"The year 2003 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the lifting of the ban excluding black members from the priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The articles collected in Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith's Black and Mormon look at the mechanisms used to keep blacks from full participation in the church, the motives behind the ban, and the kind of changes that have - and have not - taken place within the church since the revelation responsible for its end." "Investigating how the LDS Church has fared in encouraging blacks to join its ranks, this collection of essays offers unique insights into one of the most sensitive issues facing the Mormon faith today. As the first volume to deal head-on with the conflicting attitudes that still exist within the church, Black and Mormon is required reading for anyone concerned with the history of racism, discrimination, and the Latter-day Saints."--BOOK JACKET.