(1)The Negro situation is being exploited fully and continuously by Communists on a national scale. Current programs include intensified attempts to infiltrate Negro mass organizations. The party’s objectives are not to aid the Negroes—but are designed to take advantage of all controversial issues on the race question so as to create unrest, dissension and confusion in the minds of the American people.(2)
The Mark of Cain. And the Lord said unto Cain: . . . A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth . . . . And I the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him . . . . and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people . . . .
And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them. (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 5:34-40; 7:8, 22)
Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth. From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.
The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden.
When this women discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land. [p. 489]
Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.
Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generation, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.
Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry. (Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 1:21- 27)
Abolitionists Condemned. [1863] The rank, rabid abolitionists, whom I call black- hearted Republicans, have set the whole national fabric on fire. Do you know this, Demo crats? They have kindled the fire that is raging now from the north to the south, and from the south to the north.(3) I am no abolitionist, neither am I a pro-slavery man; I hate some of their principles and especially some of their conduct, as I do the gates of hell . . . .
. . . For their abuse of that race, the whites will be cursed, unless they repent.
I am neither an abolitionist nor a pro-slavery man. If I could have been influenced by private injury to choose one side in preference to the other, I should certainly be against the pro-slavery side of the question, for it was pro-slavery men that pointed the bayonet at me and my [p. 490] brethren in Missouri. (President Brigham Young, 1863, JD-10:110-1)
Negro Problem Always A State Matter. If you want to know what I think about the question, I think both parties are decidedly wrong. It is not the prerogative of the President of the United States to meddle with this matter, and Congress is not allowed, according to the Constitution, to legislate upon it.(4) If Utah was admitted into the Union as a sovereign State, and we chose to introduce slavery here, it is not their business to meddle with it; and even if we treated our slaves in an oppressive manner, it is still none of their business and they ought not to meddle with it. (President Brigham Young, 1856, JD-4:39-40)
I am aware that many, who profess to preach the Gospel, complain against their brethren of the same faith, who reside in the South, and are ready to withdraw the hand of fellowship, because they will not renounce the principle of slavery, and raise their voice against every thing of the kind. This must be a tender point, and one which should call forth the candid reflections of all men, and more especially before they advance in an opposition calculated to lay waste the fair states of the South, and let loose upon the world a community of people, who might; peradventure, overrun our country, and violate the most sacred principles of human society, chastity and virtue.
No one will pretend to say that the people of the free states are as capable of knowing the evils of slavery, as those who hold slaves. If slavery be an evil, who could we expect would first learn it: Would the people of the free states, or the people of the slave states? All must readily admit, that the latter would first learn this fact. If the fact were learned first by those immediately concerned, who would be more capable than they of prescribing [p. 491] a remedy? And besides, are not those who hold slaves, persons of ability, discernment and candor? Do they not expect to give an account at the bar of God for their conduct in this life? It may no doubt with propriety be said that many who hold slaves live without the fear of God before their eyes; but the same may be said of many in the free states. Then who is to be the judge of this matter? So long, then, as the people of the free states, are not interested in the freedom of the slaves, in any other way than upon the mere abstract principles of equal rights, and of the Gospel; and are ready to admit that there are men of piety, who reside in the South, who are immediately concerned, and until they complain and call for assistance, why not cease this clamor,(5) and no further urge the slave to acts of murder, and the master to vigorous discipline, rendering both miserable, and unprepared to pursue that course which might otherwise lead them both to better their conditions? I do not believe that the people of the North have any more right to say that the South shall not hold slaves, than the South have to say the North shall.
And further, what benefit will it ever be to the slaves for persons to run over the free states, and excite indignation against their masters in the minds of thousands and tens of thousands, who understand nothing relative to their circumstances, or conditions? I mean particularly those who have never traveled in the South, and who in all their lives have scarcely ever seen a negro.
How any community can ever be excited with the chatter of such persons, boys and others, who are too indolent to obtain their living by honest industry, and are incapable of pursuing any occupation of a professional nature, is unaccountable to me; and when I see persons in the free states, signing documents against slavery, it is [p. 492] not less, in my mind, than an army of influence, and a declaration of hostilities, against the people of the South. What course can sooner divide our union?(6) (Prophet Joseph Smith, 1836, DHC-2:437-8)
Civil Rights—An Extension of Federal Power. An interesting example of the socialist mind at work is the present so-called Civil Rights Bill of 1963.(7) I am going to quote, in part, from a talk made by John C. Satterfield, past president of the American Bar Association, over the Manion Forum, weekly broadcast No. 468, September 15, 1963:
It is clothed in the name of civil rights and is called the Civil Rights Act of 1963. As a matter of fact, it is 10 per cent civil rights and it is 90 per cent extension of Federal executive power at the expense of individuals, states and municipalities—in fact, at the expense of everyone . . . .
