Anti-Blackness in "Mormon Doctrine" by Bruce R. McConkie

Mormon Doctrine is an encyclopedic text on Mormon doctrine first published in 1958. It was written by then-member of the Quorum of the Seventy, Bruce R. McConkie who went on to become an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve. 

This popular Mormon text is controversial because even as it is titled “Mormon Doctrine” and quoted as doctrine in Mormon meetings everywhere, it is not official Mormon doctrine. Even though the second edition, published in 1966, was reviewed and approved of by the First Presidency and published by this church’s publishing company under the name “Mormon Doctrine”––which all seems pretty doctrinal. And the Mormon specific modifications to their Bible Dictionary heavily rely on Mormon Doctrine’s text, which again, seems doctrinal.

When McConkie published in 1958 he didn’t have permission from this church's leadership. But in 1966 a 2nd edition was published by this church's Desert Book publishers with approval from church leadership.

Even though they helped him publish it, this church likes to claim the white-supremacy contained in the text is specific to McConkie’s personal theology––a theology informed by vigorous study of Mormon Prophets, Apostles, & scripture. 

The text quoted below is from the 3rd edition from 1978. This publication was edited to fit the church’s new views on Africans and persons of African descent after President Kimball ended the African Salvation Ban. This text is supposed to reflect their disavowal of their “theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse.”

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Conscience 
See AGENCY, GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, LIGHT OF CHRIST. 
“Every man's conscience is pure and clean at birth. But after an individual arrives at the years of accountability his conscience begins to be blackened by his sins.” 

Cain 
See DEVIL, HAM, MASTER MAHAN, NEGROES, PERDITION, SONS OF PERDITION, UNPARDONABLE SIN. 
"…(Cain) understood the gospel and the plan of salvation, was baptized, received the priesthood…and talked personally with Deity. Then he came out in open rebellion, fought God, worshiped Lucifer, and slew Abel… Cain was cursed…(by the Lord with) a dark skin, and he became the ancestor of the black race."

Ham
See CAIN, EGYPTUS, NEGROES, PRE-EXISTENCE, PRIESTHOOD. 
"Through Ham (a name meaning black) "the blood of the Canaanites was preserved" through the flood, he having married Egyptus, a descendant of Cain. Ham was cursed, apparently for marrying into the forbidden lineage…Ham's descendants include the Negroes, who originally were barred from holding the priesthood but have been able to do so since June, 1978." 

Races of Man
See CASTE SYSTEM, GENTILES, HEATHENS, ISRAEL, NEGROES, NEPHITES AND LAMANITES, PRE-EXISTENCE. 
"…Racial degeneration, resulting in differences in appearance and spiritual aptitude, has arisen since the fall. We know the circumstances under which the posterity of Cain (and later of Ham) were born with the characteristics of the black race. The Book of Mormon explains why the Lamanites received dark skins and a degenerate status…The race and nation in which men are born in this world is a direct result of their pre-existent life."

Caste System 
See BONDAGE, PRE-EXISTENCE, SLAVERY, TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 
"…To illustrate: Cain, Ham, and the whole negro race have been cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry. The whole house of Israel was chosen as a peculiar people, one set apart from all other nations; and they were forbidden to marry outside their own caste. In effect the Lamanites belonged to one caste and the Nephites to another, and a mark was put upon the Lamanites to keep the Nephites from intermixing with and marrying them."

Negroes 
See CAIN, HAM, PRE-EXISTENCE, PRIESTHOOD, RACES OF MEN. 
"…In all past ages and until recent times in this dispensation, the Lord did not offer the priesthood to the Negroes. However, on June 1, 1978…President Spencer W. Kimball received a revelation from the Lord directing that…worthy males of all races can now receive the Melchizedek Priesthood…It means that members of all races may now be married in the temple, although interracial marriages are discouraged by the Brethren…This new revelation is one of the signs of the times." 

Caste System 
See BONDAGE, PRE-EXISTENCE, SLAVERY, TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
"…Segregation and caste systems will continue on in a future eternity…all men will be segregated into kingdoms - each separate from the others - according as their works have been."

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Mormon Scholar, Author, and Apostle Bruce R. McConkie

Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce R. McConkie

This text was being published and sold for a profit by this church from 1958 to 2010, when they “quietly” stopped printing Mormon Doctrine citing “low sales.” I found a copy of the 2nd edition at the Mormon-owned thrift store, Deseret Industries. So even as this church has stopped printing the book, they are most certainly still selling it. Which illustrates how 150 years of overt white-supremacy doesn’t just disappear when an organization formally "disavows" their foundational doctrines. Without an active anti-white-supremacist campaign enacted with the same resources and piety as this church invests in conferences, temples / real estate, covering for pedophiles, committing fraud, and the stock market—it won’t just go away, no matter how hard you “disavow” it. It is already a material, doctrinal, spiritual, cultural part of our communities, scripture, economies, and homes.

After selling hundreds of thousands of copies and educating two generations of Mormons this book and its white supremacy are still very much present in their / our doctrines, thrift stores, and bodies.

​History is present.