Did Mormons forbid African Americans from joining their Church?

From the 1850s until 1978, persons of African descent could (and many did) join the Mormon Church, but black people were not allowed to hold the priesthood or certain positions within the Church.  This has led to charges of racism and prejudice by the Mormon Church and its leaders.  Never at any time have Blacks been denied membership in the Church and there were black Mormons in the early days of the Church, many of whom crossed the plains with the other Mormon pioneers and settled Utah.  Still, this practice continues to draw criticism.  To understand why this practice came about, it is important to understand a little about the Church.

In Mormonism, Priesthood represents God’s power and authority which He delegates to men on earth in order to lead God’s Church and perform ordinances like baptism.  While translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the first prophet and founder of the Mormon Church, read about priesthood.  He and another early member of the Mormon Church went out into the woods to pray about it.  An angel appeared to them and gave them this power.  He said:

UPON you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1)

Later through the visitation of other angels they received more Priesthood power and were able to establish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830.  This all occurred in New York and Ohio, but soon after the Church began to move to Missouri and then to Illinois where they were driven because of persecution.  The Church grew and many thousands joined it, including some blacks, some of whom were former slaves.  Over the next few decades, and no one know when for sure, it became policy not to ordain black men to the Priesthood.  To complicate matters, some members of the Mormon Church including some leaders made racist comments similar to those made by others in America at the time, though other leaders were very much opposed to racism and most Mormons were adamantly opposed to slavery. 

Since racist attitudes were common in America and European countries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, such practices attracted no attention.  Over time, as America began to confront its racist past, this practice attracted more and more attention.  As early as 1900, Lorenzo Snow, then President of the Mormon Church, said he could find no scriptural justification for the ban, but nevertheless, he continued the practice.  In 1954, then President David O. McKay and the Apostles of the Mormon Church studied the matter.  President McKay was very concerned about the African people and their status and so he prayed about it, but according to his own accounts, the Lord told him the time had not yet come, though in 1962 he attempted to send missionaries to Nigeria, only to have the government deny them entry.  In 1973, President Harold B. Lee fasted for three days and nights while praying about the issue, but received the same answer: the time had not yet come.  Finally, in 1978, while gathered with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Spencer W. Kimball announced that he had received a revelation ending the ban.  Since that time, hundreds of thousands of blacks have joined the Mormon Church and been ordained to the Priesthood in the United States, South America, and Africa.  Two temples have now been built in West Africa. 

No leader of the Mormon Church has explained why this ban was in effect, though many tried to understand the reasons.  There was much disagreement as to its origins.  In 1949, the President of the Church issued this statement:

The attitude of the Church with reference to the Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the priesthood at the present time.

It is important to note that while blacks were denied the Priesthood, the Mormon Church nevertheless taught that they, just as everyone else, could be saved in heaven through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Many explanations have been given to explain the ban, most of them based upon speculation and many members of the Church have continued to spread rumors and untruths about this ban. 

Testimonies and articles about Blacks and the Priesthood:

All Are (Really) Alike Unto God?   Personal Reflections on the 1978 Revelation by Marcus H. Martins
Blacks and the Priesthood, by Marvin Perkins
Dispelling the Black Myth, by Renee Olson

Websites about Black members of the Mormon Church:

LDS Genesis Group, the official organization for Black members of the Mormon Church, established in 1971
BlackLDS.org, an unofficial website featuring archives, history, and testimonies of black members of the Mormon Church
Timeline of Blacks and the Mormon Church, from BlackLDS.org