Do you borrow money from a bank that is in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation system or the Federal Reserve system? Have you an FHA or VA loan? Have you a Small [p. 493] Business Administration loan? Are you a realtor, a developer, home owner? Are you interested in schools and colleges? Are you a farmer who has anything to do with the Farm Credit Administration, Commodity Credit Corporation, Soil Conservation Service, Federal Crop Insurance, REA, Agricultural Research?
If you are any of these, or participate in any of these, then under this Act the Federal Fair Employment Practices Commission will dictate to you whom you may hire, whom you may fire, whom you promote, whom you demote, and how you may handle your employees . . . .
Not only that, but it brings in almost every profession and every business—lawyers, realtors, doctors, small establishments, restaurants, gasoline stations, theaters, hotels, motels and lodging houses—and the Federal control will never end . . . .
Under the provisions of this Act, combining them all, the United States Commissioner of Education could come into a school and force the transfer of children from one school to another until there was either racial balance or religious balance . . . .
Not only that, but the next step to a complete and uncontrolled dictatorship of any government is the control of the voting and of the electoral machinery . . . . This Act . . . would transfer from the states to the Federal Government the right to fix qualifications for voters, contrary to the provision of the Constitution of the United States. It would also transfer, under the circumstances stated in the Act, the right of registration of voters from the state and local officers to Federal referees . . . .
You should think about this legislation because it destroys everything that we have heretofore felt protects us from a complete and absolute power of a central government. It is something that strikes home to every businessman, every home owner, and every worker in the United States . . . .(8)
In other words, we may say that the states would be reduced to little more than subdivisions within the central government and largely subject to its control. It would be almost certain to result in an all-powerful national government with authority to intervene in the private affairs [p. 494] of individual citizens. It would, furthermore, control and adjust relationships between men in accordance with the dictates of those in charge . . . .
Never forget that history is filled with examples of men who mean to be good rulers but who nevertheless mean to rule. (Ezra Taft Benson, BYU, 12/10/63)
Appeal to Military Power A Sign of Decay. When we reflect upon this it shows how changed have become the affairs of our nation, when it is deemed necessary to ap peal to military power to maintain good order in the Republic. There can be no surer sign of the decay of a republic than when human life and property and liberty cannot be sustained by the masses of the people, and the military power, the ranks of which are filled with hired soldiers, has to be appealed to sustain good order in the midst of the people. Let such a state of things continue and there would soon be an end of true republicanism. (George Q. Cannon, 1878, JD-20:34)
Negro Entitled to Rights.(9) No church or other organization is more insistent than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the Negroes should receive all the rights and privileges that can possibly be given to any other in the true sense of equality as declared in the Declaration of Independence. They should be equal to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” They should be equal in the matter of education.(10) They should not be barred from obtaining knowledge and becoming proficient in any field of science, art or mechanical [p. 495] occupation. They should be free to choose any kind of employment, to go into business in any field they may choose and to make their lives as happy as it is possible without interference from white men, labor unions or from any other source. In their defense of these privileges the members of the Church will stand. (Joseph Fielding Smith, 1958, Answers to Gospel Questions 2:185)
Mixing Races Forbidden By God. We should hate nobody, and having said that, I wish to urge a word of caution, particularly to you young girls. It is thought today in certain quarters to break down all race prejudice, and at the end of the road, which they who urge this see, is intermarriage. That is what it finally comes to. Now, you should hate nobody; you should give to every man and every woman, no matter what the color of his and her skin may be, full civil rights. You should treat them as brothers and sisters, but do not ever let that wicked virus get into your systems that brotherhood either permits or entitles you to mix races which are inconsistent.(11) Biologically, it is wrong; spiritually, it is wrong. (J. Reuben Clark, 1946, E-49:492.)
(Note: In answering the letter of a prominent Mormon critical of the Church policy in this matter, the First Presidency wrote as follows:)
We might make this initial remark: the social side of the Restored Gospel is only an incident of it; it is not the end thereof.
