Black LDS History: A Crash Course

[Just_A_Guy]

@askandanswer, here’s an alternate (and neutral, AFAIK) presentation of Young’s February 1852 remarks:  https://archive.org/details/CR100317B0001F0017/page/n1

In that speech Young goes over the tale of Cain and Abel and reiterates his view that Cain’s posterity isn’t supposed to have the priesthood until Abel has posterity who can have it, at which time “Then Cain's seed will be had in rememberance, and the time come when that curse should be wiped off.”

A little further on Young states regarding the “curse”:

“who can help it, men cannot. the angels cannot, and all the powers of earth and hell cannot take it off, but thus saith the Eternal I am, what I am, I take it off at my pleasure, and not one partical of power can that posterity of Cain have, until the time comes the says he will have it taken away. That time will come when they will have the privilege of all we have the privelege of and more.”

Edited February 28, 2019 by Just_A_Guy

[Suzie]

What are your views on footnote 9? Do the original sources, when taken as a whole, support the idea that President Young was of the view that one day blacks would receive all the blessings of church membership?



I believe the original sources do support the idea that Young was of the view that one day blacks would receive the priesthood. However, he was also clear that certain conditions apply (from the same footnotes):



" What is that mark? you will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see upon the face of the earth, or ever will see. Now I tell you what I know; when the mark was put upon Cain, Abels children was in all probability young; the Lord told Cain that he should not receive the blessings of the preisthood nor his seed, until the last of the posterity of Abel had received the preisthood, until the redemtion of the earth. If there never was a prophet, or apostle of Jesus Christ spoke it before, I tell you, this people that are commonly called negroes are the children of old Cain. I know they are, I know that they cannot bear rule in the preisthood, for the curse on them was to remain upon them, until the resedue of the posterity of Michal and his wife receive the blessings, the seed of Cain would have received had they not been cursed; and hold the keys of the preisthood, until the times of the restitution shall come, and the curse be wiped off from the earth, and from michals seed."



https://archive.org/details/CR100317B0001F0017/page/n1



In the Deseret News article you mentioned, he also stated:



" The Canaanites may believe the Gospel, repent, and be baptized, and receive the Spirit of the Lord, and if he continues until Abel's race is satisfied with his blessings,THEN may the race of Cain receive a fullness of the Priesthood, and become satisfied with its blessings, and the two of them became as one again, when Cain has paid the uttermost farthing."



https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2578281



I am not sure if the statement: "President Young said that at some future day, black Church members would "have [all] the privilege and more" enjoyed by other members." truly reflects what Young stated here. Technically sure but that's about it.

Edit: Just read JAG's post. Even though as I stated earlier, I believe Young was of the view that one day blacks would receive the priesthood, I am still not sure if his statement fully/properly blend with the other statements he made about blacks receiving the Priesthood. Of course, this is my perception. Edited March 2, 2019 by Suzie

[pwrfrk]

Reflecting on what a friend (lawyer & muni. judge) told me decades ago- you can convict anyone of anything if you dig deep enough.  Because the deeper you dig the less clear the line is between fact & fiction.

A while back a friend from back east was telling me how she was thinking of coming out this direction for vacation, and she (a Jewish woman) asked me how many blacks there are in my ward, or even stake.  I was giving myself (pretty much) the dumbest look imaginable and I told her (Ya know, I can't recall.  I mean, the last time I gave my testimony I swear I looked down at the congregation and all I saw was a bunch of Mormons.  I have to confess though, I started feeling a bit like how Custer felt when he saw all them indians....