Abandoning an Unpopular Policy: An Analysis of the Decision Granting the Mormon Priesthood to Blacks Author(s): O. Kendall White, Jr. and Daryl White Source: Sociological Analysis, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Autumn, 1980), pp. 231-245 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3710400 Accessed: 13-11-2017 21:15 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3710400?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Sociological Analysis This content downloaded from 104.219.97.117 on Mon, 13 Nov 2017 21:15:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Sociological Analysis 1980, 41, 3:231-245 Abandoning an Unpopular Policy: An Analysis of the Decision Granting the Mormon Priesthood to Blacks* 0. Kendall White, Jr. Washington & Lee University Daryl White Georgia State University The decision admitting blacks into the Mormon priesthood is explained as an adaptation to environ- mental pressures, the logical outcome of organizational practices, and the resolution of internal con- tradictions. Adverse publicity from the media, pressures from the black community, and threats of successful litigation reflected environmental hostility; an organizational imperative of growth, the quest for respectability, and the internationalization of Mormonism predisposed the church toward adaptation; and challenges from Mormon intellectuals and activists, pressures from black Mormons, and the leadership of the president reinforced adaptive strategies. Revelation, as a technique of inter- nal control, ensured the consensus of officials and strengthened Mormon hegemony. For the past ninety years, Mormonism has provided a history of major adaptations to its environment. From the abandonment of the Kingdom of God as a concrete society and acknowledgment of the legitimacy of the nation-state (Hansen, 1974; White, 1978), the repudiation of communitarian socialism and embracing of corporate capitalism (Ar- rington, 1966; White, 1980), to the discontinuation of polygamy and acceptance of mo- nogamy (Young, 1954); Ivins, 1972), the Saints have adopted beliefs and altered social structures in response to environmental pressures. Indeed, organizational strategies em- phasizing adaptation may be said to constitute the dominant orientation of twentieth century Mormonism. To some non-Mormon scholars-e.g., O'Dea (1957), Dolgin (1976), Leone (1976; 1979), and Michaelson (1977, 1978)-the church's vitality is equated with its remarkable ability to adapt to environmental vicissitudes. The decision admitting blacks into the priesthood is the most recent of the church's major accommodations. While it might be explained in terms of various accommoda- tion theories, our analysis is not dependent upon any specific model but demonstrates how environmental and organizational forces coalesced during the summer of 1978 to produce the most significant change in Mormon policy for decades. This decision was the culmination of environmental pressures, the logical conclusion of established orga- nizational practices, and the resolution of internal contradictions. Adverse publicity *An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta, Georgia, April 4-7, 1979. We wish to thank Harlan Beckley, Earl Caruthers, Wayland Hand, Roger Jeans, Patrick McNamara, David Novack, Brent White, Glenn White, and especially Kenneth Westhues for comments on earlier versions. This research could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of many respond- ents whom we will not identify in order to ensure their anonymity. 231 This content downloaded from 104.219.97.117 on Mon, 13 Nov 2017 21:15:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 232 SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS from the media, pressures from the black community, and threats of successful litigation reflected growing environmental hostility; an organizational imperative of growth, the quest for respectability, and the internationalization of Mormonism predisposed the church toward adaptation; and challenges from Mormon intellectuals and activists, pressures from black Mormons, and the leadership of the Mormon president reinforced adaptive organizational strategies. Factors Affecting the Policy Change Adverse Publicity from the Media Following accommodation in the realms of politics, economics, and the family, twen- tieth century Mormonism found itself in an increasingly sympathetic environment. The image of the Saints as secret, authoritarian, and morally depraved (see Davis, 1972) gave way to an image of model citizens disproportionately active in the political and econom- ic life of the nation. Celebrating the Mormon welfare system, the news media empha- sized this new image from the Great Depression through the early post World War II years. Responding to the challenge of the civil rights movement, the media soon discov- ered that blacks were denied the Mormon priesthood. This resulted in characterizations of Mormonism as politically reactionary and morally bankrupt. Lythgoe's extensive analysis (1968) of the changing image of Mormonism through the late fifties and sixties documents the "disenchantment" with the church of previously sympathetic writers over the race issue. In a subsequent analysis of the seventies, but before announcement of the revelation, Stathis and Lythgoe (1977) found the non-Mormon media more so- phisticated and less preoccupied with blacks and the priesthood. Nevertheless, it headed the list of controversial items as a major source of embarrassment to a people profoundly preoccupied "with their public image." Even semi-popular books, written by established journalists, reflected this same am- bivalence. Wallace Turner (1966) and William Whalen's (1967) descriptions of modern Mormonism generally praised the Saints but condemned the church's racial policy, and Clark Mollenhoff (1968) and T. George Harris' (1967) accounts of George Romney's po- litical career underscored the Mormon dilemma. Any added success for Romney meant wider publicity for Mormon racism. The writings of Jerald and Sandra Tanner (1970; 1972) may have reached fewer people, but their more thorough analyses clearly dis- turbed church officials and made many aware of contradictions in the official policy. But some of the most significant work came from non-Mormon academics. If Thomas O'Dea's major book (1957) failed to identify Mormon racism as a serious problem, an in- vitation to reexamine his chapter on "strains and conflicts" rectified the situation. This essay (1972) treated the race issue as symbolic of the Mormon response to modern- ity- an issue revealing all of the strains identified in his earlier analysis. Since it involved the dialectics of literal versus critical interpretations of scripture, unquestioning obe- dience and acceptance of authority versus democracy and individualism, and political conservatism versus social idealism, the Mormon church faced a profound challenge in- stead of a simple matter of policy. It is interesting to note that this is the one essay in which O'Dea doubts the probability of Mormonism meaningfully adapting to its en- vironment. While O'Dea's work may or may not have been significant to church of- This content downloaded from 104.219.97.117 on Mon, 13 Nov 2017 21:15:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ABANDONING AN UNPOPULAR POLICY 233 ficials, it profoundly influenced Mormon intellectuals. The latter, as we will soon see, did influence the new policy. Whether the characterization of Mormonism in the media caused or reflected greater environmental hostility is irrelevant to our analysis. The point is that the past two dec- ades found the church again in conflict with its environment, and the shifting focus of the media serves at the very least as a barometer of the conflict. Pressures from the Black Community The impact of the civil rights movement should not be underestimated. Becoming in- creasingly conscious of the Mormon policy and connecting it directly with discrimina- tion in Utah, black civil rights organizations insisted that Mormon leaders prove their good faith with endorsements of pending legislation during the early Kennedy-Johnson years. When Mormon officials refused, civil rights organizations entertained the possi- bility of demonstrating at the semi-annual general conferences of the Mormon church. Apostle Hugh B. Brown, the most sympathetic to the movement, expressed support for the civil rights of blacks at a general conference in 1963, but he failed to endorse specific legislation. The Utah chapters of the NAACP responded in 1965 with a resolution in- troduced at the national meeting urging foreign governments to deny visas to Mormon missionaries for promulgating a doctrine of black inferiority (see White 1972b; Brewer, 1966; 1968). If massive protests failed to materialize during the mid-sixties, this was mere-