The basic element of your ideas and concepts seems to be that all God’s children stand in equal positions before Him in all things.
Your knowledge of the Gospel will indicate to you that this is contrary to the very fundamentals of God’s dealings with Israel dating from the time of His promise to Abraham regarding Abraham’s seed and their position vis-a-vis God Himself. Indeed, some of God’s children were assigned to superior positions before the world was formed. We are aware that some Higher Critics do not accept this, but the Church does. [p. 496]
Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the pre- existence of our spirits, the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we may be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore.
From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.
Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now. God’s rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogamous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed
We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine. (The First Presidency, 7/17/47, quoted by John J. Stewart, Mormonism and the Negro, P. 46-7)
Official Church Position. The attitude of the Church with reference to negroes remains as it has always stood.(12) It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the priesthood at the present time. The prophets of the Lord have made several statements as to the operation of the principle. [p. 497]
President Brigham Young said:
Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the holy priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the holy priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to. (JD-11:272)
President Wilford Woodruff made the following statement: “The day will come when all that race will be redeemed and possess all the blessings which we now have.”
The position of the Church regarding the negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the premortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality, and that while the details of this principle have not been made known, the principle itself indicates that the coming to this earth and taking on mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintained their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood, is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the negroes. (The First Presidency, 8/17/51, quoted by William E. Berrett in Mormonism and the Negro.)
The Negro And The Priesthood. In your letter to me of October 28, 1947, you say that you and some of your fellow students “have been perturbed about the question of why the negroid race cannot hold the priesthood.”
In reply I send you the following thoughts that I expressed to a friend upon the same subject:
Stated briefly your problem is simply this:— [p. 498]
Since, as Paul states, the Lord “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,” why is there shown in the Church of Christ discrimination against the colored race?
This is a perplexing question, particularly in the light of the present trend of civilization to grant equality to all men irrespective of race, creed, or color. The answer, as I have sought it, cannot be found in abstract reasoning, for, in this case, reason to the soul is “dim as the borrowed rays of moon and stars to lonely, weary, wandering trav elers.”
I know of no scriptural basis for denying the Priesthood to Negroes other than one verse in the Book of Abraham (1:26); however, I believe, as you suggest, that the real reason dates back to our Pre-existent life.
This means that the true answer to your question (and it is the only one that has ever given me satisfaction) has its foundation in faith—(1) Faith in a God of Justice, (2) Faith in the existence of an eternal plan of salvation for all God’s children.
Faith in a God of Justice Essential: I say faith in a God of Justice, because if we hold the Lord responsible for the conditions of the Negro in his relationship to the Church, we must acknowledge justice as an attribute of the Eternal, or conceive Him as a discriminator and therefore unworthy of our worship. In seeking our answer, then, to the problem wherein discrimination seems apparent, we must accept the Lord as being upright, and that “Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” (Psalm 89:14), and we must believe that He will “render to every man according to his work,” and that He “shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:14) Accepting the truth that God is just and righteous, we may then set our minds at rest in the assurance that “Whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall be received of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” (Eph. 6:8)
I emphasize Justice as an attribute of Deity, because it is the Lord who, though He “made of one blood all nations,” also “determined the bounds of their habitation.” [p. 499] In other words, the seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man, but goes back into the Beginning with God
It was the Lord who said that Pharaoh, the first Governor of Egypt, though “a righteous man, blessed with the blessings of the earth, with the blessings of wisdom . . . could not have the right of Priesthood.” (Abr. 1:26-7)
Now if we have faith in the justice of God, we are forced to the conclusion that this denial was not a deprivation of merited right. It may have been entirely in keeping with the eternal plan of salvation for all of the children of God.
The Peopling of the Earth is in Accordance with a Great Plan: Revelation assures us that this plan antedates man’s mortal existence, extending back to man’s pre-existent state. In that pre-mortal state were “intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good.” (Abr. 3:22-3)
Manifestly, from this revelation, we may infer two things: first, that there were among those spirits different degrees of intelligence, varying grades of achievement, retarded and advanced spiritual attainment; second, that there were no national distinctions among those spirits such as Americans, Europeans, Asiatics, Australians, etc. Such “bounds of habitation” would have to be “determined” when the spirits entered upon their earthly existence or second estate.
