This heretical policy all started with Brigham Young and his declaration in 1852 that blacks could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, and sadly and shamefully lasted until 1978.
What were the reasons put forth to explain and justify this policy by God’s prophet? (Yes, it was nothing but a policy and not based on any commandment or revelation from God)
These were the main reasons put forth justifying this travesty:
Claiming the curse of Cain applied to all those with black skin, who were descendants of him and thus cursed also.
The belief that Blacks had been less valiant in the pre-existence and were thus being punished.
The belief Blacks are less intelligent.
The belief they were supposed to be servants.
The belief that it was a sin to intermarry with them.
The belief they were not fit to hold any office of authority.
Those are all awful, hateful, racist reasons and have no basis in scripture, as they contradict the basic laws of the gospel of Jesus Christ and simple logic.
I am not going to go through and refute each one of them by the scriptures, even though it can be done as there is a far simpler way to prove this is and always was a false doctrine. However I am going to include the following scripture from the Book of Mormon which always contradicted Brigham’s doctrine: 2 Nephi 26:33
- For none of these iniquities(injustices) come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.
So I have a question. While this policy of man was in effect, over an unbelievable 126 years in a church claiming continuous revelation, was there any other established doctrine which completely contradicted and refuted it at the same time?
Yes, there was and it proved this racist doctrine false the whole time.
Lets turn to Moroni chapter 8 and start reading:
8 Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me.
12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!
14 Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell.
15 For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism.
16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.
22 For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing—
and in Mosiah 15: 25 And little children also have eternal life.
And finally a revelation received by Joseph Smith in 1836 and recorded in D&C 137:10 And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.
The doctrine of the restored church has been that ALL children who die before the age of accountability will inherit celestial glory and eternal life. This is taught as the pinnacle of what is possible and only the most righteous followers of Jesus Christ will receive this reward. This doctrine has never been challenged or changed in the church.
Now do you see the problem with Brigham Young and his racist policy towards blacks contradicting the doctrine of Jesus Christ regarding little children? It is a massive and irreconcilable contradiction which for some reason he missed(or ignored) and which has also been disregarded by all the leaders after him, who also ignored it and kept this evil policy in place for almost another 101 years after BY died.
How did they miss this? Why did they miss this?
How many millions of Black children do you think have died under the age of eight since Brigham’s ban was put into place?
Did a little searching on Google and came up with this statistic: In Africa there are 2.6 million deaths of little children under the age of 5 each year due to under-nutrition. That is a lot of Black children who go to the celestial kingdom isn’t it? Assuming this is pretty accurate, if we were to add up all the Black children who died under the age of 8 from 1852 until 1978 we would have a huge number wouldn’t we? Definitely more than 15 million, which is what the ENTIRE membership of the LDS church currently stands at.
Although I can’t find the yearly statistics to prove this my guess is way more than 100 million black children under the age of 8 died during that period and were saved in the Celestial Kingdom. One hundred million righteous, valiant, intelligent and much loved spirit children of our Father who were born into temporary physical bodies that just happened to have black skins. There haven’t even been 100 million members of the church in the entire history of the church. That is a lot of proof we shouldn’t put our trust in men and their works.
And yet according to Brigham none of those millions of Black children were valiant enough, intelligent enough or worthy enough for that blessing or even far lesser ones. According to him they were all cursed and fit only to be servants to superior people like him. Guess God disagreed with him.
And here’s a thought: How many white children do you think died before the age of eight during that same period? That would be an interesting comparison wouldn’t it? If it was proven that more black children than white children died under the age of eight what would that say about who is more righteous? More valiant? More intelligent?
Something to think about, isn’t it?
It also leads to the ironic conclusion it is much better to die before the age of eight if you want to go to the Celestial Kingdom, doesn’t it? 7.5 million children die a year who are under the age of five. Every 2 years the equivalent of the whole membership of the entire church make it to the celestial kingdom, all without any help whatsoever from the church. Between 2000 and 2010 at least 92 million children have died and gone to the Celestial Kingdom, again, all without the slightest help from the LDS church, its money, its temples and its leaders. None of them ever followed a prophet. That is sobering. Starvation and disease is more likely to get you into the celestial kingdom then a ‘living prophet’, apostles, changing doctrines and policies, endless meetings, donations, programs, correlation, rules and callings. Who would have thunk?
