Black Mormons

Since Mormonism's foundation, Black people have been members; however, the church placed restrictions on proselytization efforts among Black people. Before 1978, Black membership was small.^{[citation needed]} It has since grown, and in 1997, there were approximately 500,000 Black members of the church (about 5% of the total membership), mostly in Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean. Black membership has continued to grow substantially, especially in West Africa, where two temples have been built. By 2018, an estimated 6% of members were Black worldwide. In the United States, approximately 1% of members are Black.

The initial mission of the church was to proselytize to everyone, regardless of race or servitude status. When the church moved its headquarters to the slavery-permitting state of Missouri, they began changing its policies. In 1833, the church stopped admitting free people of color into the Church for unknown reasons. In 1835, the official church policy stated that enslaved individuals would not be taught about the church without their enslaver's consent, and the following year was expanded to not preach to enslaved people at all until after their enslavers were baptized into the LDS Church. Some Black people joined the church before the restrictions, such as Joseph T. Ball, Peter Kerr, and Walker Lewis, and others converted with their enslavers, including Elijah Abel and William McCary.

Jane Manning James had been born free and worked as a housekeeper in Joseph Smith's home. When she requested the temple ordinances, John Taylor took her petition to the Quorum of the Twelve, but her request was denied. When Wilford Woodruff became president of the church, he compromised and allowed Manning to be sealed to the family of Smith as a servant. This was unsatisfying to Manning as it did not include the saving ordinance of the endowment, and she repeated her petitions. She died in 1908. Church president Joseph F. Smith honored her by speaking at her funeral. She was posthumously endowed by proxy in 1979.

Other notable early Black LDS Church members included Green Flake (enslaved by John Flake), who was born into bondage on a plantation in Anson County, North Carolina, and a convert to the church and from whom he got his name. He was baptized as a member of the LDS Church at age 16 in the Mississippi River, but continued to be held in slavery. Following the death of John Flake, in 1850 his widow gave Green Flake to the church as tithing. Some members of the Black side of the Flake family say that Brigham Young emancipated their ancestor in 1854; however, at least one descendant states that Green was never freed.

Samuel D. Chambers was another early African American pioneer. He was baptized secretly at the age of thirteen when he was still enslaved in Mississippi. He was unable to join the main body of the church and lost track of them until after the Civil War. He was 38 when he had saved enough money to emigrate to Utah with his wife and son.

Before 1978, relatively few Black people who joined the church retained active membership. Those who did, often faced discrimination. LDS Church apostle Mark E. Petersen describes a Black family that tried to join the LDS Church: "[some white church members] went to the Branch President, and said that either the [Black] family must leave, or they would all leave. The Branch President ruled that [the Black family] could not come to church meetings." Discrimination also stemmed from church leadership. Under Heber J. Grant, the First Presidency sent a letter to stake president Ezra Taft Benson in Washington, D.C., advising that if two Black Mormon women were "discreetly approached" they would be happy sit in the back or side so as not to upset some white women who had complained about sitting near them in Relief Society.

On October 19, 1971, the Genesis Group was established as an auxiliary unit to the church. Its purpose was to serve the needs of Black members, including activating members and welcoming converts. It continues to meet on the first Sunday of each month in Utah. Don Harwell is the current president. When asked about racism in the church, he said "Now, is the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints racist? No, never has been. But some of those people within the church have those tendencies. You have to separate the two."

From 1985 to 2005, the church was well received among middle-class African-Americans, and African American membership grew from minuscule before 1978 to an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 in 2005. A 2007 study by the Pew Research Center found that 3% of American Mormons were Black. African Americans accounted for 9% of all converts in the United States. A 1998 survey by a Mormon and amateur sociologist, James W. Lucas, found that about 20 percent of Mormons in New York City were Black. Melvyn Hammarberg explained the growth: "There is a kind of changing face of the LDS Church because of its continuing commitment to work in the inner cities." Sociology and Religious Studies Professor Armand Mauss says African Americans are particularly attracted by the focus on promoting healthy families. However, these numbers still only represent a fraction of total church membership in the United States, suggesting that African Americans remain comparatively hesitant to join, partly because of the church's past. Still, Don Harwell, president of the Genesis Group, sees it as a sign that "People are getting past the stereotypes put on the church."