Discussion:Racial issues/Racial statements by Church leaders

Quick comments

First, the link from the template to FAIR site doesn't seem to work for me (missing the www prefix I think).

Second, I think the discussion about the views of McKay and Benson regarding Civil Rights and Communism should be improved. Mainly, I'd drop the word "grossly" since I think it's conceding a bit too much to say that these statements were grossly racist (racist from today's perspective, yes, but not grossly so and not racist from their perspectives...).

Third, I came across this pro-black statement by Joseph Smith and was wondering if it'd be worth incorporating or linking to in the article (perhaps a simple statement to the effect, "to be fair, many Church leaders also made several progressive racial statements"):

"At five went to Mr. Sollars' with Elders Hyde and Richards. Elder Hyde inquired the situation of the negro. I replied, they 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. Go into Cincinnati or any city, and find an educated negro, who rides in his carriage, and you will see a man who has risen by the powers of his own mind to his exalted state of respectability. The slaves in Washington are more refined than many in high places, and the black boys will take the shine of many of those they brush and wait on. "Elder Hyde remarked, 'Put them on the level, and they will rise above me.' I replied, if I raised you to be my equal, and then attempted to oppress you, would you not be indignant and try to rise above me, as did Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, and many others, who said I was a fallen Prophet, and they were capable of leading the people, although I never attempted to oppress them, but had always been lifting them up? Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species, and put them on a national equalization." (History of the Church, 5:217-218, copied from here.)

Since I'm so new here and still getting a sense of the way articles should be written, I'm a bit shy about making any of these changes myself, at least without at getting some feedback first.... --RobertCouch 19:36, 29 Jun 2006 (MDT)

Thanks for your thoughts, Robert. Your input is very valuable.

1. I fixed the link to the FAIR comments web site. The FAIR webmaster recently changed the contact page name; thanks for pointing that out.
2. The "grossly racist" comment was mine, and I was referring to "virtually everyone in America" holding beliefs which, from our perspective, were "grossly racist." I think history bears this out. They, of course, didn't think anything of it; it was normal. But, looking back, most Americans in the 1940s and 50s were bigots by today's standards. For example, interracial dating and marriage certainly weren't tolerated; today, most people don't think twice about it. A black family moving into a white neighborhood was scandalous (see A Raisin in the Sun as an example of prevalent 1950s attitudes), and many neighborhoods had CC&Rs forbidding the sale of homes to blacks.
   In 1954 Elder Mark E. Petersen gave an address at BYU in which he warned against intermarriage and stated that segregation was of God (excerpts here). And there are a lot of other statements from Church leaders up through the early 1970s that would be considered offensively racist by today's standards (some samples). The question is how to deal with them. Personally, I'm in favor of simply saying, "Yes, by today's standards those attitudes were racist. But by the standards of their own time, they were pretty normal. We're learning and growing and becoming better people. God doesn't force us to change our attitudes about everything we encounter in our society."
   So I think grossly is a fair word, simply because it lays our cards on the table and doesn't try to cover up or minimize things that are embarrassing to us today. But I'd like to get more feedback on this issue — what would be a better way of being forthright?
3. I mention that quote from Joseph Smith in parentheses and reference it in footnote #1 (using the TPJS version). I didn't think the quote fit anywhere in the text as I wrote it. If you'd like to work it in somehow, go right ahead. Another alternative is to create a reference page with quotes on race from various Church leaders.

Comments? --MikeParker 15:37, 30 Jun 2006 (MDT)