Flat Nose and Black Skin

The Quote

“You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, un-comely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind… The Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin.” — Brigham Young, JoD 7:290-291 (October 9, 1859)

Lyrics

[Intro: Somber acoustic guitar, fingerpicked, haunting]

[Verse 1: Speak-sing, testimony voice]
October morning, eighteen fifty-nine
Brigham stood in the Tabernacle, said he'd gather truth divine
"God has created of one blood," he told the gathered crowd
"All the nations, black and white, copper-colored" — spoke it loud

[Pre-Chorus: Building]
But then he taught intelligence
And what the Lord had shown
About the classes of the human race
And curses set in stone

[Chorus: Full voice, letting horror speak]
Flat nose and black skin
That's the mark the Lord put on
Uncouth, un-comely, disagreeable
The curse of Cain lives on
Flat nose and black skin
Deprived of blessings from above
This is what the prophet taught
In the name of God's own love

[Verse 2: Measured, each word weighted]
"Cain slew his brother Abel, committed odious crime
He'll be cursed the longest of any child of Adam's line
The Lord put a mark upon him" — Brigham made it plain
The flat nose and the black skin is the curse upon that stain

[Bridge: Sparse, haunting, space between lines]
One hundred nineteen years
The priesthood was denied
One hundred nineteen years
While Black Saints testified

Children couldn't be sealed
To mothers and to fathers
One hundred nineteen years
Of theological slaughter

[Verse 3: The reckoning]
Nineteen seventy-eight, June
The revelation came
Black members could hold the priesthood now
But no apology for shame

Twenty thirteen, an essay
Disavows the theories taught
"Black skin is not divine disfavor"
But what about what it wrought?

[Final Chorus: Quieter, bearing witness]
Flat nose and black skin
That's what Brigham Young declared
The mark of Cain, the curse of God
One hundred nineteen years they bared

The church disavows it now
Says racism in any form
But for a century and more
This teaching was the norm

[Outro: Instrumental, fading, unresolved]

Historical Context

The Setting: October 9, 1859, in the Tabernacle at Great Salt Lake City. Two years before the Civil War began.

The Speaker: Brigham Young was serving as the second President of the LDS Church, a position he held from 1847 until his death in 1877. He was also the Governor of the Utah Territory.

Why It Matters: For 119 years (until 1978), this theology was used to deny priesthood ordination and temple ordinances to Black members. Families could not be sealed together. The harm was generational.

The Failed Prophecy

“They never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood… They were the first that were cursed, and they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed.” — Brigham Young, JoD 7:291

In 1978, Black members received priesthood access while millions of non-Black people still had not. The prophecy failed.

The Modern Disavowal

“Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse…” — “Race and the Priesthood” Gospel Topics Essay, 2013

This is testimony to what was taught. Let the prophets speak for themselves.