Mormon Professor Confronts Church on Racism - The Lowry Nelson Story w/ Matt Harris | Ep. 1913

In 1947, Lowry Nelson, a respected Mormon academic, challenged the LDS Church's racist policies in a series of letters to top leadership. Occurring on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement, the First Presidency reacted by doubling down on encoding white supremacy into Mormon doctrine. Nelson wasn't ready to give up though and continued to flirt with excommunication by publishing his correspondence with the brethren in a national magazine. Explore with us the story behind these letters and the national reaction once they became public.

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You can read The Lowry Nelson Letters directly on our website!
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Show Notes: https://www.mormonstories.org/portfol...

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:00 Who was Lowry Nelson?
00:05:44 Scriptural justifications
00:12:01 Any outright opponents prior to Lowry Nelson?
00:15:40 1947 Lowry Nelson Background
00:26:40 Reading the Lowry Nelson Letters
00:33:22 Report of the Cuba visit by Heber Meeks
00:36:30 Lowry Nelson’s letter to Heber Meeks
00:43:15 Lowry Nelson writes to the First Presidency
00:49:00 Response back from the First Presidency
00:53:00 Rules and restrictions for blacks
01:06:15 Saying that Joseph Smith is the originator of the ban
01:11:15 J Reuben Clark
01:18:55 Interracial marriage “obviously repugnant”
01:24:55 How doctrine works
01:28:50 Calling the racism doctrine
01:41:29 The 1949 Statement
01:48:05 This was never meant for public consumption
01:54:07 This is the first of three statements the church will make on race
01:58:22 When the ban would be lifted
02:00:55 How do we know that this 1949 Statement was in response to Lowry Nelson?
02:02:29 The final exchange between Nelson and the First Presidency
02:06:50 This became a debate in a national magazine
02:12:55 Letter from the secretary of the First Presidency
02:17:45 The letter appearing in the “Nation”
02:19:30 Apologetic responses to the Nation article
02:31:05 What happened to Lowry Nelson?
02:44:10 How did Lowry Nelson avoid excommunication?

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