Healing the wounds of racism BY KARISSA NEELY
Herald Correspondent
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fter the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota sparked outrage across the nation, Black men and women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hope the faithful within their own congregations will more earnestly seek to heal the wounds of racism. Even within the circle of church membership, people can do better, Zandra Vranes explained in a June 20 video on the Black LDS Legacy Facebook group. Vranes, author, speaker and one half of the duo Sistas in Zion, asked members to “yoke up” with Black members and to live up to their covenants to “mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.” “We just want to be loved, to be supported by our faith community,” she said. Darius Gray asked for this as well in a 2016 post for the church’s website, churchofjesuschrist.org. “[I]t would be beneficial if we became a community of listeners. If we first endeavored to truly hear from those we consider as ‘the other,’ and if our honest focus was to let them share of their lives, their histories, their families, their hopes, and their pains, not only would we gain a greater understanding, but this practice would go a long way toward healing the wounds of racism,” he said. Gray is an author, speaker, and one of the original founding members and leaders of the Genesis Group, an organization established in 1971 by the presidency of the church to serve the needs of Black members. In his 2016 post, Gray asked church members to acknowledge and recognize that racism still exists even within the hearts of members, and to actively work to become more Christlike in thought and action. “If you are seeking a way to approach those who may appear different, I offer this advice, which has helped me negotiate life’s pathways,” he said. “Meet the person, not the color. Greet the individual, not the ethnicity. See the child of God for A12 LDS GUIDE
ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD
Joseph Freeman poses for a portrait in his West Valley City home on Friday, June 5, 2020. Freeman was the first black person to receive the priesthood from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized on Saturday, Sept. 20, 1973, and received the priesthood on Sunday, June 11, 1978. who he or she really is — a brother or sister — rather than someone different.” African Americans are about 14% of the population of the United States, according to census estimates. Within the church, they only account for 4% of the membership, Jana Riess explained in her book, “The Next Mormons: How Millennials are Changing the LDS Church.” Thus, they are very small in ranks and often are the only people of color in their local congregation.
Black in Utah
Isaac Thomas Isaac Thomas joined the church in 1972, even though he initially struggled with the policy denying Black men the priesthood. “But something just whispered, ‘It’s OK. If the Lord is in charge, I’m OK,’ “ Thomas, 71, said in a recent interview at his home
in Orem. Though he wanted to serve a mission for his faith, without the priesthood he could not. So he looked around for another way to serve, and ended up with the Young Ambassadors, a performance group from Brigham Young University. He feels his two years with that group, traveling all over the United States, was an important mission. “I talked to a lot of people about the church as we traveled around. And I always got a lot of questions,” he said. Often, people asked him how he could be a member of a racist church because of the priesthood policy before 1978. He always defended the church and its members, explaining to questioners that he did ISAAC HALE, DAILY HERALD not experience any more racism within this Joseph Freeman holds his copy of The Book of Mormon while posing for a portrait in his West Please see HEALING, Page A13 Valley City home on Friday, June 5, 2020.
