In the past, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) have consistently opposed marriage between different ethnicities. Apostle Boyd K. Packer publicly stated in 1977 that "We've always counseled in the Church for our Mexican members to marry Mexicans, our Japanese members to marry Japanese, our Caucasians to marry Caucasians, our Polynesian members to marry Polynesians. ... The counsel has been wise." Nearly every decade for over a century--beginning with the church's formation in the 1830s until the 1970s--has seen some denunciation against miscegenation, with most focusing on black-white marriage.
Though no longer taught as a sin, Mormon leaders punished white members who married black individuals by banning both from entering a temple into at least the 60s and recommended against any interracial marriages in official publications into the 2000s. The teachings of church leaders on race and interracial marriage have stemmed from biological and social ideas of the time and have garnered criticism and controversy. One exception was intermarriage with Native Americans, who Mormons believed descended from Israelites. In 2013, the LDS Church disavowed previous teachings that interracial marriage is a sin.
Video Interracial marriage and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Utah legislation on interracial marriage
The church's attitude was reflected in past Utah laws where its members held a notable amount of political influence. In 1852 a law was passed banning sexual intercourse between a white person and "any of the African race." Utah Territory, which was about 80% Mormon in 1880, passed an anti-miscegenation law in 1888 prohibiting marriages between a "negro" or "mongolian" (i.e. Asian person) and a "white person". In 1890, black individuals made up less than .3% of Utah's population of 210,000 people, and Chinese were less than .4%, and Native Americans were 1.6% of the population. The law was expanded by the two-thirds-Mormon state of Utah in 1939 to prohibit a white person from marrying a "Mongolian, a member of the malay race or a mulatto, quadroon, or octoroon." Unlike other states, however, Utah's law said nothing about marriage between white people and Native American people. The laws banning interracial marriage remained until they were repealed by the Utah state legislature in 1963.
Maps Interracial marriage and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Interracial marriage with Native Americans
Mormons saw Native Americans as a higher race than black people, believing that they were descendants of the Israelites, and that through intermarriage they could be restored to a "white and delightsome" state. On July 17, 1831, Joseph Smith said he received a revelation in which God wanted several early elders of the church to eventually marry Native American women in a polygamous relationship so that their posterity may become "white, delightsome, and just."
Later, Brigham Young continued to encourage Mormon men to marry Native American women as a process to make them white and delightsome and restore them to their "pristine beauty" within a few generations. He performed the first recorded sealing ceremony between a "Lamanite" and a white member in October 1845 when an Oneida man Lewis Dana and Mary Gont were sealed in the Nauvoo temple. There is evidence that Young may have married his Bannock servant Sally (who later married Ute chief Kanosh). By 1870 only about 30 Mormon men had Native American wives, and few further interracial marriages with Native Americans occurred. Later Mormons believed Native American skins would be lightened through some other method. Under Spencer Kimball, the church had begun discouraging interracial marriages with Native Americans.
In canonized scripture
The Book of Mormon
In The Book of Mormon, the Lord cursed the Lamanites and put a mark of blackness on them so that the Nephites would not find the Lamanites "enticing", (2 Nephi 5:21) "that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions" (Alma 3:8) and so that the Nephites and the Lamanites would be a separate people (Alma 3:14). If someone intermarried and had children with the Lamanites, the Lord also marked and cursed them (Alma 3:15) and cursed their descendants (2 Nephi 5:23 and Alma 3:9).
Hugh Nibley, a prominent Mormon apologist, argues that the curse could be thought of as a culture with traditions that were inconsistent with God's commandments. He argues the curse did not spread through intermarriage alone, but that the Nephites had to participate in the Lamanite culture. He argues that Lord put the mark on the Lamanites to prevent the spread of Lamanite culture among the Nephites. However, the Book of Mormon Seminary Teacher Manual, which is currently used to teach seminary students about the Book of Mormon, quotes Joseph Fielding Smith in Answers to Gospel Questions that the skin color was given to "keep the two peoples from mixing".
