Interracial Marriage - The Gathering Storm
Sorry, I needed that laugh. The original post continues below ...
I've just finished watching a fascinating (to me) documentary on DVD that attempts to tell the story of black Mormons, who - according to the liner notes - "have been a continuous presence in the LDS church from its earliest days." The creators bring an insider's POV - but don't flinch from grappling with Mormonism's racist past - and I applaud their effort and welcome the Mormon conversation it has engendered.That said, it wasn't the film's treatment of historical injustice that provoked me to write this post, but rather what the clip below reveals about an ongoing and very present cause for concern.
First, a quick synopsis to set up the clip:
00:00:00 - Faithful young Mormon couple, parents of nine
00:00:55 - Their encounter with racism inside the Salt Lake Temple
00:01:13 - "You speak such good English!"
00:01:25 - This worthy Mormon family is apparently not appropriate for LDS church media? Good enough to tithe, to attend the Mormon Temple, but not good enough for Mormon magazine covers? What is it with
UPDATE: I bought the DVD and grabbed 3 minutes of the documentary figuring that posting such a short clip together with commentary was a safe move under "fair use" ... Long story short, I've decided to remove the clip.
I'm too busy with my own documentary project (and I could probably use some help with the title, because it seems a bit long) ...
"Everybody Knows Except the Mormons Who Never Got Told: How a religion so rigid that until today it's still grappling with the meaning of interracial marriage in its own church culture found the chutzpah to bankroll a nationwide campaign to define marriage for the rest of the country."
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