usually hear about this point is that they were talking as a man, and not as a prophet. As I have brought up before, if it is being said from a pulpit, or written down and sent out to the church, that is no longer the man, that is the prophet teaching. Brigham Young even elaborated on this one for us. “I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture.” – Journal of Discourses 13 page 95.

            Along the lines of black and the Priesthood there is also the topic of Civil Rights. As a church claiming to be led by Jesus Christ himself since God loves all of his children, and is “no respecter of person”; I would expect it to be on the front line fighting for equal rights for all people, and instead the Church did nothing. In fact, they actually tried to prevent it.

            In January 1964, member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, Delbert L. Stapley, wrote to Michigan Governor George Romney. Governor Romney would later campaign to be President of the United States, as did his son, Mit Romeny. In his letter, Elder Stapley urged Governor Romney not to support the Civil Rights Act as it would bring the integration of blacks into society.

“I am sure you know that the Prophet Joseph Smith, in connection with the Negro   problem of this country, proposed to Congress that they sell public lands and buy up the       Negro slaves and transport them back to Africa from whence they came. I am sure the     Prophet, with his vision and understanding, foresaw the problems we are faced with          today with this race, which caused him to promote this program.

"When I reflect upon the Prophet's statements and remember what happened to three of our nation's presidents who were very active in the Negro cause, I Ch 8 – Blacks and the Church 55 am sobered by their demise. They went contrary to the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith unwittingly, no doubt, but nevertheless, the prophecy of Joseph Smith, "... those who are determined to pursue a course, which shows an opposition, and a feverish restlessness against the decrees of the Lord, will learn, when perhaps it is too late for their own good, that God can do His own work, without the aid of those who are not dictated by His counsel," has and will continue to be fulfilled." (Delbert L. Stapley, Letter to Gov. George Romney, January 23, 1964. https://archive.org/stream/DelbertStapleyLetter/delbert_stapley_Letter# page/n0/mode/2up)

            In this letter Elder Stapley warned Governor Romney that support for civil rights was against the will of the Lord as revealed through Joseph Smith. Stapley further cautioned that punishments are in store for those who seek equality in such ways. As evidence for such dire warnings, Stapley wrote that three U. S. Presidents who had fought for equality and civil rights met an untimely death; Lincoln and Kennedy by assassination and Grant by cancer. In February of 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination according to race, religion, or sex. Four years later, Dr. Martin Luther King was martyred for his role as a leader in the movement. After his death, black preachers continued to call for full integration of blacks into white restrooms, buses, schools, jobs, and neighborhoods. A full ten years passed after King’s death until the priesthood, eternal marriage, and temple endowments were offered to the few black church members.

“Think of the Negro, cursed as to the priesthood.... This negro, who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the Lord in sending him to the earth in the lineage of Cain with a black skin, and possibly being born in darkest Africa—if that negro is willing when he hears the gospel to accept it, he may have many of the blessings of the gospel. In spite of all he did in the preexistent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory.” (Elder Mark E. Peterson, lecture at BYU, 1954)

Prior to 1978, blacks could only be servants in the Celestial kingdom.

            President Ezra Taft Benson gave a talk in general conference after the passing of the Civil Rights Act and before the Church changed its stance on the issue:

“There is no doubt that the so-called civil rights movement as it exists today is used as a Communist program for revolution in America. (President Ezra Taft Benson, Trust Not in the Arm of Flesh, General Conference, October 1967)

            The Civil Rights Act brought equal treatment for all people in this country and effectively ended legal segregation. To refer to it as “the so-called civil rights movement” is to take away the importance of the issues. Remember, this was at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia and to refer to someone or something as communist during this time was a very derogatory statement. President Benson does not sound like the Lord’s prophet bringing a message of love. It seems that the basis of these prejudice doctrines may have begun with the culture of racism held by early general authorities and perpetuated by the following leaders until the direction the nation was moving forced the hand of the Church.

            Another key point to make here: Slavery is against the word of God! We have D&C 101:78-79 telling us that very thing, yet we hear all of this from leaders much later when this revelation came back in 1833.

78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

            So again? Who do we believe? A revelation given by Joseph Smith in 1833 states that we should not have any in bondage, yet when the saints came to Utah, they came with a large number of slaves. It talks about the slaves that came with the saints in an article from the State in 1972.

“The Brigham Young Monument … contain the names of three Black men who entered the Salt Lake Valley with the vanguard of Mormon pioneers. These three Black slaves achieved an immortality along with other Utah pioneers.”

“While they were the first Black slaves into the area, they were not the only ones, for there were many Blacks accompanying the Mormon parties on their journeys westward.... For example, the Mississippi Company in 1848 included fifty-seven white members and thirty-four Blacks.

“Some Blacks came as free men and others as slaves. In the case of the latter, they often were the most valuable property a family had. Mormon pioneer John Brown listed in his autobiography an inventory of the gifts made to the church which included real estate valued at $775.00, a long list of livestock, farm equipment, tools, household articles, and one "African Servant Girl" valued at $1,000.00. The value of this slave girl constituted one-third of the entire gift.

