Comments on: Southwestern States Mission: Epithets for African Americans [edited]

By: Juvenile Instructor » Southwestern States Mission: Interactions with African Americans, Part 1

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:40:33 +0000

[...] the last two weeks’ posts, I have established that Mormon missionaries in the Southwestern States Mission (especially those [...]

By: Edje Jeter

Edje Jeter — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:53:56 +0000

Thanks for the comments, Ardis, willatfarnsworth, Mark B., and kevinf.

willatfarnsworth: I’ve revised the post to make its academic purpose more clear.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:56:53 +0000

willatfarnsworth, perhaps it will help if I indicate that while I also find the usage of these words offensive, one of these missionaries is an ancestor, which makes it doubly offensive. Yet I think it is important to understand these in the context of their times, and the background of the missionaries themselves. I know that Texas was not the first time Elder Folkman encountered African-Americans, but certainly in much larger numbers than growing up in Weber County, Utah. We look at these things in hopes of understanding, and in the long run, do better ourselves.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:09:15 +0000

Language changes and it makes no sense either to pretend that certain words weren’t used 100 years ago or to suppose that the words carried the same meanings that they have today. And there’s nothing in the original post to suggest that the use of any of those words today is acceptable.

Just one note regarding the original post–you suggest that “negro” might have had some pejorative sense. If that was the case in 1900, it certainly wasn’t in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was the standard acceptable way to refer to blacks in the U.S. It was used by blacks, like Martin Luther King, Jr., and by white politicians and church leaders from all across the political and religious spectrum.

“Colored” of course had its day when it was deemed appropriate–why else the NAACP?

By: willatfarnsworth

willatfarnsworth — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:02:06 +0000

I’m sorry, but as an African American I find this blog post offensive. The content, the timing (during Black History Month), the source, the context–all of it. Just offensive.

It’s true that many Mormons in the US have very little interaction with “diversity” but that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to trot out stereotypes and epithets under the guise of scholarship.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:25:01 +0000

I have nothing particular to say, except that potentially inflammatory matters deserve to be grounded in this kind of careful examination before the flames are lit.