With Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman and Harry Reid catching ample press in political news sources and the broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” fetching rave reviews, Mormonism has been at the forefront of many minds recently and the subject of several current articles and blogs. Coverage has been diverse and interesting, from proposing that we are currently experiencing the “Mormon Moment” or that Mormons are becoming quite mainstream to highlighting that amidst such a popular trend there are some undercurrents of Mormonism that the populace needs to be made aware of.

Whether you agree with the author’s points or not it is indisputable that Mormons are starting to catch plenty of media attention; both positive and negative.

Amidst the reportage, I am beginning to notice that the vast majority of the accounts are focusing on “mainstream Mormons” by offering up white, prosperous Mormons as their examples.

Which raises the question – are all Mormons white and prosperous?

It’s as if the media wants the populace to think as much.

However, the truth is far from being so clear.

As an example of the media bias, Prof. Brian Britt of Virginia Tech penned a generally scholarly and wonderful article about how mainstream Mormons are becoming these days and posited in his fifth paragraph that, “Mormons, predominantly white and prosperous, are perceived as more mainstream and ‘American’ than Muslims.” While it may be the case that Mormons are (slightly) more acceptable to the general public than Muslims I believe Prof. Britt leads his readers to overgeneralize about a more diverse Mormon reality.

Although American Mormonism is predominantly caucasian, all of these “white” Mormons are not necessarily rich. Often, they occupy the middle in terms of economic prosperity and education, with Jews, Buddhists and Hindus all tending to be higher educated and more prosperous. Overall, Mormons are only slightly more likely to be middle-class than the typical American (read a report from the Pew Forum here). By only reporting about famous politicians, movie stars, musicians and authors the media misleads many to believe that Mormons are “rolling in the dough” as it were.

Moreover, beyond the American scene, Mormonism is by no means “predominantly white and prosperous.” Indeed, American Mormonism represents only half of the international population of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. South Americans, Asians, Europeans, Pacific Islanders and Africans make up the other half of the international Mormon movement and their numbers are growing at a rapid rate. This may soon effect American Mormonism. Following wider immigration trends in the U.S.A., American Mormonism could generally brown and become more ethnically and economically diverse in the years to come.

This comes as a shock to most of us who only get fed what the American media, and our own religious bodies, tell us about Mormons. Case in point, in my religious education classes all of my students are surprised to find that Mormons are so diverse given the very popular presupposition that Mormons are overwhelmingly “white and prosperous.”

While the majority of Mormons in America (granted, the focus of Prof. Britt’s essay) are indeed white, they are not necessarily prosperous. Furthermore, internationally Mormons are much more diverse. So let us not be misled to think that as Mormons become mainstream that they are only “white upper class” individuals. Although many of the Mormons that come to the fore are “white and prosperous” it does not give the general public a clear understanding of a more diverse Mormon reality, and the LDS itself realizes that as it tries to make clear that its church has a distinct international flavor.

In reporting on how Mormons are becoming more mainstream, the media should be careful to provide a full picture of the reality of the LDS church. To do so it is worth noting that Mormons are much more diverse than they may seem at face value or in the public sphere. Mormons are not all white and prosperous and to assume as much prevents proper dialogue and befuddles an already confusing air surrounding the Mormon religion.