The real question one should ask is why did it take so long for the presidents, apostles and other prominent leaders of the church who succeeded Brigham to get rid of this obviously false doctrine? Why did they teach two completely opposing doctrines for so long without ever seeing their hypocrisy? What happened to continuous revelation and the constantly chanted mantra that God would never allow His servants to lead His church astray? It’s obvious somebody isn’t telling the truth here, isn’t it?
Racism is evil. It is not of God and not condoned by Him. We are to Love our Neighbors regardless of their color, race or nationality and treat all people as we want to be treated. Spirits don’t have a race or nationality. Those are just ways man has come up with to discriminate and separate and excuses to hate, harm, divide and control others. We are all God’s children, equally loved and valued. Skin color or race is no indication of where we stand in God’s favor or love. Anyone who tells you differently is a liar.
Right Reason 
The concept of the blacks being servants reminds me of the Savior’s teachings in Matt 20:25-27 (also Matt 23:10-12, and Mark 10:42-45). Combining the idea of blacks being servants with the Savior’s teachings here would lead to the conclusion that the black race is superior.
Spot on…regardless of what kingdom I end up in, I will be knocking Brigham Young on his ass twice…once for the racist priesthood ban…once for plural marriage.
Don’t forget women. They have as much right to the priesthood as blacks but their ban is still in place.
Being saved, entrance in the celestial kingdom, is different than exaltation. I’m not trying to defend the priesthood ban, just pointing out this article’s argument is irrelevant. Baptism is available to all who are accountable, regardless of race/color, etc, always has been. This is what gives entrance to the kingdom, also why children don’t need it because they aren’t accountable.
Higher ordinances for exaltation were restricted. I came here looking for a better understanding for the ban, but this article does not help. Ironically, it shows why all the prophets during this time didn’t consider this article’s perspective because it is irrelevant to the true topic. Instead of getting angry and name calling, seek for understanding first.
The term “exaltation” was only introduced as part of the false doctrine known as D&C section 132 in an attempt to sell polygamy.
ALL little children who die before the age of accountability receive salvation or eternal life, a place in the celestial kingdom, which is the highest degree of glory the father has prepared.
Salvation means eternal life; the two terms are synonymous; they mean exactly the same thing. Joseph Smith said, “Salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses and in nothing else.” (Lectures on Faith, pp. 63–67.)
God said in Moses 1:39 “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Not the “exaltation” of man. That is a term man came up with not God.
hard to believe you think joe smith is a prophet sucker
Actually racism is 100% from God. Who do you think made the races? Why do you think Abraham and Isaac forbid their sons from marrying Canaanite women? Did that come from God or were they just racists? Even Joseph Smith taught against intermarriage with the “Negroes.”
The Pearl of Great Price makes it clear that the Canaanites are the cursed race and have no right to the priesthood, regardless of how righteous they may be. The POGP also informs us that the Canaanite race and the seed of Cain are black. Through Ham’s wife Egyptus the cursed race of the pre-flood Canaanites was preserved after the flood.
Moses 7:8
8 For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.
Moses 7:22
22 And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them.
Abraham 1:21-27
21 Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.
22 From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.
23 The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;
24 When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.
25 Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.
26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
27 Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;
Joseph Smith referred to the “Negroes” as being the sons of Ham. D&C 134 states that it was wrong to preach the gospel to “bond-servants” (Black slaves) against the will of their masters or to interfere with the master bond-servant system.
Noah cursed Canaan the son of Ham and Egyptus to be a servant of servants to Shem and Japeth.
Genesis 9
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
During his mortal ministry Christ ignored a “woman of Canaan” and initially refused to heal her daughter. He referred to her as a dog. (Matthew 15:22-28)
The prophet Zechariah prophesied that when the New Jerusalem is established and the millennium is ushered in that ” in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 14:21) See also Revelation 22:15 which lists who will be excluded from the New Jerusalem.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
The term dogs is a metaphorical link to Blacks, the same one Christ used to refer to the woman of Canaan.
I’m not suggesting that Brigham Young didn’t ever teach false doctrine or do things that were wrong, but he was clearly right about denying Blacks the priesthood and entrance to the House of the Lord. The scriptures back him up on this.
The verse from the Book of Mormon you sited about the gospel being for bond and free, black or white does not imply that Blacks have right to the priesthood or the Temple. First of all it must be noted that there were no Canaanites among the Nephites, so to them the term black and white referred to Nephites and Lamanites. Secondly no-one including Brigham Young denied Blacks the saving ordinances of the gospel via baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Of course all of these verses of scripture are terribly racist by the standards of the world today. This is nevertheless what the scriptures say. Which do we follow the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God?