“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail)
Why does black history matter to you? If you are not black, you might not think that it applies at all. But take another look at the above quote by a beloved civil rights leader, and reconsider if black history is really irrelevant to you. Margaret Young took this subject of shared history as the topic for her Black (Church) History lecture in February. She used the lives of several inspiring figures in black church history to show us just how connected we are to them.
The first person she talked about was Elijah Able, probably one of the most well-known black Mormons for the fact that Joseph Smith had ordained him to the priesthood in the early Church. How does this early church figure relate to us today? Elijah saved the life of Charles Wilcken, one of the ancestors of George Wilcken Romney, father of Mitt Romney. If Elijah had not saved his life, Romney would not be running for president right now. Call that good or bad, depending on your political persuasions, but nevertheless the link between Elijah and Romney is one that directly ties the past to our day.
Green Flake was another early black Latter-day Saint that Dr. Young discussed. He was a slave that Brigham Young acquired. It is very probable that he was who Brigham Young was speaking to as he pulled into the Salt Lake Valley and said, “This is the right place. Drive on.” And so, we see how another black man was so importantly involved in our own history. He was a part of that historic moment that has become enshrined in Mormon history.
Another black Mormon who was discussed in the lecture was Biddy Smith Mason. Her story is interesting for the implications of it on another’s life. Biddy was a slave who sought with other relatives to be emancipated from their master when he moved with them out of the south. The case went to court and came up before Benjamin Hayes. He did something that was usual for a judge at the time, and he actually asked the slaves for their opinion. They expressed their desire to be free, and so the judge emancipated them. The really interesting part comes a little later when one of Benjamin Hayes’ children fell off a moving wagon, and one of these emancipated blacks saved the child from being crushed by the wheels of the wagon. Again, the connection between whites and blacks is clear here. We depend on each other, and what we do to each other affects us or others in some way, at some point.
After the lecture, Dr. Young took questions and invited her research partner, Darius Gray, to come speak as well. His comments were very enlightening. He said, “It’s not just black history. It’s American history.” He then went on to say that black history needs to be taught more generally throughout regular history classes. The same is true of other minorities (Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc.). He went on to say that “a society teaches what it values. In the past, we have not valued black history. That needs to change.”
As I have studied black history over the course of this semester, I have come to the same conclusion that Darius Gray expressed. There is so much rich and important black history that is ignored by the mainstream teaching of today. Like Darius said, that needs to change. By learning the things that have been left out, I have gained a greater appreciation for the wider sweep of American history. All our history classes would benefit from an integration of a range of experiences. What a richer history we would then have to tell and learn!
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