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RACISM AFTER JOSEPH SMITH
“History and common observation show [Noah's curse to]
have been fulfilled to the
letter. The descendants of Ham, besides a black skin
which has ever been a curse that has
followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as
well as a black heart, have been
servants to both Shem and Japeth, and the abolitionists are
trying to make void the curse of God, but it will require more power than man possesses to
counteract the decrees of eternal wisdom....” ("A Short Chapter on a Long
Subject," Times & Seasons, 6 [1 April 1845]: 857).
On considering slavery Black slavery versus in general,
Brigham Young asserted that
Black slavery was more justified:
“…those who, acting upon the principle of nature's
law, brought into this
position or situation, those who were naturally
designed for that purpose, and whose capacities
are more befitting that, than any
other station in society. Thus, while servitude may and should
exist, and that too upon those who are naturally
designed to occupy the position of 'servant of servants'
yet
we should not fall into the other extreme, and make them as beasts of the field, regarding not the
humanity which attaches to the colored race; nor
yet elevate them, as some seem disposed, to an equality with those whom
Nature
and Nature's God has indicated to be their masters,
their superiors...” ("Governor's Message to the Legislative Assembly of Utah Territory, January 5,
1852," LDS Church Archives).
Brigham on God’s decree for the African:
"The seed of Ham, which is the seed of Cain
descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his
brethren, and be a 'servant of servants' to
his fellow creatures, until God removes the curse; and no power can hinder it" (Journal
of Discourses 2:184 [18 Feb. 1855])
Only God can bring an end to it:
"The Lord put a mark upon [Cain], which is the flat
nose and the black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then
another curse is pronounced upon the same race-that they should be the
'servant of servants'; and they will, until that curse is removed;
and the Abolitionists cannot help it, nor in the least alter that decree"
(Journal of Discourses 7:290-91).
"The seed of Canaan will inevitably carry the curse
which was placed upon them, until the same
authority which placed it there,
shall see proper to remove it ..." ("Governor's Message
to the Legislative Assembly of Utah Territory, January 5, 1852," LDS Church
Archives).
More by Brigham Young, mouthpiece for the Lord:
"You must not think, from what I say, that I am
opposed to slavery. No! The negro is damned, and
is to serve his master till God chooses to remove the curse of Ham ..." (New
York Herald, p. 8 [May 4, 1855])
"We consider [slavery] of
divine
institution, and not to be abolished
until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from
his descendants," (Horace Greeley, An
Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in the Summer of 1859,
[New
York, H. H. Bancroft and Co., 1860], pp. 211-12; also see Millennial
Star, 21:608-11).
Not even Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
can shake Brother Brigham’s confidence. History would not be on his side, however:
“...
Will the
present struggle (Civil War) free the slave? No;
but they are now wasting away the black race by thousands...Treat
the slaves kindly and let them live, for Ham must be the servant of
servants until the curse is removed. Can you destroy the decrees of the
Almighty? You cannot. Yet our Christian brethren think they are going
to overthrow the sentence of the Almighty upon the seed of Ham. They
cannot do that, though they may kill them by thousands and tens of
thousands” (Journal of Discourses,
10:250,
6 Oct. 1863).
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