ROUNDTABLE: FIFTY YEARS SINCE LESTER BUSH,“MORMONISM’S NEGRO DOCTRINE”: An Appreciation

Lester Bush’s 1973 Dialogue article is the focus here, as it brought much-needed clarity to the convoluted, deeply entrenched Mormon attitude toward race.

We all know the story. Prior to June 1978 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had held that Negroes, Black people of African descent, were a lesser people, having been cursed by God himself and therefore denied ordination to the Church’s priesthood and limited in attendant temple ordinances. However, a review of the nineteenth-century minutes of the Church’s First Presidency unpacks the uncertainties of that historical policy. Though a frequent topic, the responses to such inquiries varied greatly contingent upon who was asking, who was responding, and when.

An old truism offers that “you cannot teach that which you do not know.” That reality challenged well-intentioned Church leadership and membership alike as Lester undertook the daunting task of researching primary sources to unfold what actually had been said and done.

The perspective provided by Lester Bush’s article “Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview” was not only significant, it was necessary! The history of Black people in the Church has been convoluted and fractured, thereby lending itself to faded memories and “bones to bury.” Thankfully, Lester took the time, committed the energy, and applied the necessary skills to shine light on a muddled subject. Ultimately, Lester’s work provided Spencer W. Kimball the roadmap with which to undertake his own research.

A most grateful,

Darius A. Gray