E98: Mormonism and Race, Part One

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:11)
The Lord 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. The Book of Mormon.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:25)
We have one of the best elders, an African in Lowell, Brigham Young, 1847

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:32)
Any man having one drop of the seed of Cain in him cannot hold the priesthood, and if no other prophet ever spake it before, I will say it now, in the name of Jesus Christ, I know it is true, and others know it. Brigham Young, 1852

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:01)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:03)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:05)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:32)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:37)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:45)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:08)
Now, I'm just going to warn you, tonight's episode is going to get pretty ugly. We are pressing pause on winter quarters, just for a moment, so we can set some context for things to come.
So forgive us, oh, Orthodox timeline folks like myself.
We're going to be jumping around a bit, but we're also going to be talking about something very important to understand as we move forward in the history. We're going to be talking about Mormonism and race. Like I said, it's going to get ugly, but it's something we need to look at because it's still a relevant and lingering issue today. But first, before we get into the muck, let's start with the good news.
A word from our friends at Signature Books.
Few individuals influenced the new Mormon history and a generation of young intellectuals like Dee Michael Quinn. In this new collection of essays, scholars explore Quinn's influence, his groundbreaking work and his legacy. He earned a PhD from Yale and embarked on a promising career teaching at Brigham Young University. But clashes with top leadership over his scholarship and sexual orientation led to his resignation from BYU, his eventual excommunication from the faith, and even his alienation from the academic community. Only years later, he was allowed to once again research at the LDS History Library. Today, he is finally recognized even by the church that cut him off for his foundational historical work. Essays in this volume mine the depths of Quinn's fractured life from his complicated relationship with his father and his Chicano heritage to his conflicted existence as a closeted gay man desperately trying to live as a faithful Latter-day Saint husband and father. Other essays examine Quinn's contentious work on the LDS hierarchy, post-manifesto polygamy, magic and treasure-seeking and early Mormonism, and same-sex attraction among 19th century Latter-day Saints. Finally, younger scholars honor Quinn's legacy with articles on plural marriage, LGBTQ plus issues at BYU, and conflicts between faith and intellect. Renowned scholar and friend of the podcast, Dr. historian Professor Benjamin E. Park, brings together and introduces essays by a host of fantastic people including several other friends of the podcast, Neil J. Young, Gary James Bergera, Sarah M. Patterson, Suhey Vega, Maxine Hanks, Patrick Q. Mason, Hovann Lotton, Ian Barber, Christina Rossetti, Kay Mormon, Millie Tullis, Calvin Burke, Brianna Bratzman and Martha Bradley Evans. DNA Mormon Perspectives on the Legacy of Historian D. Michael Quinn edited by Ben Park, new from Signature Books. Get it at Benchmark Books or wherever you get your fancy reading material.

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:18)
In February 1852, the Legislature of the Territory of Utah, renamed from Deseret just two years earlier, convened to do their business.
No, not in Fillmore, smart guy, in regular old great Salt Lake City. Brigham Young had been warming up to this moment for a few years. Remember, when he gets up to speak to the legislators, he is both Governor Young wearing his mammon hat and President Young wearing his god hat.
He served both.
The day before, the legislature had passed an act in relation to service that laid out how enslaved persons were to be treated in the territory. Yes, spoiler alert if you didn't know this, there sadly were some enslaved persons here in the 1850s. Governor President Young thought he might, you know, drop a few words of wisdom on the topic.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (6:04)
Friends, you already know it's not gonna be good.
And you're obviously correct, it's even worse than that. It's going to set a precedent. As we come to understand just how Mormon doctrine becomes so racist, we have to understand how it got there. And if you're a Mormon or Latter-day Saint, pissed that I just used the phrase Mormonism is racist.