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A collection of RadioWest conversations about LDS history, faith, and culture.

Race and the Making of the Mormon People

Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Jane Manning James joined the LDS Church in 1841, and remained an active member until her death in 1908.

We continue our series on race and Mormonism, and Tuesday, historian Max Perry Mueller joins us to talk about Joseph Smith and the early church's complicated views on race.

RadioWest divider.

The historian Max Perry Mueller says that LDS Church founder Joseph Smith had a radical mission. He wanted nothing less than to end schisms in the human family. That doesn’t mean that Smith wholly embraced other races though. He envisioned Mormonism as a chance to lift the curse of blackness, to make a person who accepted the gospel, well … white. We continue our series on race and Mormonism, and Tuesday, Mueller joins us to talk about the complicated views on race held by the early church.

Explore more coverage of Race and the Mormon Church from KUER.

Max Perry Mueller is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Nebraska. His book is called Race and the Making of the Mormon People [Indie bookstores|Amazon]

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
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