Some have taken the above comment
to mean that President Young rejected the notion of a curse in the
pre-existence being the reason some are born black. But if that were the case,
why did he encourage Orson Hyde to teach it in the Council of Fifty?
Additionally, President Young himself made comments stating that blacks
received the curse for “their own transgression”:
“Again to the subject before us,
as to the men bearing rule, not one of the children of old Cain have one
particle of right to bear rule in the government affairs from the first to
last; they have no business there. This privilege was taken from them by
their own transgressions, and I cannot help it; and should you or I bear
rule, we ought to do it with dignity and honor before God. (Complete
Discourses of Brigham Young <5 February 1852> page 469, emphasis
added) (Jacob Vidrine, “New Light on the Origin of the Priesthood Ban,” One
Eternal Round: A magazine Dedicated to Mormon History and Theology, no. 15
[August 15, 2020]: 26-27)
The following is from Speech of Elder Orson Hyde Delivered
Before The High Priests Quorum in Nauvoo, April 27th, 1845 page 30 (as
quoted in ibid., 24-25)
“At the time the devil was cast
out of heaven, there were some spirits that did not know who had the authority,
whether God or the devil. They consequently did not take a very active part on
either side, but rather thought the devil had been abused, and considered he
had rather the best claim to the government. These spirits were not considered
bad enough to be cast down in hell, and never have bodies; neither were they
considered worthy of an honorable body on this earth; but it came to pass that
Ham, the son of Noah, saw the nakedness of his father while he lay drunk in his
tent, and he with ‘wicked joy,’ ran like Rigdon, and made the wonderful
disclosure to his brethren: while Shem and Japheth took a garment, with pity
and compassion, laid ut upon their shoulders—went backwards and covered their
father, and saw not his nakedness. The joy of the first was to expose; that of
the second was to cover the unseemliness of their father. The conduct of the
former brought the curse of slavery upon him, while that of the latter secured
blessings, jurisdiction, power and dominion. Here was the beginning of blessing
and cursing in the family of Noah, and here also is the cause of both. Canaan,
the son of Ham, received the curse: for Noah wished to place the curse as
remote from himself as possible. He
therefore placed it upon his Grandson instead of his son. Now, it would seem
cruel to force pure celestial spirits into the world through the lineage of
Canaan that had been cursed. This would be ill appropriate, putting the
precious and the vile together. But those spirits in heaven that rather lent an
influence to the devil, thinking he had a little the best right to govern, but
did not take a very active part any way, were required to come into the world
and take bodies in the accursed lineage of Canaan; and hence the negro or African
race. Now, therefore, all those who are halting concerning who has the right to
govern had better look at the face of their brethren that have gone before
them, and take warning in time lest they learn obedience by the things which
they suffer. ‘Choose ye this day whom you will serve.’ These things are among
the mysteries of the kingdom, and I have told them, not by constraint or by
commandment, but by permission.”
