Hello my friends! My name is Danny. For 60 years, I was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As a Latter-day Saint, I distinctly heard Apostle Jeffrey Holland proclaim, “Either the Book of Mormon is what the Prophet Joseph said it is or this Church and its founder are false, fraudulent, a deception from the first instance onward. Not everything in life is so black and white, but it seems the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our belief is exactly that.” Holland drew a definite line in the sand for us as members of the Church who relied on Joseph Smith being a prophet and the Book of Mormon being a real authentic history of the early Jewish inhabitants of the Americas. Ironically, considering that today’s topic is “Racism in the Book of Mormon,” Holland said in that quote, “Not everything in life is so black and white.” Well, we are about to find out.
Any dive into the teachings about race in LDS scriptures needs to start with the first book Joseph Smith ever wrote or “translated” – that being, the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon itself begins these racial teachings by declaring that the Native Americans were the descendants of Lamanites, who were cursed with a dark skin from God.
These Book of Mormon teachings regarding skin color are extremely important and set a precedence for the rest of LDS scriptures that followed, which Smith also claimed to have received from God. But today our focus is on the Book of Mormon - which Smith claimed to be the most correct book on earth.
To begin, here’s a thirty-second summary of the Book of Mormon story: Lehi is a prophet in Jerusalem around 600 BC. God warns Lehi in a dream to take his family, along with another family and leave Jerusalem because the city will soon be destroyed. They built a ship and sailed across the ocean to the Americas. Laman and Lemuel, Lehi’s oldest sons, are rebellious and don’t have faith in either their dad or God. But their younger brother Nephi is full of faith and very obedient. When Lehi dies, Nephi is chosen by God to lead the family. Laman and Lemuel are jealous and hate Nephi so much they want to kill him. The large family split into two groups – one called the Nephites and the other Lamanites.
Throughout the entire narrative of the Book of Mormon, these two nation-groups are often at war with each other. Eventually at the end of the book, around 400 AD the Lamanites completely, destroy the Nephites. And the lone surviving Lamanites are claimed to be the direct ancestors of today’s North, Central, and South American Indians, as well as the pacific islands.
Now, you might have legitimate concerns about the initial Jewish family of Lehi coming to the New World and establishing these ancient civilizations. That is because today, there is strong DNA evidence that the original ancestors of the indigenous peoples of the Americas originally came from Asia not the Middle East. But that is a discussion for another video.
Going back to the start of the Book of Mormon in 600 BC and before Lehi’s party built a boat to cross the ocean to the promised land - Nephi received a vision in which he sees the promised land and its future. He sees the righteousness of his people, and then the iniquity of the people, and the eventual downfall of its inhabitants - which occurs approximately 420 AD. In this vision, Nephi records in 1 Nephi 12:23 “And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” Initially when the people split into two opposing groups, the Lamanites were physically marked by God to distinguish them from the Nephites.
How did God mark the Lamanites? This is where the narrative of the Book of Mormon takes on a problematic theme of racism. Listen carefully to these verses. God told Nephi in 2 Nephi 5:20-23. “Therefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people - the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities. And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.”
The “sore cursing” was God withdrawing His Spirit from the Lamanites because of their wickedness. The cursing spoken of - caused a "skin of blackness to come upon" the Lamanites so they would "not be enticing" to the “white and delightsome” Nephites and prevent them from wanting to “mix their seed” by intermarrying with the Lamanites. The dark skin would be repulsive to the Nephites. Sounds racist, doesn’t it?
Does it even sound physiologically or biologically possible that immediately upon being cursed with a “skin of blackness” that an entire group of people suddenly turned a different color? How ridiculous!
But God’s curse of the Lamanites was more than skin deep. They became loathsome, malicious, and devious in their hearts. Remember, it was because God had withdrawn His Spirit from them. 2 Nephi 5:24 “And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety.” Since the LDS Church today, teaches that Native Americans are descendants of the Lamanites – such derogatory racial labels harmfully stigmatize this particular people-group.
Then, God finishes with Nephi here in 2 Nephi 5:25 “And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge (a menace or threat) unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.”
Because these passages are so harmful in their message – the LDS Church in 2010, removed some of the original offensive language in the chapter headings in the Book of Mormon originally written by LDS apostle, Bruce R. McConkie. The Heading to 2 Nephi 5 use to read “The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple – Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.” Here is the cleaned-up version. “The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple – Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.”