“By the ambiguity of the Compromise of 1850, Utah was the only western territory in which Blacks were held as slaves. According to the United States Census of that year, there were in Utah twenty-four free Blacks and twenty-six Black slaves. And the census of 1860 listed thirty free Blacks and twenty-nine slaves.

“In 1851, the Utah Territorial Legislature passed an act protecting slavery in the territory. The law provided clearly defined obligations for both master and slave. These requirements were similar to those practiced in the South. While the slave trade was never legal in the territory, dealing in human bondage did take place. The legal practice ended, of course, with the conclusion of the Civil War. Many of the Black people at that time, both slave and free, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and remained in the territory.”

Yes, that is what it said in his autobiography, that he gifted “one African Servant Girl” to the church. But this goes against the direct revelation from God in D&C 101 back from 1833. Yet here we see that even by 1851, there were territorial laws protecting slavery, and still in 1860 there were at least 29 slaves counted in the census.

Now it looks like the church is trying to distance itself from the past teachings. Published in 2013 on LDS.org is an article named, Race and the Priesthood.

“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 mixedrace marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else.” (Race and the Priesthood, December 6, 2013. https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng)

            This latest manifesto is shocking for the rejection of teachings by past prophets. Contained in this statement, the Church blatantly contradicts itself when disavowing:

1. “…that black skin was a sign of disfavor or curse…” “A curse was placed upon him and that curse has been continued through his lineage and must do so while time endures. Millions of souls have come into this world cursed with a black skin and have been denied the privilege of Priesthood and the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel. These are the descendants of Cain.” (President Joseph Fielding Smith)

2. “…that it reflects actions in a premortal life…” “The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the premortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality.” (President George Albert Smith)

3. “… that mixed-race marriages are a sin…” “If the white man 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.” (President Brigham Young)

4. “…that blacks…are inferior in any way to anyone else…” “…some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.” (President Brigham Young)

            Time and time again the Church reminds us to give strict obedience to the prophet for the sole reason that he speaks for God and is incapable of misconduct.

“The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.” (President Wilford Woodruff, General Conference, October 1890)

“Keep your eye on the Prophet, for the Lord will never permit his Prophet to lead this Church astray.” (President Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference, October 1966)

“Follow your leaders who have been duly ordained and have been publicly sustained, and you will not be led astray. (Elder Boyd K. Packer, General Conference, October 1992)

“Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, Follow the prophet; don't go astray. Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, Follow the prophet; he knows the way.” (Children’s Songbook)

            Since when are statements made in the name of the Lord by presidents of the Church considered just “theories”? Applying the idea that the priesthood ban on blacks was just a theory also doesn’t make much sense when considering what Pres. David O. McKay stated, “…discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man; but goes back into the beginning with God.” Now it appears that the Church is trying to have the best of both worlds by disavowing its racist past while simultaneously insisting that leaders will never lead the Church astray and hoping no one notices this rather large contradiction.

            If prophets claim to speak Heavenly Father’s will when their words can be later disavowed, then how was it that they were prophets at all? This completely undermines the prophet will never lead us astray principal. What doctrines currently attributed to God by today’s prophet can be discredited as just “theories” by future general authorities?

Furthermore, there is icing on the cake of the fact that members of the church brought slaves with them to Utah. I do not know how I can look someone in the eye and say that this was right. Yes, I know it was considered “normal” for the time. But when you have a revelation from God, stating that slavery is wrong, how can you continue on with it? If people have been excommunicated for being opposed to the policy of withholding the priesthood from the blacks, then why are we not excommunicating members for going directly against a revelation to not own slaves?

I think this is one of the hardest problems for me to swallow. This is something that I came up against on my mission on an exceptionally regular basis. I remember that this was one of those key issues that they made sure that we had plenty of information to help people understand. We had scriptures, we had quotes. Many of the “reasons” that we were told to teach the people when they asked about this are now those “theories” that the church no longer teaches or considers doctrine. Those, “theories” as the essay says, that were taught from the pulpit. In my mind, anytime that something is said by a prophet from the pulpit, it is the word of God, and not the word of that man (and Brigham Young agrees with that). And now I am learning that according to the church now, everything that I taught those people is wrong, when it was the same church that told me to teach those things as the prophets had taught. This bears down on my very credibility as not only a missionary, but as a person. Because of this essay, whatever I taught was a lie. This burns me up, knowing that I lied, all while teaching what I was told, with the information that I was given as it had been taught by the prophets. Having served in the South, these were the primary people that I taught, and now I’m being told that I taught them a giant lie. A lie that I was told to teach them, that I had learned as doctrine, but now have been informed it is nothing more than a theory. So again I will ask, what is stopping future prophets’ from coming out and stating that what we are being right now is only a theory, and considered wrong?