Why are there so few Black members of the US Mormon (LDS) Church?

because the LDS religion is more predominant in the western states (utah, nevada, arizona, etc) and the population of blacks is more situated in the mid-states.....

@Big.....that is not doctrine - it is opinion/inferrence

@Atom.....also not doctrine - although it may have possibly been opinion in the 1800's of some

@desidani/jada.....wrong. they have always been "allowed in" - and there have always been some black members of the LDS church.

@flipoc......also wrong.

for ACTUAL information http://www.blacklds.org/

edit: if you were to do some actual research - you would find that the LDS is one of very few churches that never did have segregated congregations - even though there were members from the beginning. wispy is right about qualifications for the MTC, and yes, you are correct that blacks were not allowed the priesthood until a revelation in 1978 - @which time the church membership rejoiced - and THAT is why it changed - it had nothing to do with "mandatory segregation" or "legal rights". do yourself a favor and enhance your own opinion with some education on the subject - visit the link and do some reading.

http://www.blacklds.org/priesthood

http://www.blacklds.org/history

edit: @estin and cinni...(whoever you are today).....segregation is keeping groups separate - the LDS did not have segregated meetings. segregation was when black had their own meetings in a spearate place from others. the priesthood ban did withhold offices of priesthood, but was not segregated. and the temple is a rite of priesthood.....it was the same as the levites were treated in the bible. I don't know the why's - I'm just using vocabulary skills.

Which Mormons are you judging by? If there aren't any black Mormons around you, it's probably just because there aren't many blacks period. Our congregations always reflect the local populations. Frankly, the majority of Mormons in America are either white or Hispanic, but then that's true of America. If you find an area with mostly black people, the members will be mostly blacks. It's pretty simple.

What definitive evidence?

And absolutely no doubt?

You're making statements that don't seem to be based on evidence. How are you drawing this conclusion?

Bottom line...that's just your opinion. You don't give evidence or support. You don't give links. You don't even give many facts to back up your opinion. If you're trying to convince us, please address the lack of support, then ask again.

in order that which you recognize, my spouse is black, and Mormon besides. nonetheless initially few in extensive style, blacks have been attracted to the Church because of the fact that its business enterprise. Early converts joined throughout the 1830s and 1840s and a few got here to Utah as pioneers. throughout the early twentieth century, small numbers of blacks persevered to connect the Church. those contributors remained dedicated to their thoughts and Church activities even nonetheless past to 1978 black contributors could desire to no longer carry the priesthood or take part in temple ordinances, and missionaries did no longer concentration on proselyting in black communities. the motives for those regulations have not been revealed. As early as 1852, President Brigham youthful, reported that the time could come while blacks could have all the privileges of different contributors and much extra. throughout the civil rights era interior the USA, Church leaders defined that eliminating of the priesthood restrict could require a revelation from God, no longer coverage ameliorations with the help of adult men. On June 9, 1978, Spencer W. Kimball, then President of the Church, introduced the revelation that all and sundry worth men could desire to hold the priesthood. Following this revelation, proselytizing replaced into extra beneficial international to incorporate human beings of African descent. Black club a great deal extra beneficial. analyze point out that black contributors interior the USA journey social interactions and significant relationships with Church contributors of all races. in the present day black Latter-day Saints relish opportunities in all aspects of Church interest, the two as leaders and contributors.

You know...I would bet if you looked into your own beliefs you would find a few things that have been changed for the better over time.

It is absolutely true that the view points of the average U.S. citizen have changed drastically concerning the blacks. After all, we now have a black President.

My point is opinions change. That is just human nature. The time was right in the 70's for God to bring forth the privilege of holding the Priesthood to all men regardless of color. Before that time perhaps the people themselves were not ready for these changes to occur. God knows all things he brings forth his revelations as they are needed.

I am very glad that the blacks have the right to hold the priesthood now. I love blacks and all people, but I grew up in the 60's and 70's and saw the changes that occurred in society and the changes of opinions over time.

Blacks are joining the church in record numbers now. Even in America. I think though that one of the reasons that there are fewer blacks in the church in the U.S. than in Africa for example is that a good portion of the black population lives in the south which is very steeped in the Baptist religion.

