In part 1 we examined what racism is and looked at the text to see if we could find examples of racism. While we did find bias and God’s condemnation of the Nephite’s prejudice against their cousins, we could not find any racism. In part 2 we asked about the origins of the text to see if the book might be racist based on those origins. In this third and final segment, we will look some reasons why people might like to see the Book of Mormon as a racist text, what do they gain from this perspective.
Why People Push the Racist Narrative
At the end of the day, it seems to me that the three reasons why people put racism into their reading of the Book of Mormon:
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- The churches looking to excuse racist policies.
- People looking to attack Mormonism.
- People that have never read the book, or honestly studied it, repeating what they have heard.
Let’s take a look at some of these reasons, and while a lot of this will be conjecture, let’s see if we can better learn how to love our neighbor, even thought they see things differently from our views.
The Ban against Blacks
This one is simple, some think that Brigham Young’s church is Joseph Smith’s church, therefore the ban on blacks came from Joseph Smith via the Book of Mormon. We know it didn’t because of the reality of Mormon history. We know that the black ban didn’t start until 1847, three years after Joseph Smith died. The first hint of it was after Joseph Smith was killed.
Timeline
- 1829 Joseph Smith completes the Book of Mormon, which teaches that “all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 11:104-115 RAV, 26:28-33 OPV), and that it is a sin to judge people by the color of their skin (Jacob 2:60-61 RAV, 3:8-9 OPV).
- 1833 William W. Phelps invites freed slaves to join the Saints in Missouri (Free People of Color, Evening and Morning Star, July 1833).
- The Lord echoes the teachings of the Book of Mormon in a revelation given through the prophet Joesph Smith Jr. saying, “it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another” (Doctrines of the Saints 64b:31; Doctrine and Covenants 98:10g RLDS/CoC, 101:79 CJCLdS).
- 1836 Elijah Able (a freed slave) is ordained an Elder, and later that same year ordained a Seventy.
- 1840 Men and women “of all languages, and of every tongue, and of every color; who shall with us worship the Lord of Hosts in his holy temple” (Report from the Presidency, Times and Seasons, Oct. 1840).
- 1843 Joseph Smith Jr. writes the following: “I replied they (black slaves in the US) came into the world slaves, mentally and physically. Change their situation with the Whites and they would be like them. They have souls and are subjects of salvation.”
- 1844 Joseph Smith Jr. runs for president with abolishing slavery as a part of his platform, “Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and hire him to labor like other human beings” (General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States).
- 1844 Joseph Smith Jr. is martyred, having sent James Strang a letter prophesying his death and calling him to be his successor (Letter of Appointment).
- 1845 Orson Hyde says that Saints who refuse to following Brigham Young are like pre-mortal spirits who would not follow God or Satan, “required to come into the world and take bodies in the accursed lineage of Canaan; and hence the Negro or African race” (Orson Hyde, April 27th, 1845).
- 1849 Brigham Young gives justification for withholding priesthood privileges from those of black African decent (Meeting Minutes of the Twelve, February 13, 1849).
- 1852 “Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood” (Race and the Priesthood, CJCLdS).
While a closer examination will show some bias against Black men and women, such as Joseph stating ideas of separate but equal, it is clear overall that the racism in Mormonism did not stem from the Book of Mormon or Joesph Smith Jr. (For more information on race and the Brighamite movement from a faithful Black American perspective, please see BlackLatterdaySaints.org.) In fact, if the “skin of darkness” was literal, the ban still makes no sense as there were Lamanites with the priesthood. Samual the Lamanite, for example, was not only a prophet, but Jesus Himself made sure his words were written down, so we know skin color did not matter to the Lord (3 Nephi 10:36-41 RAV, 23:9-13 OPV). But let’s dive into this list a little more…
Joseph Ordained Black Men
Joseph Smith ordained both black men as he ordained women (he ordained the women in the Nauvoo Relief Society). Brigham Young banned the priesthood on both black men and women of all races. Most everyone in his main church celebrated when the ban was partly lifted, but their ban has not been fully lifted. It’s only partially lifted, lifted a little bit, because black men are now allowed to be ordained in their church. But they still have all the women that are not being ordained. So they still are not like Joseph Smith’s church. They’re still banning people that Joseph Smith didn’t ban. This issue focuses quite a bit on racism within Mormonism, while ignoring the misogyny. And the misogyny is huge.
Again, we are taking the racism and the misogyny of one group of Mormons, albeit it’s a pretty big group, but we’re pretending like Joseph Smith had those same biases. Then, on top of that, we’re putting Black Africans in the Book of Mormon. It doesn’t work because we must look at the biases that Joseph Smith showed in his lifetime.
Mormons Invited Freed Slaves to Missouri
Now, I will say that Joseph Smith was not anti-slavery at first. He grew to be anti-slavery. When the Saints went to Missouri, they were very anti-slavery. They invited all the freed slaves to come and join them, this is the message William W. Phelps put in the Times and Seasons mentioned in the list above. If the Book of Mormon was racist, I would think they would not have done that.
