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“We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), ..."

This was a statement from President Kimball back in 1976, before greater light and wisdom entered the world and the Church got on board with ending racial discrimination against those whom they refer to as black Africans.

Jon just pointed out to me on another thread that this statement is included in the Aaronic Priesthood manual, lesson 31. http://LDS.org/manual/aaronic-priesthood-manual-3/lesson-31-choosing-an-eternal-companion?lang=eng

What is going on here? I was saddened to think this is still being taught to young people. The prejudice of the past should be buried on unhallowed ground.

Slow to change. LDS is a very big machine. I would bet many leaders don't think this way anymore but the machine is really big.

Edit: many leaders would not teach this but they would wish it for their own kids, I venture to guess

This is good advice. With the end of the Civil Rights era and growing cultural homogenization the bit about racial background is less and less important compared to the others.

The Nehor wrote:This is good advice. With the end of the Civil Rights era and growing cultural homogenization the bit about racial background is less and less important compared to the others.

Less and less important to who?
You and I? Certainly.
But the Church has made no such declaration - nowhere in the Manual or in the support materials does it say to 'soften' the message on mixed race marriages, the message being that the Church still actively counsels against it.

The Nehor wrote:This is good advice. With the end of the Civil Rights era and growing cultural homogenization the bit about racial background is less and less important compared to the others.

Yeah sure, perhaps it is best to tell honest but poor Abe Lincoln that he could not marry the daughter of J.P Morgan since it might lead to social embarrassment when he could not correctly discern the salad fork from the dinner fork.

The bit about racial background is a veritable unstable explosive for the Church: It can blow up in our face. These Correlation Committee men need to bring themselves up to speed and jettison this bit of advice. Our mandate is to love, but this is like poison to that spirit.

jon wrote:

The Nehor wrote:This is good advice. With the end of the Civil Rights era and growing cultural homogenization the bit about racial background is less and less important compared to the others.

Less and less important to who?
You and I? Certainly.
But the Church has made no such declaration - nowhere in the Manual or in the support materials does it say to 'soften' the message on mixed race marriages, the message being that the Church still actively counsels against it.

No, it counsels that marriages with more differences are less likely to be successful (see the quote). This is true.

moksha wrote:

The Nehor wrote:This is good advice. With the end of the Civil Rights era and growing cultural homogenization the bit about racial background is less and less important compared to the others.

Yeah sure, perhaps it is best to tell honest but poor Abe Lincoln that he could not marry the daughter of J.P Morgan since it might lead to social embarrassment when he could not correctly discern the salad fork from the dinner fork.

The bit about racial background is a veritable unstable explosive for the Church: It can blow up in our face. These Correlation Committee men need to bring themselves up to speed and jettison this bit of advice. Our mandate is to love, but this is like poison to that spirit.

Blow up how?

It's talking about marriage. In terms of eros, we are not under a mandate to love all either. If fact, we are told not to.

Well at least "generally" leaves us a qualifier that can be stretched to cover most, if not all, particular cases of racial/social/economic/educational inter-mixin'.

But yeah, I have a mixed race child who received the Aaronic priesthood about 6 months ago. he doesn't need to be told this kind of stuff, in that setting. We've discussed these issues a few times though. The Church was wrong, son. you don't need to ever feel less than you are. never let anyone make you feel that way.

Why do I reveal these personal life things? Oh well. I'm invincible.

Those manuals were written in 1981, so it was apparently still the opinion of the church in 1981 that interracial marriage was "repugnant to most normal-minded people." The interesting thing about this statement is how at odds it was with marriage during polygamy. Women didn't have to marry "their kind." A girl from the poorest family in the area could move into Brigham Young's mansion if she caught his eye. Joseph Smith sent his white missionaries out to marry the lamanite girls. Was Joseph Smith from the same economic background as Emma Smith?

Doesn't fit any real or honest standard for racism.