June 8th was the 35th anniversary of
the lifting of a Church policy that prohibited African American members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from holding the priesthood. To this day, it remains a controversial
issue, one that causes pain to some, embarrassment to others, and is used by
the enemies of the Church to gainsay it.
Many have taken in hand to write about or explain the
origins of the policy, but they remain sketchy at best. It had its roots in the “seed of Cain”
doctrine that was believed by many early American Protestants and was
promulgated long before the Church was established. Phillis Wheatley, an African slave and poet,
who was also a converted Christian, wrote in her poem, "On Being Brought
from Africa to America" the following in 1773:
'Twas mercy brought me from my
Pagan land,/ Taught my benighted soul to understand/ That there's a
God, that there's a Saviour too: /Once I redemption neither sought nor
knew./ Some view our sable race with scornful eye,/ "Their
colour is a diabolic die."/ Remember, Christians, Negros, black as
Cain,/ May be refin'd and join th'angelic train."
(http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Wheatley/brought.html)
A Quaker author named John Woolman, who opposed slavery,
wrote in his journal the following passage about how he was disturbed by the
Christian justification of the practice as he journeyed down into slave-holding
Maryland. Woolman wrote:
"Having travelled through
Maryland, we came amongst Friends at Cedar Creek in Virginia, on the 12th; and
the next day rode, in company with several of them, a day's journey to Camp
Creek. …After some time, … a Friend in
company began to talk in support of the slave-trade, and said the negroes were
understood to be the offspring of Cain, their blackness being the mark which
God set upon him after he murdered Abel his brother; that it was the design of
Providence they should be slaves, as a condition proper to the race of so wicked
a man as Cain was. (See Woolman, John.
Journal
of John Woolman, p. 212-213, University of Virginia. 1774.)
I give my opinion that the doctrine entered Mormonism with
19th century converts from Protestantism. In 1820, when the Restoration began with the
First Vision to Joseph Smith, this “seed of Cain” doctrine was already used in
the churches of Christendom to defend the keeping of slaves. The Prophet Joseph Smith grew up in Vermont
and New York and his personal opinions about slavery were similar those of his
neighbors. He opposed slavery. Some years after the establishment of the
Church, Joseph was asked what converts who owned slaves should do. His reply was, “I have advised them to bring
their slaves into a free country and set them free-educate them-and give them
equal rights” (Compilation on the Negro
in Mormonism, p.40).
Note that Joseph promoted giving African Americans “equal
rights.” Even Lincoln did not support
equality. Joseph Smith’s views were
progressive for his time, but as any reformer today knows, changing hearts and
minds can be a slow process. The Prophet
Joseph spoke of the process of conversion and how the Spirit of God gradually
transforms a person saying, “…[I]t is often the case that young members of this
Church for want of better information, carry along with them their old notions
of things, and sometimes fall into egregious errors.
Joseph Smith ordained a free African American man named
Elijah Abel to the important office of Seventy in the priesthood at Nauvoo,
Illinois by the Prophet Joseph Smith. This is an office that was subordinate
only to that of apostles in our hierarchy. Elijah Abel was a faithful member of
the Church all his life and served as a missionary. He was a Mormon pioneer who
crossed the plains and eventually died in the faith in 1874 in Salt Lake City.
However, Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob in Carthage,
Illinois in 1844 and he did not live to see Elijah Abel and the rest of the
saints gather in Utah. The saints were
expelled and driven by mobs into a desert wilderness. Gathering the saints and struggling for
survival became the dominant theme of the Church and its leaders for the next
generation. The Civil War, which was
prophesied by Joseph Smith in 1832, came and went, leaving the Utah saints out
of the fray. During the subsequent
struggles against the government and the strife over statehood, seizure of
Church properties, and persecution of Mormon leaders, there was little time to
be concerned for social justice.