In the “Blue Bird” Materlinck pictures unborn children summoned to earth life. As one group approaches the earth, the voices of the children earthward tending are heard in the distance to cry: “The earth! the earth! I can see it; how beautiful it is! How bright it is!” Then following these cries of ecstasy there issued from out the depth of the abyss a sweet song of gentleness and expectancy, in reference to which the author says: “It is the song of the mothers coming out to meet them.” [p. 500]
Materlinck’s fairy play is not all fantasy or imagination, neither is Wordsworth’s “Ode on Intimations of Immortality” wherein he says:
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.
For, as we have already quoted, it is given as a fact in revelation that Abraham was chosen before he was born. Songs of expectant parents come from all parts of the earth, and each little spirit is attracted to the spiritual and mortal parentage for which the spirit has prepared itself.
Now if none of these spirits was permitted to enter mortality until they all were good and great and had become leaders, then the diversity of conditions among the children of men as we see them today would certainly seem to indicate discrimination and injustice. But if in their eagerness to take upon themselves bodies, the spirits were willing to come through any lineage for which they were worthy, or to which they were attracted, then they were given the full reward of merit, and were satisfied, yes, and even blessed.
Accepting this theory of life, we have a reasonable explanation of existent conditions in the habitations of man. How the law of spiritual attraction works between the spirit and the expectant parents, has not been revealed, neither can finite mind fully understand. By analogy, however, we can perhaps get a glimpse of what might take place in that spirit world. In physics we refer to the law of attraction wherein some force acting mutually be tween particles of matter tends to draw them together and to keep them from separating. In chemistry, there is an attractive force exerted between atoms, which causes them to enter into combination. We know, too, that there is an affinity between persons—a spiritual relationship or attraction wherein individuals are either drawn towards others or repelled by others. Might it not be so in the [p. 501] realm of spirit—each individual attracted to the parentage for which it is prepared. Our place in this world would then be determined by our own advancement or condition in the pre-mortal state, just as our place in our future existence will be determined by what we do here in mortality.
When, therefore, the Creator said to Abraham, and to others of his attainment, “You I will make my rulers,” there could exist no feeling of envy or of jealousy among the millions of other spirits, for those who were “good and great” were but receiving their just reward, just as do members of a graduation class who have successfully completed their prescribed courses of study. The thousands of other students who have not yet attained that honor still have the privilege to seek it, or they may, if they choose, remain in satisfaction down in the grades.
By the operation of some eternal law with which man is yet unfamiliar, spirits come through parentages for which they are worthy—some as Bushmen of Australia, some as Solomon Islanders, some as Americans, as Europeans, as Asiatics, etc., etc., with all the varying degrees of mentality and spirituality manifest in parents of the different races that inhabit the earth.
Of this we may be sure, each was satisfied and happy to come through the lineage to which he or she was attracted and for which, and only which, he or she was prepared.
The Priesthood was given to those who were chosen as leaders. There were many who could not receive it, yet who knew that it was possible for them at sometime in the eternal plan to achieve that honor. Even those who knew that they would not be prepared to receive it during their mortal existence were content in the realization that they could attain every earthly blessing—progress intellectually and spiritually, and possess to a limited degree the blessing of wisdom.
George Washington Carver was one of the noblest souls that ever came to earth. He held a close kinship with his Heavenly Father, and rendered a service to his fellowmen such as few have ever excelled. For every righteous endeavor, for every noble impulse, for every good deed [p. 502] performed in his useful life George Washington Carver will be rewarded, and so will every other man be he red, white, black, or yellow, for God is no respector of persons.
Sometime in God’s eternal plan, the Negro will be given the right to hold the Priesthood In the meantime, those of that race who receive the testimony of the Restored Gospel may have their family ties protected and other blessings made secure, for in the justice and mercy of the Lord they will possess all the blessings to which they are entitled in the eternal plan of Salvation and Exaltation.
Nephi 26:33, to which you refer, does not contradict what I have said above, because the Negro is entitled to come unto the Lord by baptism, confirmation, and to receive the assistance of the Church in living righteously. (David O. McKay, 11/3/47, Home Memories, P. 226-231, and quoted by William E. Berrett in Mormonism and the Negro)
Status of Negro Unchanged. At a meeting of the general authorities of the Church, held August 22, 1895, the question of the status of the negro in relation to the Priesthood was asked and the minutes of that meeting say:
President George Q. Cannon remarked that the Prophet taught this doctrine: That the seed of Cain could not receive the Priesthood nor act in any of the offices of the Priesthood until the seed of Abel should come forward and take precedence over Cain’s offspring.
