Unsettling Mormonism
an archive of unsettling histories, mythistories, and mystories
from U.S. & Mormon settler colonialism, white supremacy, and imperialism
from U.S. & Mormon settler colonialism, white supremacy, and imperialism
I study Mormon, partly because it is a microcosm of U.S. history. The quotidian white supremacy in our lives, cultures, bodies, and doom scrolls is a foundational part of who we are. The idea that Peoples who lack melanin are superior is ubiquitously written into our founding documents and scriptures. White supremacy is a death cult/ure. It overtly seeks to destroy / assimilate any body which deviates from its assigned place and covertly seeks to destroy those who wield its power. I think it’s important, for us Euro-settlers especially, to read these histories in their own words because these ideas live on in US. If you were raised in the US or consume/d US media – you’re indoctrinated into white-supremacy. It's destroying your body and every body we share it with. This truth is at the heart of calls for “accomplices, not allies.” –– or the idea that: "If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time...But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." - Aboriginal activists group, 1970s. Brigham is careful to say that while he does believe in the supposed divinity of the enslavement of African bodies he also believes those bodies should be treated as one would treat their children. This “nice whiteness” is the foundation of Mormon abuses. Their oppressive violences are always framed as paternalist generosity.
Seven years after enslavement was legalized in UT Territory by the all mormon UT legislature, and 2 years before the Civil War, Brigham Young said, "We (this Church) consider it (enslavement) of divine institution and not to be abolished” (1859) As the UT leg. discussed their Act to legalize enslavement, Prophet, Pres., Gov, Brigham Young spoke in their chambers two weeks before the Act passed. He introduced his argument saying, “Inasmuch as we believe in the Bible,…the Ordinances of God,...(and) the Priesthood, we must believe in Slavery.” Young went on “This colored race have been subjected to severe curses... And until the curse is removed by Him who placed it upon them, they must suffer under its consequences; I am not authorized to remove it. I am a firm believer in slavery…I know it is right, and there should be a law made to have the slaves serve their masters, because they are not capable of ruling themselves…The Black African…are a “servant of servants.” On Feb 5, a day after the Act passed, Brigham Young again addressed the all Mormon legislature and expanded on his theories on the divinity of enslavement. There he prophesied: “The moment we (Mormons) consent to mingle with the seed of Cain (Africans & ppl of African descent) the Church must go to destruction.” “What is that mark (of Cain)? You will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see upon the face of the earth, or ever will see. If there never was a prophet, or apostle of Jesus Christ spoke it before, I tell you, this people that are commonly called negroes are the children of old Cain.” “Let my seed mingle with the seed of Cain, that brings the curse upon me, and upon my generations, - - we will reap the same rewards with Cain.” Brigham Young thought interracial relations with Africans was such grievous a sin that it was worth of Blood Atonement. He told his followers that if had a baby with an African woman, “it would be a blessing” if someone “would walk up and say cut off my head, and kill man, woman, and child it would do a great deal towards atoning for the sin. In 1866 Thomas Coleman, a Black Mormon employed by Young was lynched in Salt Lake after being "found in company of a white woman". His throat was cut from ear to ear as Mormons mimed in their temples for over 150 years. His killer/s pinned a note to his body which read: “Notice to all (redacted). Take warning. Leave white women alone.” The all Mormon jury concluded that those who committed “said murder to the jury are unknown” and no one was held accountable. Finally I want to compare 2 quotes to show how these supposedly disavowed doctrines perpetuate.
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AuthorI am nicholas b jacobsen, an artist, researcher, historian, educator, and organizer. I am a trans-non binary Euro-settler raised in the Nuwu lands of so-called Utah. My family has been Mormon and Utahn for as long as either of those concepts have existed. My ancestors sacrificed everything--their identities, homelands, jobs, health, & safety to become Mormon, Utahn, U.S. American, & white--to settler their Zion. They also sacrificed their humanities as they committed genocide against Kuttuhsippeh (Goshute), Timpanogos Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, Eastern Shoshone, Ute, Nuwu (Southern Paiute), and Diné (Navajo). Because my ancestors made my home through Indigenous genocide in their home/lands––I take it as my personal responsibility to unsettle what my ancestors settled, while helping my fellow settlers do the same through reading, writing, art, and community building. Archives
June 2023
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