Many anti-Mormons dig up old, militant statements from the
sermons of Mormon preachers in this late 19th century period. Indeed, those sermons are fiery. They contain denunciations of those who
sought to destroy the Church during the struggles for its survival. Among those statements, one will find racist
statements by those preachers. Brigham
Young is often provided fodder then for those who want to stir up enmity
against Mormons today. Like many of his
time, Brigham Young apparently struggled with his conflicting personal feelings
about race relations and those feelings that were begotten of the Spirit of
God. One of the accusations made by
anti-Mormons against the Church in the mid 1830s that caused so much trouble
for the Church was that we intended to baptize and free all the slaves in
Missouri. Many of Brigham Young’s
defenses of the Church were made to allay the fears of the slave-holding
Missourians. Little good it did;
however, because the Missourians disarmed the saints, burned homes, killed
livestock, shot men, women, and children, and drove them from their homes in
the dead of winter.
Mormons don’t believe that prophets are infallible. They are men with weaknesses and passions
like every other mortal. Even a person
with racist feelings can have those feelings moderated over time, as the Spirit
of God softens their hearts and changes their views. Brigham Young came to say that African
Americans “…should be treated like human beings, and not worse than dumb
brutes. For their abuse of that race, the whites shall be cursed, unless they
repent” (Journal of Discourses 10:111).
This should give hope to those who seek social justice inside and
outside the Mormon culture.
As Mormonism entered the 20th century, an era of
stability began, leading to larger acceptance and growth. The Church truly became international in its
scope. Nevertheless, the United States
was still a racist nation as were many of its citizens. Mormons were not isolated from the general
culture of segregation, discrimination, and Jim Crow. The pressures from the civil rights movement
were intense. As the hearts of American changed,
so did those of latter-day saints. Yet
there is an understanding in the Church that it is guided by prophets through
current revelation. We are not at
liberty to fashion the Church as we will it, but we seek to follow God’s
will. Latter-day saint leaders
understood that, as the Church grew in the world, a change in the policy that
prevented those of African descent from assuming leadership in local
congregations would be necessary. We had
to wait for the Lord to confirm that path before we could go down it.
From what I understand, Brazil became the key in this
process. The Church was growing rapidly
in Brazil and new members were researching their family history to provide
names of deceased ancestors for temple work.
In the temples, those who died without proper baptism can receive it by
proxy. Members can also be sealed to
their families for eternity, a supernal blessing. It was apparent in the genealogies of new Brazilian
converts that their ancestry was of mixed race in many cases.
The Church reached a critical moment, much like that moment
in the Bible when the ancient Church turned to preaching the gospel to the
Gentiles. Prior to that moment, they
followed the directive of Jesus to take the gospel to the “lost sheep” of
Israel (see Matthew 10:6, 15:24). A
vision came to Peter that he did not fully comprehend. It corresponded with the visit of an angelic
messenger to Cornelius, a Gentile, who was told to send for Peter. When Peter
came to his home, not knowing what to expect, a marvelous outpouring of the
Holy Ghost helped him to understand the significance of his vision. The time had come to take the gospel to
Gentiles as well as Jews. The global
mission of the Church changed.
Likewise, in 1978, the significant growth in Brazil, along
with the cultural changes in the United States that had touched many members
and changed their hearts, the “Peter and Cornelius” moment occurred. The President of the Church, Spencer W.
Kimball, received revelation that the priesthood ban was to be eliminated. This revelation was then confirmed by a
second one with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency
together. There was no doubt as to the
course of action. There was also no
justification given or explanation of the reason of the past policy. It was simply done away by the voice of the
Lord to his servants. Compliance was
immediate. The announcement was made. Saints all over the world rejoiced. It changed the nature of the work for the
better.
As the Church has grown in Africa over the past 35 years,
the progress has been astonishing. There
are over 400,000 members there and three operating temples (soon to be
five). Activity rates there are among
the highest in the Church. The culture
and organization of the Church helps facilitate change. We are not a collection of different churches
under an umbrella association. We are
one single Church of 14 million members that is organized into geographical
units. As researcher Dalyn Montgomery
explained, the Church’s physical and geographical organization tends to mix
diverse groups together in a congregation.
