Is the Church of Jesus Christ Prejudiced Against Blacks?
The claim that the Church of Jesus Christ and its members are prejudiced against black people or exclude blacks from membership or worship has been around for some time. However, a careful review of church history presents quite a different picture. People of African descent have been members of the church almost since its organization in 1830. Several blacks joined the church when they were slaves and traveled west with the great pioneer exodus from Missouri to Utah.66 While black members of the church were relatively few in number in the church’s early days, their number has grown vigorously in recent years. Since membership records of the Church of Jesus Christ do not identify race, it is impossible to accurately measure the growth of black membership; however, statistics on membership in areas where populations are largely or exclusively of African descent demonstrate significant growth. The first black African stake (a geographical unit of approximately 2500 church members) was or