Joseph Smith has left very little on record in his own words outside of the Pearl of Great Price. During the course of a discussion in Nauvoo in 1842, on the question as to whether the negroes or the Indians have received the greater ill-treatment from the whites, the Prophet Joseph said: “The Indians have greater cause to complain of the treatment of the whites, than the negroes, or sons of Cain.” (D.H.C. 4:501) But we all know it is due to his teachings that the negro today is barred from the Priesthood. (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way To Perfection, P. 110-1)
The status of the Negro has not changed The gift of salvation is open to every human creature. Baptism and [p. 503] confirmation constitute the way into the Celestial Kingdom of God. This can be obtained by any human individual, white, black, or of any other hue, on condition of repentance. The Church has never denied the Negro a place in the Celestial Kingdom if he will repent and accept the Gospel. The restriction in relation to the Priesthood is another matter. It is not the authorities of the Church who have placed a restriction on him regarding the holding of the Priesthood. It was not the Prophet Joseph Smith nor Brigham Young. It was the Lord! (Joseph Fielding Smith, 1963, quoted by John J. Stewart, The Glory of Mormonism, P. 154)
Designation Not Discrimination. There is a difference between “designation” and “discrimination.” It’s the Lord’s Priesthood, and he has the power to designate to whom it shall be given, and that power of designation has never been given to man. Therefore, there can be no discrimination among men dealing with a power over which they have no right to designate. (Henry D. Moyle, 5/27/62, quoted by John J. Stewart, The Glory of Mormonism, P. 154)
The Church And The Negro. The ignorance on the part of writers who do not belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in relation to the view of the ‘Mormons’ on the status religiously or otherwise of the Negro is inexcusable . . . .
The pity of it all is that they start with a false premise and therefore they will naturally end with a false conclusion.
The Latter-day Saints, so commonly called “Mormons,” have no animosity towards the Negro. Neither have they described him as belonging to an “inferior race.”
There are Negroes in the Church who are respected and honored for their integrity and faithful devotion. The door into the Church is open to all.
One ancient Nephite prophet wrote the following:
And again, the Lord hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they [p. 504] should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.
For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him. black and white, bond and free. male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. (2 Nephi 26:32-33)
Moreover, according to the faith and knowledge of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are so frequently called “Mormons,” the Church can do more for the Negro than any other church on the face of the earth.
What other church can baptize them by divine authority and confirm them and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost? What other church can promise them with assurance that they can if they are faithful and true before the Lord enter into the celestial kingdom? Not one of them! For other churches do not know anything about the celestial kingdom.
Paul has revealed to the world through the doctrine he taught the Corinthian saints, that there are three kingdoms, or glories, into which mankind will go. These are the words of Paul:
All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. (I Cor. 15:39-42)
Therefore if a Negro joins the Church through the waters of baptism and is confirmed by the laying on of hands and then he remains faithful and true to the teachings of the Church and in keeping the commandments the Lord has given, he will come forth in the first resurrection and will enter the celestial kingdom of God. [p. 505]
What other church can make a better promise? Moreover we know whereof we speak, for the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored with all its powers and divine authority.
The Negro who accepts the doctrines of the Church and is baptized by an authorized minister of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is entitled to salvation in the celestial kingdom, or the highest heaven spoken of by Paul.
It is true that the work of the ministry is given to other peoples and why should the so- called Christian denominations complain? How many Negroes have been placed as ministers over white congregations in the so-called Christian denominations?
It appears that a great deal of noise has been made over a problem that does not really exist, or is not peculiar to the Latter-day Saints!
Every man whether he seeks office or to maintain a good name in the community should be judged by his devotion and integrity to principles of truth and righteousness, not condemned through rumors, prejudices, or the views of others.
It is strange that so many persons are tried and condemned by well-meaning people because of assumed notions and prejudice without a true knowledge of the facts. (Joseph Fielding Smith, CN-7/14/62)
Equality Before The Law. What is meant by equality, as referred to in the Declaration of Independence? It is equality before the law; it means that all men are equally entitled to life, to liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness. It means that the avenues of promotion and advancement should be open to all, as God intended them to be when He sent from Heaven the gospel of salvation, which is no more nor less than a code of laws, a system of principles having in view the eternal progress of man.
