Let's Talk About Race and the Priesthood by Paul Reeves

[MrShorty]

I just got a copy of Let's Talk About Race and the Priesthood by Paul Reeves (library ebook), and will be starting to read it. I'm expecting that this will be a difficult slog, even if it will be a relatively short book, and wanted to have a place to share some thoughts as I go through the book.

I'm not going into this entirely blind. I have read Reeves' previous book, Religion of a Different Color. I have also listened to a few podcasts that Reeve did when this book was first published by Deseret Book.

At present, I have read the disclaimer -- The views expressed are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or Deseret Book. I have also read the forward by Darius Gray, which was well done and provides a compelling start from someone who joined the church in spite of the restriction and has a powerful view of this issue.

Doesn't it give you nice warm fuzzy feelings to think that I chose ThirdHour for this?

[LDSGator]

1 hour ago, MrShorty said:

I just got a copy of Let's Talk About Race and the Priesthood by Paul Reeves (library ebook), and will be starting to read it. I'm expecting that this will be a difficult slog, even if it will be a relatively short book, and wanted to have a place to share some thoughts as I go through the book.

I'm not going into this entirely blind. I have read Reeves' previous book, Religion of a Different Color. I have also listened to a few podcasts that Reeve did when this book was first published by Deseret Book.

At present, I have read the disclaimer -- The views expressed are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or Deseret Book. I have also read the forward by Darius Gray, which was well done and provides a compelling start from someone who joined the church in spite of the restriction and has a powerful view of this issue.

Doesn't it give you nice warm fuzzy feelings to think that I chose ThirdHour for this?

Hope you enjoy the book my friend. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. 

[MrShorty]

Introduction

Most of the introduction is anecdotes involving a Ritchie family. The "patriarch" of the family, Nelson, is mixed race born into slavery. He escapes slavery, marries a white woman, becomes a businessman/hotel owner, and joins the church. Reeves describes how various members of the Ritchie family, including the patriarch himself, received priesthood and temple blessings well before 1978.

Reeves also explains that he is going to approach this history in 3 phases. Phase 1 he describes as the early years of the restoration when priesthood and temple blessings were available to all. Phase 2 is the period where the priesthood and temple ban is implemented "in fits and starts" until 1978. Phase 3 is the period after the revelation in 1978 which Reeves describes as a return to the original idea of universal access to these blessings for all.

[MrShorty]

Chapters 1 and 2: Basically documenting a few examples (including well known examples like Elijah Able) of early black converts. Chapter 1 covers free black converts  from the northern US, and chapter 2 covers enslaved black converts (with passing mention of enslavers) from the southern US. The basic idea behind these first chapters is to show that,

Quote

Historians have found no racial barriers against baptism, priesthood ordination, or temple admission in the first two decades of the Restoration. In fact, the opposite is true. There is abundant evidence that Joseph Smith taught a sweeping vision of inclusion.

 

[MrShorty]

Chapters 3, 4, 5: Historical settings that illustrate some of the dynamics of the 1830s and 40s. Chapter 3 goes briefly through the Missouri era. He focuses quite a bit on W. W. Phelps publication of an article in his paper that local Missourians (remember that Missouri was a pro-slave state) felt was too racially inclusive -- an event that Reeves highlights as "the beginning of the Saints expulsion from Jackson County" and, eventually, the state of Missouri. Chapter 4 is a very quick synopsis of the same racial attitudes he describes in much more detail in Religion of a Different Color. Chapter 5 focuses on the specific issue of slavery, noting amongst other things how the issue of slavery split other Christian denominations along north/south lines (like the Baptists), but somehow the Latter-day Saints managed to stay together as a group. Reeves says at the end of chapter 5:

Quote

Latter-day Saint leaders tried to navigate the difficult challenges of creating a unified Church that welcomed free and enslaved Black people, abolitionists and anti-abolitionists, enslavers and those who found slavery abhorent.

It can seem that, though the issues have changed, the church is still trying to figure out how to create a unified church while welcoming people of competing and conflicting and contradictory ideologies.

Edited July 29, 2023 by MrShorty

[MrShorty]

Chapters 6, 7, 8: Chapter 6 focuses on what Reeves calls "Universalism" (meaning universal access to priesthood and temple ordinances) in Nauvoo, with the example of a Sarah Ann Mode, who was mixed race from Phillidelphia, PA, joins the church sometime after census records start listing her as "white," eventually receiving full temple ordinances. According to Reeves, she is the earliest example we currently have of a Black person receiving full temple ordinances. Chapter 7 looks at Winter Quarters after leaving Nauvoo -- in particular the case of William McCary. This account shows how some of the attitudes towards race started changing in the church (McCary wasn't the most upstanding of characters).

In chapter 8, Reeves focuses on the scriptural proof texts and interpretations that were used by other Christians and 19th century Latter-day Saints that informed the (flawed??) understanding of race and the supremacy of the white race and the inferiority of all other races. Reeves seems rather sour on these interpretations of the texts, much preferring other interpretations. One aspect he highlights that stood out to me was he noted how the abolitionist/anti-abolitionist divide in the US split other Christian denominations, but the LDS church managed to stay together in spite of differing opinions by many within the faith.

This is the end of Reeves' Phase 1 description. I wonder if Reeves has overstated the case for "universal," desegregated access and underplayed the racist beliefs of the 19th century saints in order to emphasize his point.

Next time we start into Phase 2 -- the implementation of a race based segregation as far as priesthood ordination and temple participation goes.

[MrShorty]

Chapters 9, 10, 11: This is where it gets hard.

