A religious cartoon explaining the origins of how Black people came to be is facing accusations of racism. The clip, which comes from the 1982 film, “The God Makers,” features an animated segment describing how the earth was populated according to plans from God and Lucifer.
“Those who remained neutral in the battle were cursed to be born with Black skin,” the narrator says. “This is the Mormon explanation for the Negro race. Spirits that fought valiantly against Lucifer would be born into Mormon families on planet earth. These would be the lighter-skinned people or ‘white and delightsome,’ as the Book of Mormon describes them.”
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In response, several people became outraged over the representation.
Many others made light of the clip.
In Dec. 2013, the Church of Latter-day Saints, which had previously banned Black priests, published an article meant to denounce past racist rhetoric.
“The church disavows the theories advanced in the past that Black skin is a sign of divine disfavour or curse, or that it reflects actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that Blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else,” the statement said. “Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form.”
