Latter-day Saints, NAACP Collaborating on Inner-City Initiative

Earlier this year, the LDS church hosted a “unity luncheon” in Salt Lake City for NAACP board members. This luncheon was the beginning of collaboration between the two groups. Following this event was a speech given by a top LDS leader at the civil rights organization’s annual meeting, and NAACP board members traveling to attend part of the Mormon biannual conference.  The association between these two groups is focused on creating plans for fostering education and economic empowerment in urban centers across the country.  

The talk of collaboration continued when President Russell M. Nelson, top church officials, and NAACP officials joined together to call for “greater civility, racial and ethnic harmony and mutual respect.” They continued speaking about the joint effort at the 64th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education when NAACP President Derrick Johnson stated that, “all peoples can work together in harmony and should collaborate more on areas of common interest.” The collaboration efforts are expected to begin next year and involve making materials and manuals appropriate for people of all faiths and no faith.  

Early in October 2018, the LDS church and NAACP members met in Salt Lake City to continue making plans for an “education and employment initiative.” The topics that they hope to cover include personal finance and entrepreneurial advice. They plan on implementing these initiatives all over the country. The hope is that African-Americans will primarily attend the programs. Rev. Amos Brown, chair of the NAACP’s interreligious relations committee, made it clear by stating the LDS church does not have a hidden agenda of increasing its membership, but rather has a mission to foster better education and employment opportunities.  

In Albert Raboteau’s “Thomas Merton and Racial Reconciliation,” he explains how Merton agreed with white liberals that passing the Civil Rights legislation was needed, but that there was more that was needed than just passing a law. Raboteau explains, “…even if the law ‘were perfectly enforced it would still not be able to meet critical problems that were more strictly economic and sociological (jobs, housing, delinquency, irresponsible violence)’” (Raboteau 17). Merton’s explanation of the problems, beyond just enforcing the law, parallels what the LDS church and the NAACP are trying to do with their new collaboration and initiatives. Merton continues his statement by arguing that many African Americans consider the battle won after the Civil Rights legislation was passed, but he thinks that the Civil Rights legislation was only the beginning of more critical conflict.  

The collaboration between the LDS church and the NAACP has a mission of fostering education and economic empowerment in urban centers across the country. They hope to change the lives of African Americans who do not have easy access to resources and classes by giving them the skills they need to attain better education and employment. This initiative is the kind of affirmative action that African Americans have been seeking since the Civil Rights Movement, and the NAACP along with the LDS church plan to make it a success starting next year. 

 

Banks, Adelle M. “Latter-Day Saints, NAACP Collaborating on Inner-City Initiative.” Religion  

News Service, 15 Oct. 2018, religionnews.com/2018/10/15/latter-day-saints-naacp-collaborating-on-inner-city-initiative/. 

Raboteau, Albert. “Thomas Merton and Racial Reconciliation.”