The Pearl of Great Price
In the Book of Abraham, the name of Ham's wife is Egyptus, which is given the meaning of forbidden. It teaches that their grandson, Pharaoh, was a descendant of the Canaanites (Abraham 1:22), a race of people who had been cursed with black skin (Moses 7:8). W. W. Phelps, a counselor in the presidency of the church, taught that Ham himself was cursed because he had married a black wife. In The Way to Perfection, Joseph Fielding Smith quoted B. H. Roberts in pointing out that Egyptus means forbidden, and suggests that might be because she was "of a race with which those who held the Priesthood were forbidden to intermarry." The Old Testament Student Manual, which is the manual currently used to teach the Old Testament, teaches that Ham's sons were denied the priesthood because he had married Egyptus.
The Bible
In Genesis 28:1, Isaac commands Jacob not to marry the Canaanites. The Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual, which is the manual currently used to teach the Old Testament to seminary students, teaches that it is because "a daughter of Canaan would not be worthy to join Jacob in entering into a marriage covenant with the Lord."
In Deuteronomy 7, the Israelites were commanded not to marry the Canaanites. In 1954, Mark E. Petersen used this as an example of why the church did not allow interracial marriages.
In Judges 14, Samson marries a Philistine woman. The Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual teaches that marrying a Philistine was against the will of God.
19th century teachings on black-white marriages
Joseph Smith
In a January 1843 church founder Joseph Smith wrote, "Had I [anything] to do with the Negro I would confine them by strict [l]aw to their own species," in reference to interracial marriage. A year later as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, he held a trial and fined two black men the modern equivalent of thousands of dollars for trying to marry white women. However, a decade earlier hundreds of non-Mormon citizens of Jackson County, Missouri stated that the Mormons were inviting black people to live among them, thus, creating the risk of interracial marriage, citing this as of the reasons for requesting the removal of the Mormon people from the state. The apostle Parley Pratt denied this invitation had taken place, however.
There are other records of Smith's teaching on interracial marriage. For example, in 1897 First Presidency member George Cannon stated in his journal that Joseph Smith had taught a later president of the church, John Taylor, that a white man married to a woman with black ancestry could not receive the priesthood and they both would be killed along with any of their children if the penalty of the law were executed. Three years later Cannon also stated that Joseph Smith had taught John Taylor the doctrine that any male child born with any black heritage from one or more parents could not receive the priesthood as he was "tainted with Negro blood." In 1908, Smith's nephew Joseph F. Smith stated that the church founder had declared that the priesthood ordination was void for Elijah Abel who only had one black great-grandparent (Abel was referred to as an octoroon man at the time for his one-eighth black heritage) from a mixed-race marriage long ago. Abel's petitions for temple ordinances were also denied by the next two church presidents Brigham Young and John Taylor because of his mixed heritage.
Brigham Young
Smith's successor Brigham Young publicly taught on at least three occasions (1847, 1852, and 1865) that the punishment for black-white interracial marriage was death, and that killing a black-white interracial couple and their children as part of a blood atonement would be a blessing to them. He further stated his belief that interracial children are sterile "like a mule". Young taught that the moment the church consents to white members having children with black individuals the church would go to destruction, and that, "Any man having one drop of the seed of Cane in him cannot hold the priesthood." Young also taught that people who had children with a black person would be cursed to the priesthood.
Blood atonement is the doctrine that some crimes are so heinous that the atonement of Jesus does not apply, including miscegenation. Instead, to atone for these sins, the perpetrators should be killed in a way that would allow their blood to be shed upon the ground as a sacrificial offering. This doctrine was the most widespread during the Mormon Reformation. Examples of Young's teaching on this and interracial relationships include the following:
- 1847 -- Young heard of a Mormon family composed of a black man Enoch Lovejoy Lewis (son of ordained priesthood holder Kwaku Walker Lewis), a white woman Mary Matilda Webster, and their interracial child living in Massachusetts and responded that if the family wasn't living so close to non-Mormons "they would all have to be killed" since the law is that black and white seed should not be "amalgamated".
- 1852 -- As territory governor, Young stated before the territory legislature that if a white man had children with a black woman, he should request to have his head chopped off. He continued saying that if someone were to kill the man, woman and any children of such a union, that it would be a blessing to them and "it would do a great deal towards atoning for the sin".
- 1865 -- In a speech in the Salt Lake Tabernacle Young repeated the teaching of death as punishment for black and white individuals producing interracial offspring, stating that this penalty would always be in place. In regards to the 1865 statement, the LDS apologist organization FairMormon argues that "Brigham Young's comments were a condemnation of abuse and rape of helpless black women, and not an overtly racist statement condemning interracial marriage."
