In a letter written by Sterling M. McMurrin to Llewelyn R. McKay (a son of David O. McKay) dated August 26, 1968, we read the following:
I am writing this
letter, with copies to your brothers Lawrence, Edward, and Robert, to tell you
of a conversation with your father in the Spring of 1954. He had requested the
meeting, which was in Auerbach building of the University. . . .I recall telling
you of this conversation not long after it took place, but I’m interested now
in detailing a small part of it in writing, as I believe it is of such
importance that it should be part of your family record. . . . Our discussion
centered on the question of orthodoxy and heresy and the general problem of
dissent in the Church. The views which President McKay expressed to me on these
matters were remarkably liberal and deserve to be known by the general
membership of the Church.
At one point in the
conversation I introduced the subject of the common belief among the Church
membership that Negroes are under a divine curse. I told him that I regarded this
doctrine as both false and morally abhorrent and that some weeks earlier, in a
class in my own Ward, I had made it clear that I did not accept the doctrine
and that I wanted to be known as a dissenter to the class instructor’s
statements about “our beliefs” in this matter.
President McKay
replied that he was “glad” that I had taken this stand, as he also did
not believe this teaching. He stated his position in the matter very
forcefully and clearly and said with considerable feeling that “there is not
now, and there never has been, a doctrine in this Church that the Negroes are
under a divine curse.” He insisted that there is no doctrine of any kind
pertaining to the Negro.” We believe,” he said, “that we have scriptural precedent
for withholding the priesthood from the Negro. It is a practice, not a
doctrine, and the practice will some day be changed. And that’s all there
is to it.” He made it clear what scripture had had min mind by mentioning the
well known passage in the Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 1:26-27. He made
no reference to the Bible or the Cain and Able Story.
I told President McKay
that I thought his statement on the Negro issue was of major importance and
that it should be made public both in print and in a Conference statement in
order to clear up the confusion of thousands of people in the Church believing
in the “divine curse” teaching. To this he gave no reply except to reiterate
his position, saying, “There is no such doctrine and as far as I am concerned
there never was.”
I am able to report
your father’s words with near accuracy because they were strongly impressed
upon my memory and because within a few hours after our meeting I made a
detailed recording of the entire discussion.
This matter, of
course, is of very great important to the Church and its future, considering not
only the moral quality of our religion, which is relieved of a great burden if
there is no official doctrine, but also the problem of eventual change in the
practice of withholding full fellowship from Negroes. Such a change could be
somewhat difficult if there were an official doctrine.
Your father showed
great wisdom in taking this position and it has been a disappointment to me
that the Church has not clarified the issue on the terms which he stated. . . .
I frankly wish I could feel free to make President McKay’s statement to me on
this subject a matter of public record, as I believe this would be a very good
thing for the Church and would help to clear up a great deal of confusion in
the minds of many of its members.
You know of my
sincere esteem and affection for your father. I hope that you will express them
to him. I leave to your own good judgment whether or not you show him this
letter. (cited in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? [5th
ed.; Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987, 2008], 290)
The claims made by McMurrin in his letter
was vindicated in an article, "Educator
Cites McKay Statement Of No Negro Bias in LDS Tenets," Salt Lake
Tribune, January 15, 1970, 33:
President David O.
McKay of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was quoted Wednesday
as saying as early as 1954 that “There is no doctrine in thus church and never
was a doctrine in this church to the effect that the Negroes are under any kind
of a divine curse.”
Dr. Sterling M.
McMurrin, former U.S. Commissioner of Education and Now E. E. Ericksen Distinguished
Professor of Philosophy and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Utah,
recalled a conversation in which President McKay also said, “As a matter of fact,
there is no doctrine in this church whatsoever that pertains to the Negros.” .
. . The philosophy professor, himself a Mormon, emphasized that he made
detailed noted immediately following the 1954 conversation. And on Aug. 26,
1968 he wrote a three-page letter to President McKay’s son, Dr. Llewelyn R.
McKay, recalling the church leader’s belief that Negroes were not cursed by
God.
Copies of the letter
were sent to President McKay’s three other sons, David Lawrence McKay, Dr.
Edward R. McKay and Robert R. McKay.
Dr. Llewelyn Mckay “told
me later that he read the letter to his father, and that his father told him
that it was an entirely reliable report of what happened and what he said,”
Dr. McMurrin stated.
Letter Confirmed
This was confirmed
Wednesday by Dr. McKay, who said there is “nothing contrary to what
President McKay said,” in the letter.
Further Reading
Russell Stevenson, For the Cause of Righteousness: A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism, 1830-2013