From KU we are News in Salt Lake City. This is Radio West.

I'm Doug Fabrizio. Late last week the LDS Church released an essay, an explanation about

why it was that for much of the church's history black men were banned from the Mormon priesthood.

The essay goes through the history of race in America and Mormonism to put the policy and perspective

but the takeaway, the essence of it is that it wasn't God who wanted blacks kept from the priesthood.

It was Brigham Young and other early church leaders who gave in to prevailing attitudes about race.

Today in the program we're exploring the significance of this church statement. For black Mormons in particular it's a very big deal

but it also could be important in understanding other questions about the nature of revelation for Mormons,

about the fallibility of church leadership. We'll talk about it after this news.

Hi this is Elaine Clark one of the producers of Radio West.

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This is Radio West, I'm Doug Fabrizio.

Today in the program we're working through a statement, an explanation released late last week by the LDS Church,

on the question that has been plaguing the church for decades. Why for most of the church's history were black people

kept from the Mormon priesthood in Mormon temples. It didn't start out that way. For the first few decades of the church's existence

a few black men were given the priesthood, were allowed to participate in temple ceremonies.

But as early as 1849 Mormon prophet Brigham Young had declared that God had cursed Cain's seed with blackness

and had prohibited them from the priesthood. He made that public and official a few years later.

The ban, of course, was finally lifted in 1978. But ever since the question has been out there,

was this God's intent to deprive black people of the priesthood or did this policy come from a bunch of men

who were the products of their time and frankly racist like so many others?

...