And in the original Heading of Mormon 5 it used to read “Mormon again leads the Nephite armies in battles of blood and carnage – The Book of Mormon shall come forth to convince all Israel that Jesus is the Christ – The Lamanites shall be a dark, filthy, and loathsome people – They shall receive the gospel from the Gentiles in the latter days.” Here is the revised heading “Mormon again leads the Nephite armies in battles of blood and carnage – The Book of Mormon will come forth to convince all Israel that Jesus is the Christ – Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites will be scattered, and the Spirit will cease to strive with them – They will receive the gospel from the Gentiles in the latter days.”
I believe the LDS Church made those changes in 2010, because Church leadership was embarrassed by the obvious racism in the Book of Mormon. And yet the original chapter headings of 2 Nephi 5 and Mormon 5 were completely accurate in describing the actual content of those chapters. The content of those racist chapters remains unchanged.
This curse is confirmed later in Alma 3:6 “And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren.” This proves that the skin of blackness is indeed a curse from God that marked them - and doesn’t just mean they were spiritually cut off from the Lord. The MARK of dark skin is the sign of the curse.
It also says in Jacob 3:5 "Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins.”
Then, later in the storyline of the Book of Mormon came the reversal of the mark of the curse. 3 Nephi 2:14-16 “And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites.” Incredibly, God uses the color of a person’s skin as an outward sign to designate either their righteousness or their unrighteousness. So, in the Book of Mormon they started out white skinned and then God turned them to dark skin. But later they were turned back to being white skinned. How bizarre and unbelievable!
Nephi had been shown in his earlier vision that when the Book of Mormon gospel would be shared with the modern American Indians, starting in Joseph Smith’s, day forward - as they accepted its teachings that this would happen. 2 Nephi 30:5-6 “And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers. And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.”
In the original1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, that verse read, “a white and a delightsome people.” But in 1981, the LDS Church decided to change what Joseph Smith called “the most correct of any book on earth.” And the word “white and delightsome” was replaced with the word “pure and delightsome” in this passage. Some LDS apologists insist that this was a clarification, since that word was never meant to refer to a person with dark skin pigmentation, who would magically turn white based upon a conversion to the Mormon gospel. Rather, it is claimed that the change referred to a cleaner state of heart. However, that argument fails to explain other passages in the Book of Mormon I’ve covered in this video that still make a connection with wickedness or righteousness - and skin color.
Modern LDS Church leaders continued to perpetuate this racist Book of Mormon teaching. In 1859, Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses Vol. 7 p. 336 said “…the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation…they will become a white and delightsome people.” Again in 1864, Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses Vol.10 p. 359 referring to the Native Americans said that “their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes, and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome people.” Then a hundred years later in 1960 during, General Conference, Spencer W. Kimball said “the day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. At this point in his speech, Kimball shows a photograph and says, In, this picture of the twenty Lamanite (Mormon) missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos, five were darker but equally delightsome. Those in the home-replacement-program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.” These are racially bigoted statements coming from men who call themselves prophets and apostles of the LDS Church.
Today, in 2025 the LDS Church is trying to distance itself from these horrible allegations. The Church has for the most part, quit referring to the American Indians as “Lamanites.”
It’s important to note this was a racial view held by many people in America during Joseph Smith’s Day. The pervasive belief during the 1800’s was that Native Americans were originally from Israel and many people believed their dark skin was a curse from God. Unfortunately, that prejudiced idea was used to justify both the destruction and slavery of the Native Americans.
I just want to clearly state, the dark skin of the indigenous native Americans is not now - nor never was - a curse from God. What a horrible indictment to make against the beautiful native Americans, including our Almighty God. Joseph Smith is the one to blame for the racism in his fictional Book of Mormon, which has been a source for the degrading, destroying, and the rewriting of a rich culture of the indigenous peoples in North, Central, South Americas and the islands of the sea. And the LDS Church is guilty of continuing to propagate such racism by endorsing the Book of Mormon.
In conclusion, I believe the Book of Mormon along with its author, Joseph Smith Jr. is exactly what Jeffrey R. Holland warned them possibly to be - “false, fraudulent, a deception from the first instance forward.”
The Church wants to change the narrative, and it will do it gradually so members will be unaware of their intentions. But as hard as it tries - Mormonism is never going to escape its racist history, views, and practices as, long as the Book of Mormon remains it’s “keystone scripture.” It will continue to be the Achillies heal of the LDS Church!
In future videos, I intend to discuss the racism that pervades the rest of Mormon scripture including - the Book of Abraham, the Book of Moses, and the Doctrine and Covenants.
Until next time, Thanks for watching and please share with others. For more videos go to TalkingtoMormons.com or YouTube.
God Bless!