June 6, 2018 The Skanner Page 9
News
Mormons Grapple With Race Decades After Ban on Black Leaders
Church celebrates 40th anniversary of reversing its ban on allowing Blacks to serve in the priesthood
“
If we
preach re-
pentance,
we should
definitely
embody it
In a 2013 essay , the
church disavowed the
reasons behind the ban
and condemned all rac-
ism, saying the prohibi-
tion came during an era
of great racial divide that
influenced early church
teachings. Blacks were
always allowed to be
members, but the nearly
century-long ban kept
them from participating
in many important ritu-
als.
Scholars said the essay
included the church’s
most comprehensive ex-
planation for the ban and
its 1978 reversal, which
leaders say came from a
revelation from God.
But it didn’t include an
apology, leaving some
unsatisfied.
“A lot of members are
waiting for the church
just to say, ‘We were
wrong,’”
said
Phyli-
cia Norris-Jimenez, a
30-year-old Black Mor-
mon and member of
the grass-roots Black
LDS Legacy Committee,
group of women who
are organizing a confer-
ence Saturday in Utah to
honor the legacy of black
Mormon pioneers.
This June 5, 2013, photo shows Darius Gray, co-founder of a support
organization founded in 1971 for Black Mormons called the Genesis
Group, in Midvale, Utah. The Mormon church’s celebration Friday,
June 1, 2018, night of the 40th anniversary of its reversal of a ban on
Blacks in the lay priesthood is rekindling discussions about one of
the faith’s most sensitive topics. Gray said the Mormon church and
its doctrine aren’t racist but that racism lingers in the religion as it
does in the culture.
Norris-Jimenez
said
non-Black church mem-
bers still struggle with
how to talk about the ban
or understand the pain
it causes. She said the
anniversary celebration
honors something that
should have never exist-
ed but that it’s a good ges-
ture and hopefully leads
to more discussions
about race.
A fellow group mem-
ber, LaShawn Williams,
said she finds comfort in
her belief that the ban
was a “policy of people,
not a policy of God,” made
during a racist time.
She and her three chil-
dren are the only Black
members of her congre-
gation in Orem, Utah,
and she tries to talk
about race issues regu-
larly with the teenagers
she teaches in Sunday
school.
Williams, an assistant
professor in social work
at Utah Valley Universi-
ty, would like an apology.
“If we preach repen-
tance, we should definite-
ly embody it,” she said.
The theme of the anni-
versary celebration in
Salt Lake City is “Be one,”
a reference to a Mormon
scripture. Top church
leaders will deliver a
message, and Gladys
Knight, one of the most
famous Black Mormons,
will perform.
“This is a call to the en-
tire church, and by ex-
tension, the entire world,
to let go of prejudices
and come together as
one unified family,” said
Ahmad Corbitt, a church
employee who led the
effort to organize the
event.
Corbitt declined to ad-
dress a church apology,
saying the faith is fo-
cused on a forward-look-
ing approach to unity.
Darius Gray, co-found-
er of the Genesis Group
that supports Black Mor-
mons, said the church
and its doctrine aren’t
racist but racism lingers
in the faith as it does in
society.
He said he’s been
plagued by calls from
Mormons
concerned
about how they’re being
treated, which he attri-
butes to a rise in racism
in the U.S. since Presi-
dent Donald Trump was
elected.
He said he wouldn’t
be opposed to an apolo-
gy for the ban but that
he’s more interested in
helping the faith make
progress in rooting out
racism. Gray, who helped
plan Friday’s event, said
it’s a step toward healing.
“An apology is here to-
AP PHOTO/RICK BOWMER, FILE
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)
— The Mormon church
on Friday will celebrate
the 40th anniversary
of reversing its ban on
Black people serving in
the lay priesthood, going
on missions or getting
married in temples, re-
kindling debate about
one of the faith’s most
sensitive topics.
The number of Black
Mormons has grown but
still only accounts for an
estimated 6 percent of 16
million worldwide mem-
bers. Not one serves in
the highest levels of glob-
al leadership.
The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day
Saints has worked to
improve race relations,
including calling out
White supremacy and
launching a new formal
alliance with the NAACP,
but some Black Mor-
mons and scholars say
discriminatory opinions
linger in some congrega-
tions from a ban rooted
in a belief that Black skin
was a curse.
TRENT NELSON/THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE VIA AP
By BRADY
McCOMBS
Associated Press
In this May 17, 2018, file photo, Mormon church President Russell M. Nelson shakes hands with Derrick
Johnson, president of the NAACP during a news conference, in Salt Lake City. The Mormon church on
Friday, June 1, 2018, will celebrate the 40th anniversary of reversing its ban on black people serving in
the lay priesthood, going on missions or getting married in temples, rekindling debate about one of the
faith’s most sensitive topics.
day and gone tomorrow,”
Gray said. “More signif-
icant is what an organi-
zation does long term.
The LDS church has been
moving forward and
changed its paradigm in
massive ways.”
The Utah-based church
doesn’t provide ethnic or
racial breakdowns of its
members, but indepen-
dent Mormon research-
er Matt Martinich said
those of primarily Afri-
can descent account for
about 6 percent of world-
wide members.
In the U.S., blacks ac-
count for about 1 to 3 per-
cent of 6.6 million Mor-
mons, according to Pew
Research Center surveys
done in the last two de-
cades.
It’s not the only faith
that struggles with a
lack of Black members
in its U.S. congregations:
The United Methodist
Church, Catholic Church
and Judaism also have
similarly low rates, ac-
cording to a 2014 Pew Re-
search Center study .
Mormons
probably
shouldn’t wait for a rare
apology from church
leaders, said W. Paul
Reeve, a Mormon studies
professor at the Univer-
sity of Utah. The church
seems to be trying to
walk a tight rope by dis-
avowing past beliefs
while not apologizing for
the ban to avoid members
questioning other doc-
trine they think should
be changed, he said.
“What else are they
wrong about? Are they
wrong about gay mar-
riage? Are they wrong
about female ordina-
tion?” Reeve said. “If
they got race and the
priesthood wrong, what
else could they be wrong
about? I think that’s part
of the fear.”
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