



EXPERIMENT: Take a general poll in your Sunday School class this upcoming Sunday and ask your fellow congregants, “How racist is America?” Alter the question just a bit to, “How racist are Mormons?”

Next, count the voices that will say in some form or another, “Things might be bad in some places, but I’m not racist!”

I am going to take a stab at assuming that many white Mormons will generally consider themselves to be living in post-racial world. They might even tell you about their favorite black friend! Some might have even transcended to being so not racist that they are color blind!

Americans in general seem to think that racism means “hating” someone.

I don’t hate someone with a different skin color than my own, therefore I am not racist.

The harsh reality for all of us is that due to systemic and structural set ups that were instituted long before our time, we are all racist, even if we don’t want to be. We are all affected by white supremacy and there’s a population that benefits from it and populations that are oppressed by it. (Thanks for that, culture!- Check out this one study of many from Yale university).

So…. if we don’t hate a person of color, how are we racist?

This post is not about Mormon theology or scripture so much as it is about the underlying racist attitudes of white Mormons. Mormonsim is still infected with racism in ways I as a white person don’t always see. And that’s the issue of privilege– because I am white, I don’t see it. Maybe I am color blind after all, but not in a good way.

I present three ways for you that white Mormons are racist without realizing it. I encourage you to parse out your own racism in the comments below:

1. “America is a Choice Land”

Never mind the inherent problems of nationalism in a global gospel, I have heard time and time again about how America is a nation blessed among others. That our wealth, safety and riches (all debatable) are proof that this is God’s chosen land. This idea seems to forget hundreds of years of colonizing and slavery that allowed white Europeans to grow their wealth and prosper over other countries who weren’t colonizing or who were the victims of colonization. So does God bless people who enslave others, allowing them to build centuries of national and individual wealth for their greater good or is it just a natural result of colonization?

When we say that we as Americans are a “chosen Nation,” we are forgetting on whose backs our blessings were carried on.

2. “Society wasn’t ready for such a racial openness towards African Americans“

When white Mormons discuss reasons for the Priesthood and Temple ban, we often say that the reason for the ban was that larger society wasn’t ready to ordain black men to the priesthood. I remember using this logic myself. It made sense to me that the Lord would see that society was largely racist and they couldn’t accept such a doctrine and He had to wait until our hearts were prepared. It was recently pointed out to me that restricting black men from ordination and refusing all black people access to the temple literally put their saving ordinances on hold. The reasoning above suggests that either God really cares about the FEELINGS of white members ( or ‘society’) over the SALVATION of black souls or that that is just a really terribly racist excuse.

3. White people’s feelings are the most important.

Whenever a topic of race comes up in the context of Mormonism or in larger society, it becomes automatically charged. White people like myself get so defensive. I have done this many, many times. Defensiveness to me has become my new go-to indicator that I might be processing some of my own racism. When racial issues are discussed, the burden of explanation is almost always on the person of color to explain to a white person why something is offensive. We look to POC to either let us off the hook for something (“You’re okay! You’re not racist. I’m not offended, it’s fine.”) or to explain to us why something is racist. We want POC to do all the work to make our white feelings less consumed with guilt. (And please don’t say I’m racist, that makes me feel bad and I don’t want to feel bad! Racism is a mean word and I’m not mean. I can’t help that I’m white! It’s reverse racism!)

In the recent case of Michael Brown, I’ve gone the rounds on Facebook and in other discussions talking to my Mormon friends who argue EVERY time that the murder of Michael was justified because he was a danger to society. The feelings of white people being afraid of a unarmed black child breaking the law are seemingly more important than the life of the black child. This is similar to the justification on #1 and #2 and it highlights that the feelings of white people are always privileged over the feelings of POC. We as white Mormons get a double-dose of putting our uncomfortableness on the backs of POC.

White Mormons, we are racist. I know, I know. Sorry about our feelings.