Because this caused a lot of political tension, Joseph Smith wrote a letter retracting William W. Phelps’ message, and so people say he was racist because they had to retract this. But they were trying to keep the peace, and again, it’s a product of their time. Joseph Smith did the best he could in the world he was living in. As stated above, he later ran for president on a platform of freeing the slaves. He thought that black people were perfectly equal to white people, but that it was white people oppressing them, and the reason why there was any kind of difference between them the segregation and the fact that white people were so prejudiced.
Racism in Our Religion
To pretend that our religion is perfect or in any way beyond reproach is a ridiculous idea, and fundamentally flawed. Even in the original church there were problems that were common to the times. From my own perspective, I take solace from the fact that the original church was on the better side of history. They welcomed men and women in full fellowship and any restrictions were made after the US government push for those restrictions. The best example of this would be that the Gospel was originally taught to all, and this only changed when people pushed the idea that they were trying to start a slave revolt. After Joesph’s death, racism from the other side of the cultural spectrum that was pushed back while Joseph was alive had a means to escape. Men like David Whitmer and Brigham Young we able to express their views on skin color.
Brighamites do not Represent All of Mormonism
We must be clear that Brigham Young started a new church with new theologies. We have to understand that we cannot take his teachings and apply them to a text that was written before he made up his new theologies. Like Joseph, he was a product of his time, and if we look at their fruits on this issue, it is clear that Joseph come out in a better light as he went the side of freedom and equality. Was it the same idea of freedom and equality we strive for today? No. And I hope and pray that the level of freedom and equality people seek for 200 years from now will be as stark a contrast as the equality Joseph Smith Jr. and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints fought for and the freedom and equality we are fighting for in the Fellowship of Christ today. We learn and grow line upon line, precept upon precept.
Is the Book of Mormon a racist book?
The Book of Mormon is a book, and what we do with any book is a reflection of the reader. I think that if we see racism everywhere, we’re going to see it in the Book of Mormon. I think if we read it like it was written today, in 2023, if it was written right now talking to and about people right now, then yes, we are going to see it as a racist book.
But it wasn’t written right now. It was written in a different time, and whether Joseph Smith translated a divine thing, whether the gold plates were real or imaginary, a vision or revelation, or if he just made it all up, it still was done at a time when things were different. If we are going to excuse the people of the Bible for the things that they do, because they didn’t know any better, because they were living in a different culture, I think we need to do the same thing for the Book of Mormon.
Growing up with Racism
I grew up around racist, both in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and outside of it. Both used the Bible to excuse their world views. I used the Book of Mormon and the New Testament to oppose racism. I have seen first hand how scripture can be used as a weapon against our fellow human beings. Because of this, I cannot find fault with our atheist friends who point to our scriptures as racist documents. People will use anything they can to push their agendas. My question is, where is you heart? Mine is in love, so I read love into the text. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am delusional. If I am, then I will continue to be happy in my understanding of the scriptures. I will continue to ignore the people pushing against our religion and teach those willing to hear the message of love that I have found because it is beautiful to see the world as one creation.
The Differences between the US and the Lehies
It is easy to see that the days of the Book of Mormon do not echo the time of Joseph Smith or myself because the Book of Mormon is not promoting slavery. At no time did the Nephites say, “we need to turn these people with the dark skin into slaves and oppress them.” In fact, the closed thing to slavery or bondage in the Book of Mormon would likely be the Lamanits forcing the Nephites into submission in Mosiah 9:103 RAV, 19:26 OPV. Rather, when the Lamanites came and attacked them, and the Nephites won, they said, “Okay, just promise me you won’t come back and we’re good. Go home” (Alma 20:79 RAV, 44:11a OPV). That is not what we did here in the United States. It is not what we are doing today.
We kidnapped these people from another continent. We brought them here, and we treated them like animals instead of like human beings. And when they revolted, we murdered them. We pretended like they were property and not the kidnapped victims that they were. That is racism. That’s horrifying. And it’s not what happened in the Book of Mormon. Later on when we freed the slaves in the United States, we created “separate but equal.” And we made black Americans sit in the back of the bus. And we gave them less, and we treated them like garbage, and we put them in places where we white people didn’t want to be because we thought they were “the inferior race.” That’s not what happened in the Book of Mormon.
Cherrypicking
If anyone wants to look at the Book of Mormon and say that some of the phrases sound racist, there is nothing to stop detractors or those seeking to excuse their own sins. Personally, I think the verses they point out sound rude, and they are tragically human. They are in the text becasue they are ideas we must overcome, and the Book of Mormon teaches us this truth. I think we need to look at our own culture and the horrible things that we are doing to Black people today, and the excuses we use to justify our modern racism before we start judging the Book of Mormon. Because nowhere in the Book of Mormon does it excuse the horrible things that we Americans have done to people of any race in our history or how we see those that are not caucasian culturally today. There is nothing in there to excuse that at all.
Rather that finding more reasons to divide people, let’s fight for a more noble cause and attack systemic racism within our culture in 2024. Let’s learn to love each other and stop looking for ways to blatantly attack people, regardless of our views on the Book of Mormon. That is something we can all do together in love.
