The matter of those having negro blood
in their veins not being able to get the Priesthood unless it was a very
limited proportion was chatted on. Prest. Snow remarked that the killing by
Cain of Abel was more than a simple murder, as Cain was aware of the fact that
the spirits who would have come to this world through the lineage of Abel would
be deprived of that privilege on account of his act. Abel was a prince of
Spirits and Cain the same and the spirits that Cain was Prince over agreed to
take on themselves the sin that he had committed and to come on this earth with
colored skins. There would be no redemption for them and they could not secure
the Priesthood until all of those spirits that had been deprived of coming
through Abel had been given tabernacles. This statement of the condition of the
negro had been made to him by Prest. Young about the time he was made an
Apostle. He was thankful that there was no statement that the Negro should
never have the Priesthood and that there would never be a day of redemption for
him. He referred to the troubles that we often have to pass through and
said there was one thing that we should be thankful for and that was that no
matter what we had to pass through that there would always be a man at the head
of the Church that would have the keys and who could and would give us the
light as he would get the mind of the Lord. (Heber J. Grant, Journal, October
1, 1890, in The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945 Abridged, Digital
Edition [Salt Lake City: 2015], emphasis in bold added)
