Mormonism and White Supremacy

American Religion and the Problem of Racial Innocence

By: Joanna Brooks

Narrated by: Pam Ward

To this day, churchgoing Mormons report that they hear from their fellow congregants in Sunday meetings that African Americans are the accursed descendants of Cain whose spirits - due to their lack of spiritual mettle in a premortal existence - were destined to come to Earth with a "curse" of black skin. This claim can be made in many Mormon Sunday Schools without fear of contradiction. You are more likely to encounter opposition if you argue that the ban on the ordination of Black Mormons was a product of human racism. Like most difficult subjects in Mormon history and practice, says Joanna Brooks, the priesthood and temple ban on Blacks has been managed carefully in LDS institutional settings with a combination of avoidance, denial, selective truth-telling, and determined silence.

As America begins to come to terms with the costs of White privilege to Black lives, this book urges a soul-searching examination of the role American Christianity has played in sustaining everyday white supremacy by assuring White people of their innocence. In Mormonism and White Supremacy, Joanna Brooks offers an unflinching look at her own people's history and culture and finds in them lessons that will hit home for every scholar of American religion and person of faith.

©2020 Oxford University Press (P)2020 Tantor

Researcher Approves

As a former member of the LDS Church and closeted historian, I found this latest work concerning Church History spot on. For corroborating information to this work try Watchman of the Tower (a tale of E.T. Benson quest against communism and race), and David 0. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. He too has issues with race and communism.
Brooks covers the issue of racism in white America in the context of Mormonism with depth and understanding. We are a product of our past, but let us move pass that. It is true how we would dance around the issue, yet claim we weren’t opposed to “the dark mark.”
This so-called mark of Cain is actually our planets oldest humans, what we now know are the forbearers of humans today. Yes yes, black people were here first.
The author is adept at moving through sensitive subjects and suggests changes we can make. Excellent listen. The narrator was a little weird though.

Scholarly, engaging work

The first chapter, to me, felt needlessly academic and verbose. However, if you stick with it, the rest of the book becomes much more engaging as it presents compelling history, quotes, and information. Definitely recommended to those interested in the subject.

Excellent research, highly recommend

The author provides a thorough review of LDS theology related to race- from the time of Joseph Smith through the civil rights period and including current events. It ends up being a very well written call to repentance for the entire church. The book gives me hope we can shed our racist past and become a more powerful source for good in the future.

I did not detect “anti-Mormon bias” as some other reviewers allege. However, I would say this is not a book I would recommend for my parents to read. I doubt anyone aligned with the GOP or anyone who likes Fox News will have anything positive to say about the book.

Excellent insight and a powerful call to action

I knew racism was a part of the Mormon church, I just had no idea it was so pervasive and systematic, from the top down. This takes all the weak explanations for the priesthood ban and not just rejects them, but calls individual Mormons out for perpetuating AND silently allowing such racist reasoning to go on unchallenged.

Important!

The audio cuts out in some places, and it should not deter the message in any way. This is a must read audiobook, and one for your physical reading library.

NEVER KNEW THESE THINGS

loved it..I like the reader also..very informative for all races..this book continues to show how much racism continues to date..

This book was extremely helpful!

I loved this book! It was extremely informative and helpful. This book moved the needle for me, as I continue to struggle with my reasons for maintaining membership in the church. Thank you.

A must read

Regardless of race or belief, this is a good read. But if you’re Mormon, it’s essential to know the material in this book

No really, the temple ban was racist

This book shares the history of the church's actions regarding blacks and the priesthood and the lifting of the ban in 1978. The information is shared by a current, active member of the church and therefore is not what one would consider "anti-mormon" literature. The book shares a chronological view of how the ban came to be and the lack of doctrinal support for it. Given that it's written by an active member there are definitely things (facts) left out which would probably bring the ire of church leadership upon her if they had been incorporated. That being said, I appreciated that she was willing to honestly share some of the ugly things said by previous leaders. I don't feel like this is a comprehensive guide to the ban specifically or the racism inherent in church doctrine in general, but it's an excellent place to start. Especially for those active members trying to understand what happened and looking for a non-biased perspective. I didn't enjoy the tempo and delivery of the narrator, I found the audio incredibly slow, I felt like I was back in school watching one of those educational videos.

A must read for Mormons and non-Mormons who want to understand the church’s history with racism

2020 got me reading a variety of books about American racism, including “Caste,” “The New Jim Crow,” “Color of Law,” and “How to be an Anti-Racist,” in order to understand more completely the issue of racism in America. However, I could not find a reliable book describing the racist history of my own faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka LDS or Mormons). This book has been a Godsend (pun intended), and references another book “Religion of another Color” by Paul Reece that I will read next.

To me, this book answers many why questions about the Church’s ban on black Africans holding the priesthood / serving in temples I have been struggling with for decades. It also urges action succinctly like no other book I’ve read on the subject. I listened, but I also just bought the hardcover to share with friends and family… and especially to teach my own children so they don’t grow up and feel disillusioned like I did when I learned of the ban in my later teens.