Race

The Quote “Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.” — Brigham Young, JoD 10:110 (March 8, 1863) Lyrics [Intro - Somber piano, slow tempo] [Verse 1 - Spoken word style, building into melody] March eighth, eighteen sixty-three Tabernacle, Salt Lake City Prophet stands before the congregation "Shall I tell you," he begins "Shall I tell you the law of God?" Everyone leans in to listen [Verse 2 - Melody establishes, minor key] "In regard to the African race" His voice is steady, certain, clear "If the white man of the chosen seed Mixes his blood with the seed of Cain" He pauses for the weight to land "The penalty, under the law of God..." [Chorus - Full, powerful, deliberate] Death on the spot Death on the spot This is the law of God, he says This will always be so Always be so Death on the spot This will always be so [Verse 3 - Building intensity] Civil War is raging, nation torn "I'm no abolitionist," he claims "Neither am I pro-slavery" Standing in the middle ground Then declares that love across the line Deserves death by divine command [Chorus] [Bridge - Tempo slows, piano solo, then spoken/sung] One hundred and fifty years pass December, two thousand thirteen The church releases a quiet statement "We disavow the theories advanced in the past" "That mixed-race marriages are a sin" The law of God... Was just a theory? [Verse 4 - Quiet, testimonial] Today in temples, all across the land Interracial couples kneel and pray Sealed for time and all eternity By the same church that declared Their love deserved death on the spot Under the eternal law of God [Final Chorus - Raw, powerful] Death on the spot He said death on the spot This is the law of God This will always be so But always meant One hundred and fifty years Till it was too embarrassing To keep saying so [Outro - Piano fading, spoken] "This will always be so" (Repeat, growing quieter) "This will always be so" "This will always..." [Silence] Historical Context The Setting: March 8, 1863 — Salt Lake Tabernacle. The Civil War is raging. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued just two months prior. The nation is torn over slavery, race, and freedom. ...

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 Quote “Why is it, in fact, that we should have a devil? Why did not the Lord kill him long ago?… He needed the devil and a great many of those who do his bidding just to keep men straight, that we may learn to place our dependence upon God, and trust in Him, and to observe his laws and keep his commandments. When he destroyed the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, he suffered a descendant of Cain to come through the flood in order that he might be properly represented upon the earth.” — John Taylor, JoD 22:304 (August 28, 1881) ...