Interracial marriages of William McCary
In 1847, former slave and Mormon convert William McCary drew the ire of Brigham Young and others in Nauvoo for his marriage to the white Mormon Lucy Stanton, and his later alleged mixed-race polygamous sealings to other white women without authorization. McCary claimed Native American heritage in order to marry Stanton and avoid the greater stigma that the few black people in Nauvoo faced. The most common interpretation of the interracial events around McCary and his excommunication is that they contributed to or precipitated the subsequent ban of black members from temple ordinances and priesthood authority. McCary elicited the first recorded general authority statement connecting race and the priesthood when the apostle Parley Pratt referred to him as the "black man who has got the blood of Ham in him which linege [sic] was cursed as regards the priesthood."
Lynching of Thomas Coleman
In 1866 Thomas Coleman, a black member of the LDS church, was murdered in Salt Lake City after it was discovered that he was courting a white woman. His throat was slit so deeply from ear to ear that he was nearly decapitated, and his right breast was slit open, similar to the penalties illustrated in the temple ritual and taught by Brigham Young. He was castrated and a note warning black men to stay away from white women was pinned to his chest. Historian Michael Quinn states that this murder was a fulfillment of Young's 1852 teaching that the penalty for miscegenation was decapitation. FairMormon argues that Coleman's death may have been unrelated to Young's teachings or temple penalties, since Coleman was not an endowed member.
Under Wilford Woodruff
In the late 1800's at least two white members were denied church ordinances after they had married a black person. In 1895 a white woman was denied a temple sealing to her white husband because she had previously married a black man, even though she had divorced him. First Presidency member George Cannon argued that allowing her access to the temple would not be fair to her two daughters, whom she'd had with her former husband. Another white man was denied the priesthood in 1897 because he had married a black woman, though, then senior apostle Lorenzo Snow stated that the man would be eligible if he divorced his wife and married a white woman. Additionally, Cannon recorded in his journal having stated in 1881 that when it came to the important question of interracial marriage, Mormons believed against "intermarriage with inferior races, particularly the negro."
1900-1950 teachings
George Cannon
In 1900, George Cannon, first counselor under Lorenzo Snow, repeated Brigham Young's teachings that if a man who had the priesthood married a black woman, then according to the law of the Lord, the man and any offspring should be killed so that the seed of Cain did not receive the priesthood.
Under Joseph F. Smith
Some other early 20th century teachings on the subject include notes from a 1907 Deseret News book by church seventy and influential Mormon theologian B.H. Roberts. In it Roberts approvingly quoted a Southern author who stated that a social divide between white and black people should be maintained at all costs as socializing would lead to mixed-race marriages with an inferior race and no disaster would compare to this as it would doom the Caucasian race. Additionally, a 1913 church publication in the church's Young Woman's Journal encouraged young women to maintain white racial purity and health by avoiding "race disintegration" and "race suicide".
Reuben Clark
First Presidency member Reuben Clark's under George Smith told Young Women's general leaders in 1946 that, "It is sought today in certain quarters to break down all race prejudice, and at the end of the road ... is intermarriage. ...[D]o not ever let that wicked virus get into your systems that brotherhood either permits or entitles you to mix races which are inconsistent. Biologically, it is wrong; spiritually, it is wrong." The quote was reprinted in the church's official Improvement Era magazine (a predecessor to the current Ensign magazine). Three years later as senior vice-president of the church-owned Hotel Utah which then banned black people, Clark stated that the ban was in place to prevent interracial socializing that could hurt church leaders' efforts "to preserve the purity of the race that is entitled to hold the priesthood." In response to inquiries from a Californian stake president about whether white members were required to associate with black people he also wrote that the church taught white members to avoid social interaction with black people since it could lead to mixed-race marriages and multi-ethnic children.
Under George Smith
In 1947 the First Presidency, sent a response letter to a member inquiring on the subject stating, "Social intercourse between the Whites and the Negroes should certainly not be encouraged because of leading to intermarriage, which the Lord has forbidden. ... [T]rying to break down social barriers between the Whites and the Blacks is [a move] that should not be encouraged because inevitably it means the mixing of the races if carried to its logical conclusion." Two months later in a letter to Lowry Nelson, the First Presidency stated that marriage between a black person and a white person is not sanctioned by the church and is "contrary to church doctrine".