Mormonism doesn’t allow [dividing
congregations by race] , Montgomery says. "Because of its lay ministry,
everybody has to work together to make Sundays run. In any geography that
captures both [black and white] races, people are enabled to spend time
together on leadership councils and in each other’s homes.
In Paul Kivel’s book, “Uprooting Racism,” he lists five
points of self-examination for organizations committed to changing the culture
within them. He asks:
1. How will the training relate to
preceding and ongoing efforts to create a practice of racial justice within the
organization?
2. Is there sustainable leadership
at the highest levels for this effort?
3. Is a serious commitment to
diversity built into the core mission of the organization?
4. Is there a strategic plan for
diversity within the organization at all levels, and/or is it an integral part
of the overall strategic plan?
5. Is there an adequate,
sustainable and dedicated budget for long-term anti-racism work? [See Kivel, Paul (2011-09-27). Uprooting
Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice - 3rd Edition [p. 297].
New Society Publishers. Kindle Edition].
As an observer, it appears that the Church is seriously
undertaking efforts to be more inclusive and determined to build a true
fellowship between people of all races.
Obviously, some of those changes are more visible in areas where there
is already greater racial diversity. My
son and his wife attended a ward (parish) in Maryland where Mormons from all
races and many nations met together. One
weekend, as we visited them, I recorded these observations:
Sunday, as I looked around the
chapel, there were two sister missionaries there; one of them was Hispanic. An
Asian sister gave the opening prayer in heavily accented English. At the
sacrament table, there sat a brother who appeared to be African-American until
his speech gave away his Ghanian accent. Two other African or African-American
youth passed the sacrament to the congregation. My wife said the sister who
taught the Relief Society lesson was African-American. I greeted a couple in
the hallway on the way to the Sunday school classroom who answered with German
accents.
I also met members there from Vietnam, Cambodia, Tibet, and
several other countries. There were
members of many races in substantial positions, leading, directing, and
teaching. Would a visitor find this to
be the case in a more demographically homogeneous congregation in Southern
Idaho or rural Utah? Probably not. However in any large city anywhere in the
world, you will find latter-day saints of all races and ethnicities working
together to preach the gospel. Has there
been progress? Definitely? Do we still have a ways to go? Yes.
The work is not done. President
Gordon B. Hinckley, one of our most beloved prophets of recent decades stated
in General Conference 2006:
"I am told that racial slurs
and denigrating remarks are sometimes heard among us. I remind you that no man who makes
disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a
true disciple of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the
teachings of the church of Christ."
In 2007, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles answered a question about the priesthood ban:
"We don't pretend that
something wasn't taught or practice wasn't pursued for whatever reason,"
Holland said. "But I think we can be unequivocal and we can be declarative
in our current literature, in books that we reproduce, in teachings that go
forward, whatever, that from this time forward, from 1978 forward, we can make
sure that nothing of that is declared"
In March 2012, the Church issued a statement disavowing
comments made by a Brigham Young University professor and unequivocally
condemned all racism. Touching upon the
priesthood ban:
"For a time in the Church
there was a restriction on the priesthood for male members of African
descent," the statement said. "It is not known precisely why, how, or
when this restriction began in the Church but what is clear is that it ended
decades ago. Some have attempted to explain the reason for this restriction but
these attempts should be viewed as speculation and opinion, not doctrine. The
Church is not bound by speculation or opinions given with limited
understanding.
"We condemn racism, including any and all past racism by
individuals both inside and outside the Church."
That’s pretty straightforward. Those of us who sustain these leaders as
prophets, seers, and revelators take statements like these very seriously. They are the cause of serious reflection
among us. We are working toward greater
social justice because it is God’s will.
