Mormonism is one of the few homegrown religions in the United States, one that emerged out of the religious fervor of the early nineteenth century. Yet, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have struggled for status and recognition. In this book, W. Paul Reeve explores the ways in which nineteenth century Protestant white America made outsiders out of an inside religious group. Much of what has been written on Mormon otherness centers upon
economic, cultural, doctrinal, marital, and political differences that set Mormons apart from mainstream America. Reeve instead looks at how Protestants racialized Mormons, using physical differences
in order to define Mormons as non-White to help justify their expulsion from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He analyzes and contextualizes the rhetoric on Mormons as a race with period discussions of the Native American, African American, Oriental, Turk/Islam, and European immigrant races. He also examines how Mormon male, female, and child bodies were characterized in these racialized debates. For instance, while Mormons argued that polygamy was ordained by God, and so created angelic,
celestial, and elevated offspring, their opponents suggested that the children were degenerate and deformed.The Protestant white majority was convinced that Mormonism represented a
racial-not merely religious-departure from the mainstream and spent considerable effort attempting to deny Mormon whiteness. Being white brought access to political, social, and economic power, all aspects of citizenship in which outsiders sought to limit or prevent Mormon participation. At least a part of those efforts came through persistent attacks on the collective Mormon body, ways in which outsiders suggested that Mormons were physically different, racially more similar to marginalized
groups than they were white. Medical doctors went so far as to suggest that Mormon polygamy was spawning a new race. Mormons responded with aspirations toward whiteness. It was a back and forth
struggle between what outsiders imagined and what Mormons believed. Mormons ultimately emerged triumphant, but not unscathed. Mormon leaders moved away from universalistic ideals toward segregated priesthood and temples, policies firmly in place by the early twentieth century. So successful were Mormons at claiming whiteness for themselves that by the time Mormon Mitt Romney sought the White House in 2012, he was labeled "the whitest white man to run for office in recent memory." Ending
with reflections on ongoing views of the Mormon body, this groundbreaking book brings together literatures on religion, whiteness studies, and nineteenth century racial history with the history of
politics and migration.
Mormonism is one of the few homegrown religions in the United States, one that emerged out of the religious fervor of the early nineteenth century. Yet, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have struggled for status and recognition. In this book, W. Paul Reeve explores the ways in which nineteenth century Protestant white America made outsiders out of an inside religious group. Much of what has been written on Mormon otherness centers upon
economic, cultural, doctrinal, marital, and political differences that set Mormons apart from mainstream America. Reeve instead looks at how Protestants racialized Mormons, using physical differences
in order to define Mormons as non-White to help justify their expulsion from Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He analyzes and contextualizes the rhetoric on Mormons as a race with period discussions of the Native American, African American, Oriental, Turk/Islam, and European immigrant races. He also examines how Mormon male, female, and child bodies were characterized in these racialized debates. For instance, while Mormons argued that polygamy was ordained by God, and so created angelic,
celestial, and elevated offspring, their opponents suggested that the children were degenerate and deformed.The Protestant white majority was convinced that Mormonism represented a
racial-not merely religious-departure from the mainstream and spent considerable effort attempting to deny Mormon whiteness. Being white brought access to political, social, and economic power, all aspects of citizenship in which outsiders sought to limit or prevent Mormon participation. At least a part of those efforts came through persistent attacks on the collective Mormon body, ways in which outsiders suggested that Mormons were physically different, racially more similar to marginalized
groups than they were white. Medical doctors went so far as to suggest that Mormon polygamy was spawning a new race. Mormons responded with aspirations toward whiteness. It was a back and forth
struggle between what outsiders imagined and what Mormons believed. Mormons ultimately emerged triumphant, but not unscathed. Mormon leaders moved away from universalistic ideals toward segregated priesthood and temples, policies firmly in place by the early twentieth century. So successful were Mormons at claiming whiteness for themselves that by the time Mormon Mitt Romney sought the White House in 2012, he was labeled "the whitest white man to run for office in recent memory." Ending
with reflections on ongoing views of the Mormon body, this groundbreaking book brings together literatures on religion, whiteness studies, and nineteenth century racial history with the history of
politics and migration.
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction All "Mormon Elder-Berry's" Children
Chapter 1 "The New Race"
Chapter 2 Red, White, and Mormon: "Ingratiating themselves with the
Indians"
Chapter 3 Red, White, and Mormon: White Indians
Chapter 4 Black, White, and Mormon: Amalgamation
Chapter 5 Black, White, and Mormon: Black and White Slavery
Chapter 6 Black, White, and Mormon: Miscegenation
Chapter 7 Black, White, and Mormon: One Drop
Chapter 8 Oriental, White, and Mormon
Conclusion From Not White to Too White: The Continuing Contest over
the Mormon Body
Notes
Index
W. Paul Reeve is Associate Professor of History at the University of Utah. He is the author of Making Space on the Western Frontier: Mormons, Miners, and Southern Paiutes and the co-editor of Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia and Between Pulpit and Pew: The Supernatural World in Mormon History and Folklore.
"a timely and provocative account [...] This study is a welcome
contribution to a number of fields[...] Students of American
religious history will also find much to learn from this study as
it joins the growing body of literature that serves to blur
distinctions between religious and racial othering and reveals the
complex interplay between religion and race in American history."