1950-1978 teachings
Under David McKay
The latter half of the 20th century saw many changes in U.S. legal, and social views of interracial marriage, and many changes in top church leaders' teachings on the topic. For instance, church apostle Mark Petersen said in a 1954 address that church doctrine barred black people and white people from marrying each other. The speech was circulated among BYU religion faculty, much to the embarrassment of fellow LDS scholars, and over twenty years later Petersen denied knowing if the copies of his speech being passed around were authentic or not, apparently out of embarrassment.
In 1958, church apostle Bruce McConkie published "Mormon Doctrine" in which he stated that "the whole negro race have been cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry." The quote remained, despite many other revisions, until the church's Deseret Book ceased printing the book in 2010. The apostle Delber Stapley wrote in a 1964 letter to Mitt Romney's father that black people should not be entitled to "inter-marriage privileges with the Whites."
In 1966, a white woman who had received her endowments was banned by local leaders from going to the temple and was told her endowments were invalid because she had since married a black man. Church president McKay upheld the ban on going to the temple, but said her endowments were still valid.
Spencer Kimball
Top church leader Spencer W. Kimball gave several speeches addressing the subject. In a June 1958 address at Brigham Young University, he stated that "When I said you must teach your people to overcome their prejudices and accept the Indians, I did not mean that you would encourage intermarriage ... we must discourage intermarriage ... it is not expedient." He clarified, however, that interracial marriage was not considered a sin. In a January 1959 address he taught that church leaders were unanimous in teachings that Caucasians should marry Caucasians stating that interracial marriage was selfish because the background differences could pose challenges to the marriage and children. He also told BYU students in 1965 that "the brethren feel that it is not the wisest thing to cross racial lines in dating and marrying", something he repeated to them as church president over a decade later in 1976.
Teachings from 1978-present
Church publications have also contained statements discouraging interracial marriage. In the same June 1978 issue announcing that black members were now eligible for temple rites, missionary service, and priesthood ordination, the official newspaper of the LDS Church, printed an article entitled "Interracial marriage discouraged". The same day a church spokesman stated "interracial marriages generally have been discouraged in the past, ... that remains our position" and that "the Church does not prohibit ... interracial marriages but it does discourage them."
In 2003 author Jon Krakauer stated that "official LDS policy has continued to strongly admonish white saints not to marry blacks" in his "Under the Banner of Heaven". In response the church newsroom released a statement from BYU Dean of Religious Education Robert L. Millet that "There is, in fact, no mention whatsoever in [the church] handbook concerning interracial marriages. In addition, having served as a Church leader for almost 30 years, I can also certify that I have never received official verbal instructions condemning marriages between black and white members." Though, denying any condemnation of interracial marriage, there was no comment on whether it was still discouraged, however. The most recent statement came in 2008 when spokesperson Mark Tuttle stated that the church has no policy against interracial marriage.
The discouragement of marriage between those of different ethnicities by church leaders continued being taught to youth during Sunday meetings until 2013 when the use of the 1996 version of the church Sunday meeting manual for adolescent boys was discontinued. The manual had used a 1976 quote from past church president Spencer Kimball that said, "We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally". The quote is still in use, however, in the 2003 institute Eternal Marriage Student Manual. Additionally, a footnote to a 1995 conference talk by the apostle Russell Nelson notes that loving without racial discrimination is a general commandment, but not one to apply to specific marriage partner criteria since it states that being united in ethnic background increases the probability of a successful marriage.
In 2013 the LDS Church published an essay entitled Race and the Priesthood on its official website. The essay disavowed teachings in the past that interracial marriage was a sin, indicating that it was influenced by the racism of the era.
Notable LDS members in interracial marriages
- Gerrit Gong -- LDS Apostle. Gong is Asian-American and is married to Susan Lindsay who is white.
- Mia Love -- Utah State Representative. Love is Haitian-American and her husband Jason is white.
- Kyle Collinsworth -- NBA player for the Dallas Mavericks. Collinsworth is white and his wife Shea is Mexican-American
See also
- Interracial marriage
- Miscegenation
- Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Black people and Mormonism
- Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Egyptus
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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