Nevertheless, individuals have to change and that process
can happen slowly. Intolerance can be very
sneaky and guise itself in the cloth of piety.
I have debated with conservative Mormons over the issues regarding
immigration and, frankly, it seems that the more conservative “law and order”
views are frequently a cover for racist views against Mexicans. Those views tend to moderate when we have
names and faces to put on an undocumented person. A spirit of Christian charity emerges when we
see people as people and not as a part of some generic group. The same happens with white members who
connect with African American members.
Friendships form, old prejudices can fade away.
I wish to share a personal anecdote if I may. I joined the Church in 1978, shortly after
the revelation about the priesthood ban was announced. I recall hearing Tom Brokaw on the NBC
Nightly News relate the story that the President of the Mormon Church had
received a revelation indicating that the time had come for all worthy members
(including blacks) to be able to receive ordination to the priesthood. My first reaction, as a young liberal person
would normally have been, “Well it’s about time that those racist Mormons got
on the ball. After all, it’s 1978!” Instead, my reaction was “Revelation from
God?” You see, all the other Christian
sects teach that there is no more revelation.
We only have the Bible—and because we have thousands of different
interpretations of the Bible, we have about three thousand Christian sects and
denominations. I was more astonished to
hear that there was a church today that proclaimed current revelation than I
was to hear the content of that revelation.
In the first year or two of my conversion, I befriended an
older gentleman who served as the ward mission leader. He was from the South and, like many people
from the South, he still harbored some very intense racist sentiments. When missionaries asked him to help provide
rides to African American members, he usually declined to help. He struggled with the idea that the Church no
longer had the barrier against African Americans holding the priesthood. When a young black man was ordained a priest
and was given the assignment to pass the sacrament (communion) to the
congregation, he refused to take the sacrament from the black man.
However, God has a way of softening even the hardest hearts. It didn’t take marches in front of his home
or protests to get him to change. The
Lord took care of that. His 19 year-old
daughter fell in love with a black man, one who was not a member of the
Church. His man was horrified at the
prospect and withdrew all support from the daughter, alienating her. She ended up living with the black man and
became pregnant. Eventually, to her
father’s horror, the young woman became pregnant with the black man’s child.
When the child was born, and her father saw the child, his
heart melted. All the anger and the hate
melted away. He was filled with love for
her. His change of heart won back his
daughter and gained him a son-in-law.
The couple married. Eventually,
his daughter’s husband joined the Church and the family bonds were sealed in the temple.
The Spirit of God worked in individual lives to bring about
transformation. Despite what any
organization can do, it is the love of
God that has the greatest power to break down barriers and change
hearts. Joseph Smith once said:
Our heavenly Father is more liberal
in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to
believe or receive; and, at the same time, is more terrible to the workers of
iniquity, more awful in the executions of His punishments, and more ready to
detect every false way, than we are apt to suppose Him to be. He will be
inquired of by His children. He says, "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and
ye shall find;" but, if you will take that which is not your own, or which
I have not given you, you shall be rewarded according to your deeds; but no
good thing will I withhold from them who walk uprightly before me, and do my
will in all things--who will listen to my voice and to the voice of my servant
whom I have sent; for I delight in those who seek diligently to know my precepts,
and abide by the law of my kingdom; for all things shall be made known unto
them in mine own due time, and in the end they shall have joy. (Aug. 27, 1842.)
DHC 5:134-136.
As a lay member of the Church, I am pleased that the
priesthood ban was lifted. We still have
a long way to go, but it is good sometimes to look back over the ground we have
covered and celebrate the successes along the way. I hope all of us can look forward to the
development of a gospel culture that enshrines equity, harmony, and goodwill to
all people. Most of all, I'm thankful to belong to a Church that does not deny utterance of the Holy Spirit to living prophets and anticipates that God "will yet reveal many great and important truths pertaining to the kingdom of God" in the last days.