Join us as historian Matthew Harris returns to discuss what happens when members of the Mormon Church First Presidency go rogue. We explore George Romney's support of Civil Rights versus Ezra Taft Benson's involvement with the John Birch Society. We'll also dive into the impact of white church members marching in the Civil Rights Movement and how figures like Stewart Udall, Cleon Skousen, Robert Welch, and Hugh B. Brown challenged the Brethren at Church Headquarters with their views and publications.
We are thrilled to announce that we have reached our donation goal to compensate Dr. Matt Harris for his contributions to this series. We sincerely thank everyone who supported this effort. While the goal to pay Matt has been met, producing this series incurred significant costs for the Open Stories Foundation. If you find value in this content and want to help cover these expenses and support future productions, we encourage you to donate at https://www.mormonstories.org/donate/ Your generosity makes a difference—thank you!
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Show Notes: https://www.mormonstories.org/mormon-politicians-confront-racism/
00:00:00 Intro
00:04:17 George Romney
00:08:55 Apostle Legrand Richards submits Romney’s name for the Quorum of the 12
00:13:12 Letter from Delbert Stapley
00:17:25 Contradictions with legal rights
00:19:57 Reading from Stapley’s letter
00:25:35 Context for this quote
00:30:35 Romney on the church’s race teachings
00:38:00 Benson also runs for office, it looks bad for the church
00:46:14 Hugh B. Brown
00:56:00 Segregation in Utah and Salt Lake
01:02:12 Why Brigham Young instituted the ban
01:09:46 Reading the statement “presenting it as his own”
01:19:50 White Mormon allies picketing
01:27:18 Reading the account of Kimball
01:37:33 Ezra Taft Benson
01:43:45 Robert Welch
01:49:05 W. Cleon Skousen
01:54:40 Why did people think King was a communist?
02:06:03 Brown and Benson interaction
02:20:30 Stewart Udall
02:30:37 Udall writes the article with the help of McMurrin and Benion
02:44:00 Publications by Benson against Civil Rights
02:48:35 Preview for what they will talk about next
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