The date is Nov. 4, 2014. The ballots are counted and the winner emerges. She smiles and looks near to tears. History has been made.
Rewind nearly a year; the date is now Dec. 6, 2013. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints releases a webpage reiterating its re-defined stance from 1978 on the status of African-Americans within the church, from being second-class citizens to being full members. Again, history was made.
These two history-making events are linked by Mia Love, the first African-American Republican woman to win a seat in Congress, a Mormon born of Haitian parents who will represent the Beehive state in the coming Congressional session. Against all odds (60 percent of Utah’s population is composed of Mormons, while only 1.3 percent of Utah is African-American), Love demonstrates that America is again taking steps forward in its racial attitudes.
But even as Love’s election is a step forward for America, it is not enough. The GOP will be tempted to brag about Love’s election as an example of its progressive attitude and its color blindness, and the Mormon church will be tempted to do the same thing. And yet if one black Congresswoman is all that both of these organizations have to show as evidence of their lack of racism and sexism, then it is a pitiful display. Yes, this is a step in the right direction. But both organizations need to go further.
The fact that African-Americans were banned from full participation in the activities of the Mormon church due to a “curse” from God that made blacks inferior to whites is a very clear demonstration of racism. This was only repealed in 1978, when the presidency of the LDS Church proclaimed that “all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color” and was only re-affirmed just last year.
Yet the Mormon church has never repudiated or refuted the culture that made the ban possible in the first place. The Mormon church needs to offer a very public apology for its perpetuation of racism all of these years, not just quietly “accept” African-Americans as “true” Mormons. That would be a welcome change for all involved, and it would provide closure and help us to come to terms with the past.
The Republican Party is not exempt from the criticism that is directed at the Mormon church. The GOP has been notoriously hostile to immigrants and other ethnic groups, both in terms of party leaders and in overall composition. If the GOP really wants to prove that it is racially progressive, it needs to move forward on immigration reform with President Barack Obama as soon as possible. The president has already made it abundantly clear that the two pillars upon which his legacy will stand will be the Affordable Care Act and immigration reform.
Therefore House Speaker John Boehner and presumptive Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should demonstrate their party’s willingness to be more racially progressive by working hard on immigration reform, instead of wasting time on trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which will never be repealed so long as Obama holds veto power. This would be mutually beneficial to both sides, since Obama would be able to cement his legacy and Republicans would be able to attract African-American and Latino voters.
It is true, as Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis says, that America is “not a post-racial society.” But I believe that if the GOP and the Mormon church were to take the steps recommended above and continue to work together with those different from them towards a better and more diverse America, we as Americans can get to that a point of racial equality.
Perhaps we can learn best from Love herself, whose reaction to the media efforts to portray her victory in an entirely racial light was enlightening and refreshing: “I wasn’t elected because of the color of my skin; I wasn’t elected because of my gender. I was elected because of the solutions that I put at the table because I promised I would run a positive issues-oriented campaign and that’s what resonated.” Now that’s what I like to hear from our elected leaders.
Reach the columnist at jbrunne2@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @MrAmbassador4
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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