“The Church was established in 1830, during an era of great racial division in the United States. At the time, many people of African descent lived in slavery, and racial distinctions and prejudice were not just common but customary among white Americans. Those realities, though unfamiliar and disturbing today, influenced all aspects of people’s lives, including their religion. ...In two speeches delivered before the Utah territorial legislature in January and February 1852, Brigham Young announced a policy restricting men of black African descent from priesthood ordination. The justifications for this restriction echoed the widespread ideas about racial inferiority that had been used to argue for the legalization of black “servitude” in the Territory of Utah. According to one view, which had been promulgated in the United States from at least…
“...roughly 12.3 million Africans were trafficked to the Americas. Enormous wealth was generated for those in the slave industry through the unjust toil of Africans—men, women, and children. Daily life of enslaved Africans was punctuated by horrendous abuse. In some instances, they were branded with hot irons on the chest or face. Slaves were whipped, forced to wear iron masks, placed in the stocks, sexually assaulted, and subjected to other forms of torture. Besides torture, enslaved Africans’ agency was severely limited by a set of laws called slave codes. It was, for example, illegal for an enslaved person to own property, trade goods, leave an enslaver’s property without permission, learn to read and write, speak their native language, or marry. Black families had no rights under the law, which meant…
“In this country, we are blessed to have an inspired Constitution that lays out an exemplary form of government. But without personal virtue, it isn’t enough.” …King Mosiah in Mosiah 29 outlined the differences between righteous rulers and wicked kings. Benjamin Franklin said: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” Elder Uchtdorf asked, “So what will our future look like? Will we become a nation in need of more masters? Or will we rise as sons and daughters of a loving God and strive for goodness? Compassion for others? Justice, humility, civic courage, kindness and charity toward all?” Elder Uchtdorf said that while there is hatred and suffering and division all around, and while humankind has made…
“Though most early Latter-day Saint converts were from the Northern States and were opposed to slavery, slavery affected Church history in a number of ways. In 1832, Latter-day Saints who had settled in Missouri were attacked by their neighbors, who accused them of “tampering with our slaves, and endeavoring to sow dissensions and raise seditions amongst them.” That winter, Joseph Smith received a revelation that a war would begin over the slave question and that slaves would “rise up against their masters.” The next year, concerns that free black Saints would gather to Missouri was the spark that ignited further violence against the Saints and led to their expulsion from Jackson County.” “In the mid-1830s, the Saints tried to distance themselves from the controversy over slavery. Missionaries were instructed not…
“The most important Latter-Day Saint publications during the 1840s were the Times and Seasons, ...and the Nauvoo Neighbor. ...Through his role as editor of the Times and Seasons and Neighbor, Taylor became a leading defender of the Mormon faith. He vigorously publicized Mormonism’s antislavery position. Taylor denounced Missouri as a slave state whose “coffers” groaned “with the spoils of the oppressed.” Taylor, like Joseph Smith, assailed Henry Clay as a “slaveholder” who, if elected president, would make America the “slavest and vainest nation on earth.” See also Samuel W. Taylor, The Kingdom of Nothing: The Life of John Taylor, Militant Mormon (New York: Macmillan, 1976) and Times and Seasons, July 1, 1843; Nauvoo Neighbor, April 17, 1844
“I speak of the problem of racism. You will recall President Russell M. Nelson’s great teachings in general conference on this subject and perhaps my own plea that Latter-day Saints unite to “root out racism.” To do that, we must have clear thinking about how current events should be analyzed and acted upon in view of this nation’s shameful history of Black slavery.”
Dedicatory prayer of the Church’s monuments to free and enslaved, member and non-member Black pioneers: “...We’re honored to be able to dedicate this memorial and these wonderful features that have now been added to declare to all who visit how precious and important every child of God is unto Thee... We are grateful for the Black pioneers and our dear friends of the Black community and in the Church and all that they do to bless the lives of others. Protect these wonderful representations [that] remind us of who we are and what blessings we enjoy because of those pioneers,”
“...Within weeks of entering the valley, the Saints encountered Indian tribes who had captured children from other bands. Some Saints bought Indian children from these slave traders, in some instances after seeing the traders kill or torture those the Latter-day Saints did not purchase. Pioneer families adopted and attempted to integrate these children into Latter-day Saint communities, despite cultural differences and racial prejudice. Some exploited and mistreated these Indian children.” “In March 1852 the legislature in Utah Territory passed “An Act for the Relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners,” a law that regulated the acquisition and care of Indian children. The children could be indentured as household servants for up to 20 years, but those who acquired servants were required to process an indenture agreement with county officials, clothe the…
“Latter-day Saint militiamen planned and carried out a massacre. They lured the emigrants from their circled wagons with a false flag of truce and, aided by Paiute Indians they had recruited, slaughtered them. Between the first attack and the final slaughter, 120 were killed. ...In the early 2000s, the Church made diligent efforts to learn everything possible about the massacre. Historians in the Church History Department scoured archives throughout the United States for historical records; every Church record on the massacre was also opened to scrutiny. A resulting book published by Oxford University Press in 2008 by authors Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard concluded that while intemperate preaching about outsiders by Brigham Young, George A. Smith, and other leaders contributed to a climate of…
“The predecessors of many Americans of different backgrounds made great sacrifices to establish this nation. Whatever those sacrifices—of freedom, property, or even life—let us now honor them for what they have done for us...”
