Mormon Priesthood and Racism
The conferral of the priesthood by John the Baptist on May 15, 1829 was not included in the Doctrine and Covenants (section 13) until 1834. Before that, the event is not mentioned, not even in the “Book of Commandments”, the predecessor of the Doctrine and Covenants.
There is no specific date for the restoration of the Melchesidek Priesthood.
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will sit together at the table of brotherhood...
I have a dream that one day my four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character."
(Martin Luther King, from theSpeech at the March on Washington 1963)
For nearly 130 years, not only were brethren of color barred from holding the priesthood, but black individuals and families were barred from receiving the saving ordinances of the temple.
Every prophet from Brigham Young to Harold B. Lee upheld this prohibition.
However, Joseph Smith ordained at least two black men to the priesthood, namely Elijah Abel and Walker Lewis.
So Joseph Smith gives the priesthood to the colored. Brigham Young, however, forbids it.
Every single one of the 10 prophets from Brigham Young to Harold B. Lee supports what Spencer W. Kimball calls a "possible error". (teachings ofSpencer W. Kimball, pp. 448-449).
Heavenly Father likes the black people under Joseph Smith enough to give them the priesthood, but then decides that's not okay when Brigham Young shows up.
And think so for the next 130 years, the next 10 prophets until President Kimball decides to get a revelation.
The same God who "rejects no one who comes to him, black and white, bondage and free, male and female; and he remembers the Gentiles; and all are equal before God, the Jews as well as the Gentiles. ( 2 Nephi 26:33)
The same god is said to have changed his mind again 130 years later in 1978?
Of course, the revelation by the brethren in the Salt Lake Temple on June 1, 1978 has absolutely nothing to do with Jimmy Carter's IRS, which may have wanted to revoke the church's tax-exempt status because of their racist attitudes. With Stanford and other universities boycotting BYU athletic competitions. In Brazil, at some point, it was no longer possible to determine who was still considered colored or not. And also not with the fact that civil rights trends against the racism of the church became stronger and stronger.
I expect Christ's true church to lead the civil rights movement and not be the last church on the planet to embrace it.
Quotes from Mormon Church leaders
John Taylor - The devil is represented by the blacks
“And we were told that after the flood the curse that came on Cain continued through Ham's wife.... And why did it last beyond the flood? Because it was necessary for the devil to be represented on earth, as was God."
Mormon Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, p. 304, 1881
Brigham Young - Red people become white and beautiful
“Here are the Lamanites, whose wickedness was not as great as that of those who slew the Son of God... They became loathsome and vile. Yet their curse will be removed sooner than the curse of the children of Judah. And they will become a white and fair people."
Mormon Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 143, 1854
Brigham Young - When the races are mixed, death comes upon the whites
“Shall I tell you the law of God concerning the African race. If the white man, who belongs to the chosen race, mixes his blood with Cain's, the penalty that follows is instant death. This will always be the case."
Mormon Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, p. 110, 1863
"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, unkempt, inconsistent, low in their habits, savage, and evidently lacking in all the blessings of intelligence that have been generously bestowed upon mankind....and the Lord put a mark on him (Cain), the black skin color and the flat nose. Trace the evolution of mankind from the Flood to the present day and you will see that another curse has been cast upon this race - that they shall be the 'Servants of all Servants'...."
Mormon Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 290, 1859