It is hard to get southern people in general who have been raised in the Baptist faith to listen to the gospel message and to read the Book of Mormon. I am not sure why this is the case but it is a fact.

Missionaries do not discriminate on who they approach with the gospel message. The rejection now is coming from the one being approached themselves. Blacks are welcome with open arms into our church. Come and learn with us, and worship with us and see for yourself if you are not accepted and welcomed.

First of all, you're making a claim that you're not backing up in any way.

The states with the highest percentage of Mormons are Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. Guess what.......there aren't a ton of black people in those areas. The areas of the United states that have the lowest percentage of members (of any color) is East of the Mississippi. Guess where most of the Black people in America live???

That said, I'd suspect that there are higher percentages of black mormons than caucasion mormons in the south, but I don't have a stat for this and neither do you.

For the record, I know a lot of Black Mormons. Funny thing..........they don't have a chip on their shoulder yet you do. Go figure.

Well Dave, I grew up in London England in the late 70s, and our ward was 50% black and 50% white.

There are congregations that are 100% black in the US, and our church is rapidly growing in Africa - in fact it's been my experience that in Europe we have far more black members than are in the general population.

It's easy to sit and criticize, but you might want to add this to your fact list:

- The LDS church was the ONLY major US religion founded before slavery was abolished that has never had segregated congregations.

- 50 years before the first black Catholic Priest there was a black LDS general authority.

- People have never been denied membership in the church based on race.

If you take a deeper look into the past of our church you'll find interesting facts like the reason were were chased out of Missouri and Illinois was largely because of abolitionist policy that the church pushed. This is why the KKK in the past referred to our church as public threat #1.

Logic would tell you that in Utah, which in the past was nearly all white - you probably wouldn't have a huge group of black people in the church because there were very few in the past, and still relatively few black people living in Utah. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is for people from Utah - not an even representation of our entire church.

Blue book - Utah wasn't a state until well after slavery, so it couldn't have been a "slave state".

Joseph Smith ran for the presidency of the United States at one point just prior to his martyrdom - his platform was abolition. That hardly sounds like indifference to me!

Edit - In parts of the US where the majority of residents are black the majority of the LDS church is also black.

Edit: the "in my opinion" part is sort of a funny retreat from the earlier "proof" you claimed to have.

Style note - if it's your opinion and your not sure, don't debate others as if you are sure. You looked at a picture of a choir and judge 14 million people based off of that; you could have looked into the matter a bit further before attacking us.

Why should we admit to something that we never did?

phrog has given you a link to a website created by black members of the Church, who are trying to dispel the myths and rumors that you have become the victim of. Perhaps you should go and see what they have to say about the Church's history with the Blacks and then come back and tell us if you still think we have something to apologize for.

The first Mormon I ever met is married to a Black Mormon woman.

I agree with Joshsy. I live in the Birmigham Temple district. we go there on youth trips, to do baptisms for the dead, and have had on one occasion (out of the two times I have gone with the church, and the one time with a group of 3 friends) seen a ward with only black members. Could you then ask the question "Why are there so few white members of the (insert ward name here) ward?"

You claim that there is definitive evidence that blacks were discouraged from joining the church in the us prior to the 1970's. I would love to see proof of this. Oh wait, you changed it to 'my own opinion'... which is completely different from 'definitive proof,' now isn't it.

It's interesting that skin color matters so much to you. Personally, when I see people I see first my "brothers and sisters" in the gospel--or out of it--as we are all God's children. That said, I'm surprised you think there are so "few" black members of the church. In my time in the military I've lived all over the world, and I've yet to live somewhere there wasn't a black member in my congregation, in fact several of my wards the entire bishopric and 75% of the congregation was black, and that was in the good ol' USA. You know what? I never once resented it or felt any differently toward them than I did my white leaders. For the record, I've also had Native American, Mexican, Chinese, Japanes, Phillipino, German, French, Polish, and Dutch leadership. What is important to me is the gospel of Christ, not what color of skin is carried by its messengers. Life is too short to hate people for what they can't change. If you spend it looking backward and railing at the poop you stepped in, you will never see the beautiful things ahead.