9 focused on the issue of interracial marriage. The main storyline follows a William Appleby who was sent by church leaders to survey the branches on the East Coast. During his travels, he encountered an interracial marriage in Massachusetts, found the situation appalling, and took his concerns to Brigham Young and church leaders. Following popular beliefs of the day ( Reeves cites a Josiah Nott who was an anthropologist firmly opposed to interracial marriages), church leaders agree with Appleby. Reeves suggests that one major motivation for implementing the restrictions was to dissuade against interracial marriages.

10. Covers the 1852 legislative session when Utah Territory codified its acceptance of slavery, notably against the opposition led by Orson Pratt. BY uses his belief in a curse of Cain type doctrine to justify slavery and also restrict Blacks from holding the priesthood. Reeves notes that BY gives no explanation for his change in attitude from a few years before.

11. Turns attention to Orson Pratt. In the prior chapter, Pratt seems a hero, because he seemed so opposed to slavery. In this chapter, Reeves recounts how Pratt introduced the "neutral/less valiant in the preexistence" justification for race based restrictions.

Some heavy stuff here. I recall from podcasts featuring Reeves that he told DB when they approached him for this project that he insisted on being able to include stuff from the 1852 legislative session, no matter how hard it would be to read in the 21st century. Reeves mentions the 2013 disavowal a few times as well, but he otherwise doesn't seem to be holding back. Stuff was said and stuff was disavowed and we just have to sit and wrestle with it.

 

[MrShorty]

Chapters 12, 13, 14: these chapters take us quickly through the late 19th into the early 20th centuries, showing a broad trend of uncertainty around the ban with examples of some mixed race people receiving full temple blessings and some who don't (Jane Manning James is in this part of the story). As precedent gets more and more firmly entrenched, we go from John Taylor's uncertainty to Joseph F. Smith being the first to fully write out a policy that blanketly restricts anyone with any know black African ancestry no matter the degree from priesthood and temple privileges. This section even includes anecdotes of segregated congregations where faithful Black members were not allowed to worship in the same meetings as white members.

I hope the book has hit bottom. Looking forward, the next few chapters appear to be moving into discussing the lead up to the '78 revelation, so I hope it gets better from here.

[MrShorty]

Chapters 15 and 16: In these chapters, Reeves highlights some of the "disagreements" within the church over the racial restrictions. He mentions Pres. G. A. Smith's 1949 1st Presidency statement and Pres. D. O. McKay's 1969 First Presidency statement, as well as Elder McConkie's Mormon Doctrine. He also documents several examples (mostly from Latin America) of how difficult it was in some places to identify those with Black African ancestry and restrict them from receiving priesthood and temple ordinances.

All of this brings us to the end of phase 2 and prepares us for 1978 and phase 3 -- returning to racial inclusivity.

[MrShorty]

Chapters 17 to end: Chapter 17 is kind of the end of the "documentary history" portion of the book. Chapter 17 is a brief look at what led up to the '78 revelation (appears to pull largely from Ed Kimball's history) told in parallel to the story of a Freda Beaulieu, who was able to receive her temple blessings in July of '78 after years of faithful isolation from the church. Chapter 18 to the end is where Reeves shares his opinions about the sticky questions and implications that come out of this particular part of our history. In Chapter 18, Reeves states that he does not believe in any kind of "divine origin" for the ban. He talks about the post-78 justifications that we use to rationalize the existence of the ban today. He identifies 4:
1) Gospel spreads in stages, trying to draw a parallel between "first to the Jews, then the Gentiles" so that we claim "first to the Whites, then the Blacks"
2) God's restricting priesthood to Whites is a parallel to God restricting priesthood to the tribe of Levi.
3) 19th century America was so racist that something bad would have happened to the church if it had been inclusive and desegregated.
4) Everyone was racist in the 19th century, so 19th century saints just did not or could not know better.

Reeves explains why he rejects each of these justifications. One gets the impression that Reeves may not believe there is a "justification" for the priesthood ban.

In Chapters 19 and 20, Reeves gives his explanation (I don't think he would call it a justification, though) for the ban. Basically, he chalks it up to agency and human frailty and the idea that God does not always intervene when bad things happen -- even if the bad thing that is happening is due to the choices and frailties and misunderstandings of His prophets and apostles.

In chapters 21 and 22, Reeves turns from looking at the past to looking at the future, emphasizing how the church has progressed out of and hopefully beyond its past, regressive beliefs. He talks about his testimony of the Savior and how He can heal us of our errors and help us grow and progress to new and better understandings of issues related to race, with hope and encouragement that we as a people will take the call to "root our racism" seriously.

Throughout these last chapters, Reeves emphasizes his status as a believer with a solid testimony of the Restoration and modern prophets in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think he wants to assure readers that, while this is heavy, difficult history, it need not break our shelves or crush our testimonies.

[MrShorty]

My thoughts upon completion.

It was a difficult read. This history is heavy. I find myself further convinced, with Reeves (and Mason and Woodward and a growing body of other faithful LDS), that this aspect of our history is not of divine origin. I also recognize that this, in the end, is a major point of contention and disagreement around this issue. In keeping with the opening disclaimer, I don't know how many of Reeves' subjective interpretations and opinions that are present throughout the book are the interpretations and opinions of the Church or its leaders or its members.

In the end, I still find myself "dissatisfied" (if that is the right word) with the justifications and explanations that are given. More and more, this issue feels like something that will fall under "problem of evil" type of questions that just don't have good, satisfying answers or explanations. Maybe we can only hope to have conversations around these issues that help us wrestle with the problems and questions and issues in a way that allows our faith to remain intact in some form.

Perhaps all we can really do is try to learn from this history, and try to do better in the future as we grow towards Zion and celestial society.