Joseph the Prophet declared that God in the beginning instituted certain laws, whereby the lesser intelligences surrounding Him might have the opportunity to advance like Himself. They were not equal there; they are not equal here; they will never be equal in every [p. 506] sense.(13) God will always be supreme. “The Glory of God is intelligence,” and what made Him God, was the superior intelligence that recognized those saving and ennobling principles which He instituted as the gospel of salvation, the means of eternal progress. All men are not equal in capacity, in intelligence, but they ought to be equal in opportunities for progression, and God has made them equal in this respect.(14) (15) (Orson F. Whitney CR-4/09:75)
Don’t Interfere with God’s Purposes. The curse is not yet taken off from the sons of Canaan, neither will be until it is affected by as great a power as caused it to come; and the people who interfere the least with the purposes of God in this matter, will come under the least condemnation before Him; and those who are determined to pursue a course, which shows an opposition, and a feverish restlessness against the decrees of the Lord, will learn, when perhaps it is too late for their own good, that God can do His own work, without the aid of those who are not dictated by His counsel. (Prophet Joseph Smith, 1836, DHC-2:438)
1. Quoted by Holmes Alexander in Human Events, 8/3/63, P. 11.
2. “Since its inception the Communist Party, U.S.A., has been alert to capitalize on every possible issue or event which could be used to exploit the American Negro in furtherance of party aims. In its efforts to influence the American Negro, the party attempts to infiltrate the legitimate Negro organizations for the purpose of stirring up racial prejudice and hatred. In this way, the party strikes a blow at our democratic form of government by attempting to influence public opinion throughout the world against the United States.” (J. Edgar Hoover, 1963 FBI Appropriation, P. 50-1)
3. “Stirring up race and class conflict is the basis of all discussion of the Communist Party’s work in the South. The evil genius, Stalin, and the other megalomaniacal leaders in Moscow ordered the use of all racial, economic and social differences, no matter how small or insignificant, to start local fires of discontent, conflict and revolt. ‘Who could tell which of these issues could start a general conflagration’ that would sweep across the former Confederate States from Maryland to Texas?
“Black rebellion was what Moscow wanted. Bloody racial conflict would split America. During the confusion, demoralization and panic would set in . . . . The only fear of the white Communist leaders was that as a result of their efforts this black rebellion would break out before they were ready in the decisive industrial cities of the North.” (Manning Johnson, Color, Communism and Common Sense, P. 18-9)
4. “Time and again, Lincoln had explained that the North was not fighting for freedom of the negro, but was fighting solely to preserve the Union. Lincoln had said repeatedly that if he could maintain the Union by preserving the institution of slavery, he would do so; if he could maintain the Union by freeing some negroes while leaving some in slavery, he would do so; or if he could maintain the Union by freeing all slaves, he would do so. Lincoln explained his Emancipation Proclamation as a military necessity for the North, not as part of a crusade to free the slaves.” (The Dan Smoot Report, 7/8/63)
5. “. . . In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress . . . .
“The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges . . . .” (Booker T. Washington, 1901, Up From Slavery, quoted by David Lawrence, U.S. News & World Report, 9/2/63)
6. “At the root of all the present racial trouble is interference in the internal affairs of Southern States by people not at all interested in an amicable settlement of any problems arising between Negro and white Americans.
“This interference comes from organizations and individuals in the North seeking to use the Negro. Among them are found Communists, crypto-communists, fuzzy-headed liberals, eggheads, pacifists, idealists, civil disobedience advocates, socialists, do- gooders, conniving politicians, self-seekers, muddle-headed humanitarians, addle-brained intellectuals, crackpots and plain meddlers. Like ‘missionaries,’ they descend on the South ostensibly to change or alter it to benefit the Negro.
“In fact and in implication, all of them seek to by-pass the responsible white and Negro leaders in the South to effect a solution. They employ a pattern of setting up provocative situations which inflame and agitate the white populace and then using it as propaganda here and abroad against the South in particular and all of America in general.” (Manning Johnson, Color, Communism and Common Sense, P. 51)
7. “This legislation is being reported to the House without the benefit of any consid eration, debate, or study of the bill by any subcommittee or committee of the House and without any member of any committee or subcommittee being granted an opportunity to offer amendments to the bill. This legislation is the most radical proposal in the field of civil rights ever recommended by any committee of the House or Senate. It was drawn in secret meetings held between certain members of this committee, the Attorney General and members of his staff and certain select persons, to the exclusion of other committee members . . . .
