Rooting out racism: how's it going?
James C. Jones and Dr. Paul Reeve respond.
In observance of MLK day, we’re sharing two perspectives on how Latter-day Saints are doing with “rooting out racism,” and how we can do better. Dallin H. Oaks gave this charge for Latter-day Saints to root out racism not only in the Church, but in our civic communities, in his October 2020 conference address. How have we been doing, since then?
TO READ: check out this excellent series by The Atlantic on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Also check out Elder Oaks’ recent mention in a New York Times interview with journalist Jonathan Rauch, who praised Latter-day Saints for our “civic theology.”
TO WATCH/ATTEND: Rauch will be speaking with Terryl Givens at Compass Gallery this Friday. The topic is, “Can Mormonism save American Democracy?”
James C. Jones
James C. Jones is a theologian and activist. He received two masters degrees from Union Theological Seminary with concentrations in Christian social ethics and Black theology. He co-hosted and co-produced Beyond the Block, a podcast that centers the marginalized in Mormonism with New Testament scholar Derek Knox. James is also the creator of the online course LDS Anti-Racism 101.
Dr. Paul Reeve
Paul Reeve is the Simmons Professor of Mormon Studies at the University of Utah. He was a principal contributor to the church’s official Gospel Topics Essay Race and the Priesthood. His award-winning book, Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness, is considered by many the best book written to date on the subject.
Conversations about race can be difficult in a polarized society. Certain words and phrases hold a lot of connotations and can cause people to put their guard up. What advice do you have for navigating this?
James: I would worry less about using certain words, especially if they’re the definitionally accurate and appropriate words. In my opinion, the best you can do is lead with empathy and curiosity without sacrificing clarity and honesty. If someone is still resistant to accurate terminology under these circumstances, there is a much deeper unwillingness to engage.
Paul: Be kind to yourself and certainly be kind to others. Greet others with curiosity rather than judgement. Learn from others what words and phrases are important to them and what words and phrases might cause them to put their guard up. Once you know better, commit to do better, as Maya Angelou wisely counseled. We all stumble. It is what we do after we stumble that makes the difference. View mistakes as opportunities for growth and improvement and move forward with a determination to leave your corner of the universe a better place.
We’ve been called by members of the First Presidency to “lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice” as well as “root out racism.” How have you observed Saints responding to this call?
James: I have seen some Saints take to social media and use their various platforms to draw attention to racism in the world and in our pews. Some have created book clubs, study groups, conferences, online courses, and other media to either engage directly with race issues or provide resources to do as much.
I have not seen this same effort from the church. I have seen token efforts from them to improve optics (e.g. the NAACP partnership, bringing Black theologians to speak at BYU forums, etc.), but there has been no real culture shift or effort to implement curriculum or strategy to challenge the racism in our pews or in the world. There are platitudes, but very little meaningful action, if any.
Paul: In my estimation, it is impossible to root out racism without examining its roots. That includes learning the history of racism amongst us as Latter-day Saints. We have to learn and understand our own racial history, understand where we made mistakes, and then be willing to correct those mistakes. We have to be willing to let go of past assumptions in the face of new evidence. “How often has the Holy Spirit tried to tell us something we needed to know,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf wondered, “but couldn’t get past the massive iron gate of what we thought we already knew?”
I have seen Saints who are willing to examine their prior assumptions about race, including those taught by past leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and abandon them. My own mother, now in her 90s, pulled books off of her bookshelf and wrote the word “no” in the margins where corrections were needed. Some saints now put up bulletin boards in their ward buildings for Black History Month, highlighting the stories of Black Latter-day Saint pioneers, drawing on examples, stories, and pictures from the Century of Black Mormons project. I have seen descendants of Brigham Young commit to read his 5 February 1852 speech, available here, and grapple with its implications. I’ve seen those same descendants commit to be a part of healing efforts in the 21st century. I’ve seen Latter-day Saints read and be willing to come to terms with the Church’s racial history in a way that empowers them to move forward with conviction at the forefront of abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice.
How might Latter-day Saints be uniquely equipped to tackle racism and other forms of oppression?
James: Mormons have a history of oppression in this nation so severe that we were driven to flee the country. We also have an entire sacred text that serves as a prescient warning against putting self-interest and pride over beloved community in addition to at least four extra exodus narratives from which to pull more lessons in liberation. Our theology and our history put us in a unique position to minister with compassion and understanding, but we must embrace it honestly.
Paul: If Latter-day Saints are willing to educate themselves about the Church’s racial past, I think we can become a collective force for good. If we are willing to learn that Latter-day Saints experienced racialization at the hands of outsiders and Latter-day Saints engaged in racism on the inside and are willing to sit with the weight of its consequences, then what better people to lead out on issues of racial injustice? If we are willing to learn from our collective history and own it, rather than defend or deny it, we can use that shared history to stand in places of empathy in the present and lead out on combating racism and other forms of oppression.
Peacemaking isn't always perfect. What is a way you've failed to be a peacemaker, and what have you learned through that?
James: Being silent. I’m often concerned with unintentionally embodying the “angry Black man” trope so I sometimes have been quiet so as not to stir the pot. However, not speaking against language that does harm to those on the margins does not keep the peace. Peacemaking requires truth telling even if it’s uncomfortable.
Paul: I constantly fall short, in my home, in my marriage, in my family, in my ward, in my stake, in my work. I have sometimes reacted out of fear and mistrust and failed to give others the benefit of the doubt—the same benefit of the doubt that I hope for from them. In those moments, I try to turn to Jesus, who promises that his grace is “sufficient” for me. If Jesus hasn’t run out of grace on me, then I am convinced that His grace is sufficient for all of us. His grace is always at the heart of peacemaking and it is to His grace that I return each time I fall short.