Striving towards whitness in order to fit in the Mormon Church #lds #mormon #black #poc

The Invisible Cost: How Black Members Navigate Whiteness in Mormon Faith Communities

For many people of color in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, belonging has come with an unspoken condition: the need to assimilate toward whiteness in order to gain acceptance and credibility within their faith community. This phenomenon, striving towards whiteness in order to fit in the Mormon Church, represents a complex intersection of institutional culture, implicit bias, and the psychological toll of religious belonging for marginalized members. Understanding this dynamic matters not only for affected individuals but for anyone seeking to comprehend how religious institutions shape identity and belonging.

The question is both personal and structural: When members of color feel they must suppress cultural identity, adopt white cultural norms, or modify their behavior to be seen as "serious" or "legitimate" members, what does that reveal about the community's actual values and accessibility? And what long-term consequences follow?

Background: The Historical Context of Race and Mormonism

The Church's relationship with race is well-documented and complicated. From 1852 to 1978, the institution maintained an official policy excluding Black men from its priesthood. Even after the 1978 revelation reversing this ban, scholarly research and member testimonies reveal that cultural attitudes shifted more slowly than official doctrine.

The end of the priesthood ban did not automatically dismantle the cultural infrastructure that had positioned whiteness, and white cultural expressions, as the default standard for orthodoxy and belonging. As the Church grew more racially diverse in subsequent decades, newer members of color inherited a religious culture already coded as white in its aesthetic, leadership composition, and unspoken social norms.