“The depth, the revolutionary meaning of this act, is almost beyond description. It cannot be circumscribed, it cannot be said that it goes this far and no farther. The language written into the bill is not of that sort. It has open-end provisions that give it whatever depth and intensity one desires to read into it . . . . This vests, of course, almost unlimited authority by the President and his appointees to do whatever they desire.
“It is in the most literal sense, revolutionary, destructive of the very essence of life us it has been lived in this country since the adoption of our Constitution. ‘” (Dissenting Views of Members of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Unmasking the Civil Rights Bill, P. 1-6)
8. “The Civil Rights Act of 1963 is skillfully drawn with the patent, deliberate intent to destroy all effective constitutional limitations upon the extension of Federal govern mental power over individuals and the states . . . . Never in the history of nations governed by elected officials has the head of any state demanded the naked untrammeled power embodied in this Act, except when such state was upon the verge of becoming a dictatorship . . . . The Act reveals the master plan. If the whole is denied and parts are granted, the plan will be developed step by step through each succeeding Congress.” (Loyd Wright and John C. Satterfield, Blueprint For Total Federal Regimentation)
9. “The race problem is no longer just a Southern problem but is becoming increasingly widespread and increasingly urgent. If the wrong decisions are made and the wrong programs followed, it is not just the South that will suffer. If the integrationists prevail and if they are wrong, and I am sure they are, the tragedy of their success would affect the whole nation. This problem is so fateful for future generations that a decision as to whether the integrationists are right or wrong is the question of first national importance.” (Professor W. George, Race, Heredity and Civilization, P. 24)
10. “It is implied that a Negro child is handicapped in his studies unless he is sitting beside a white child. What could be more nonsensical or ridiculous? It is a sad com mentary on the ability of the Negro child to say that he cannot properly study or that he will develop harmful complexes if he does not sit beside a white child. By what quirk of reasoning does one conclude that sitting beside a white child will help a Negro child make the grade? Experience shows that a student’s success is determined by how much attention, time and effort he is willing to put into his studies . . . .
“The main danger and handicap to the Negro is not the Southern school, but the persecution and hate complex the N.A.A.C.P. and the reds are trying to create.” (Manning Johnson, Color, Communism and Common Sense, P. 48-50)
11. “Their amalgamation with the other color produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of excellence in the human character can innocently consent.” (Thomas Jefferson, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, P. 621)
12. “When a man raises the Negro issue, he really means that he does not believe we have prophets and are guided by God through divine communication. If he were truly convinced that Joseph Smith and his successors were and are prophets, he would have to agree that they are following the right program and teaching the right way of life, or else he would have to be guilty of pitting his own wisdom against that of God. . . . Whether the issue is doctrinal or administrative, the same principle applies: the only objection is that the objector does not believe God has revealed His will to the Church through the prophets. The same is true of objections that arise from dissident members of the Church. They, too, have failed to learn the doctrine of divine leadership of the Church through apostles and prophets.” (Glenn L. Pearson, The Book of Mormon: Key To Conversion, P. 6)
13. “Inequalities are a part of the natural history of man . . . . That all men are born to equal rights is true. Every being has a right to his own, as clear, as moral, as sacred as any other being has. This is as indubitable as a moral government in the universe. But to teach that all men are born with equal powers and faculties, to equal influence in society, to equal property and advantages through life, is as gross a fraud, as glaring an imposition on the credulity of the people as ever was practised by monks.” (John Adams, The Political Writings of John Adams, P. 199-201)
14. “Though I have said ‘That all men by nature are equal,’ I cannot be supposed to understand all sorts of ‘equality.’ . . . the equality I there spoke of as proper to the business in hand, being that equal right that every man hath to his natural freedom, without being subjected to the will or authority of any other man.” (John Locke, Two Treatises of Civil Government, II, 54)
15. “We are chasing an illusion of equality, under Socialism, instead of freedom under States Rights and local self-government. Many have been deluded into a fuzzy morality which holds that equality and equal rights are the same thing. Forced equality contradicts the dream to excel; smothers individuality; restricts rights; removes freedoms; legislates mediocrity; waters down courage, thrift, self-reliance and initiative; and nurtures tyranny. An all-powerful federal government is a mass denial of freedom.
“This land of the free was conceived by our Founding Fathers to preserve the inequalities of its people by a minimum restriction of their liberties. But this land where anybody could be an eagle is being forced to become a land where everybody must become an oyster.” (Tom Anderson, quoted in Church News, 9/2/61) [p. 507]
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