-- Kelsey Moss, Princeton University, Journal of Ecclesiastical
History
"Cleverly framed....Reeve's book is a landmark in Mormon studies.
For non-Mormon and Mormon audiences alike, it offers answers to the
long-vexing questions of the when, where, who, and why of the
origins of what is colloquially called the 'priesthood ban.' And
Reeve's book adds Mormons to the well-established historiography on
how ethnic and cultural minorities in America became white. Reeve's
book is now the definitive history on Mormonism and race."--Max
Perry Mueller, The Journal of Religion
"Overall, Reeve's book is a tremendous step forward in studies of
Mormonism, race, and racialization, and indeed of race in American
history more broadly. By examining a spectrum of groups, Reeve
creates an unprecedentedly fleshed-out picture of these racial
processes."--Alexandra Griffin, Reading Religion
"Fascinating, deeply researched, intricately argued, and
wonderfully illustrated. This will be the definitive work on race
and Mormonism from the religion's origins to the early twentieth
century, with a postscript carrying the story forward through the
twentieth century down to Mitt Romney."--Paul Harvey, Journal of
the American Academy of Religion
"Reeve goes beyond the more traditional narrative of Mormons' views
of racial minorities (especially blacks and Native Americans) to
consider how those racial beliefs were constructed as a dialectic
alongside the racialization of Mormons by non-LDS outsiders,
particularly in the nineteenth century. In its sophisticated
conversation with whiteness theory and the history of American race
relations, Reeve's book is innovative and theoretically ambitious
"--BYU
Studies Quarterly
"Religion of a Different Color should stand as an exceptional and
transformative study of race and American religion. It is a rich
and unique contribution to scholarship on Mormon religion that is
equally a well-crafted study of race. It should certainly serve to
inspire intellectually generative debate and further research on
the constitution of racial whiteness for many years to
come."--Mormon Studies Review
"Religion of a Different Color is a true historical tour de force.
It instantly joins the elite ranks of the Mormon studies canon,
becoming required reading for anyone interested in the Mormon past
(or present). The book's utility goes far beyond Mormon studies,
however, as it should also be consulted by scholars of whiteness
and American race relations as an expert analysis of how religion
impacted and was impacted by the national discourse about
race."--BYU Studies Review
"Reeve's book...will probably go down as one of the most important
books in Mormon historiography."--Juvenile Instructor
"In this revealing study, Paul Reeve puts the subject of Mormon
racialization in a new light. Mormons racialized others, to be
sure, but were in turn racialized themselves. In the nineteenth
century critics denigrated Mormons by seeing them as racially a
between-people, near-Black, friendly to Indians, and likely allies
of the yellow hordes. The church's compensating rush to whiteness,
unfortunately, went too far. Now Mormons are seen as too white,
obscuring
their innate inclination to universalism. No one has told this
excruciating story so well as Reeve."--Richard Bushman, author of
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
"Compelling as a set of incredible, revealing stories as well as
nuanced analysis, this study places Mormonism within varied worlds
of race in a way unequalled by any denominational history of
religion and white racism. Reeve's work represents a breakthrough
in Mormon history, religious history, and history of the West, as
well as in the study of race relations."--David Roediger, author of
Seizing Freedom: Slave Emancipation and Liberty for All
"Religion of a Different Color plows truly new and important ground
in explaining the fuller story of Mormonism's place in the long
American struggle with racial bigotry, as well as the uses of
racialist thinking in U.S. history more generally. Previous studies
have tried to explain the traditional racial teachings of Mormonism
mainly by reference to doctrines and developments inside the
Church. This new study instead analyzes the heavily racialized
context of the entire nation, in which Mormons became both victims
and perpetrators of racist policies and practices."--Armand L.
Mauss, author of All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormons
Conceptions of Race and
Lineage
"With prodigious research and a keen eye for detail, context, and
irony, Paul Reeve masterfully guides us through the fickleness and
combustibility of nineteenth-century American racial discourse,
with Mormons as his unlikely subjects. In the process of fighting
off swarms of accusations that they were not white enough, Mormons
reified whiteness as the sine qua non of American respectability.
Religion of a Different Color provides a powerful new lens
that helps us better understand how and why race remains such a
troubled legacy for both America and 'the American
religion.'"--Patrick Q. Mason, Claremont Graduate University
"A widely researched, soundly documented, challenging addition to
whiteness studies and to scholarly literature on race
generally."--CHOICE
"Thoroughly researched, clearly written, and surprising, Reeve's
work is the new starting piece for discussions of Mormons and
race."--Western Historical Quarterly
"The argumentative thread is rich and complex; my summary here
hardly captures the subtlety and detail of the discussion.
Fortunately, Reeve has a gift for short, targeted sentences and
summary paragraphs that make his major points with crystalline
clarity. That knack for pinpoint summaries helps the reader
navigate through a text full of quotation, illustration, and
sometimes dense textual analysis of Mormon writings."--The Journal
of the American Academy
of Religion
"In the shadow of Ferguson, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Baltimore,
and countless other recent racial controversies, W. Paul Reeve's
book is a timely study of how humans racialize other humans and
deny communities the right to construct their own identity. Its
bold, fresh take far exceeds any minor quibbles I might try and
summon in false pursuit of a balanced review. It is nothing short
of marvelous, and it has my highest recommendation. It will shape
how we
think about Mormonism and racial identity for decades."--Journal of
Mormon History
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
