This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If the exclusion and indignities borne for so long by black people didn't originate with God but with racism, what about the Lamanite "curse"?
If the LDS Church disavows skin color as a "curse," how does that square with the Lamanite "curse" in the Book of Mormon, "the cornerstone of our religion," "the most correct book on earth"?
Skin color as a "curse" from God is just as racist and indefensible for blacks, Lamanites or any group of God's children. It inherently taints the identity of those it devalues. It divides God's progeny into superior and inferior, and above all it's totally inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe a more conclusive explanation on this glaring inconsistency is in order.
Herlinda Briones Bowen
Salt Lake City