Friday, June 2, 2017

Resources on the Blacks and the Priesthood Restriction

39 years ago this month, Spencer Kimball et al. received the revelation lifting the priesthood ban on blacks. Being blunt, while revelation was behind the revelation, the origins thereof was clearly not—it was based on racism, pure and straight, and did not originate with Joseph Smith. The overwhelming evidence of history proves this. I will never defend the practice either here or elsewhere (whenever I am asked about it, I do give the historical background to discuss and situate the ban, though I always preface it by saying that it was a mistake, pure and straight).

Here are some must-read resources on the issue of blacks and Mormonism:

Russel W. Stevenson, For the Cause of Righteousness: A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism, 1830-2013

Black and Mormon, eds. Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith

Matthew L. Harris and Newell G. Bringhurst, The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History

Armand L. Mauss, All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage

Connell O’Donovan, “Brigham Young, African Americans, and Plural Marriage: Schism and the Beginnings of Black Priesthood and Temple Denial” in The Persistence of Polygamy: From Joseph Smith’s Martyrdom to The First Manifesto, 1844-1890, eds. Newell G. Bringhurst and Craig L. Foster, pp. 48-86

An important article, one that was influential in Spencer Kimball's deliberations about the priesthood restriction (see the discussion in Edward Kimball, Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball [Deseret Book, 2005]) would be:


This essay, written while the restriction was still in force, thoroughly refuted the thesis Joseph Smith introduced the ban during the Missouri period of early LDS history

And of course, the LDS Church's Gospel Topics essay on the restriction is well-done, too:



There are other great resources, but the above books and essays should bring someone up to speed on the topic of blacks and the priesthood restriction.