Mormons: The Negro Question

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Doubts about the Saints' stand on Negroes are widespread enough to challenge the presidential chances of Michigan's Mormon Governor George Romney, although Romney is a strong advocate of Negro civil rights. Many younger Mormons believe that the church has no choice but to open up the priesthood to the Negro. "The change will come, and within my lifetime," says Dr. J. D. Williams, 37, a professor of political science and former bishop of the Provo stake (diocese). "The Mormon liberal has for years felt a deep uneasiness over his church's doctrine that Negroes are not worthy to hold the priesthood." And he fully anticipates that the central feature of Mormonism —continuous revelation—will provide the way out.