he announcement of the revelation marked the most significant change in the Mormon religion since the end of the practice of polygamy. Kimball had pondered over the reversal of the practice for several years; he sought support from the Council of the Twelve. Each apostle met with Kimball in private to discuss the positive and negative aspects of black priesthood denial. It was only after all the apostles had agreed with the new revelation that the Church announced publicly that blacks would be admitted to the priesthood. The inability of the Church to avoid social pressures was most likely the main reason for the revelation. Negative media, criticism from the African American community, threats of civil rights lawsuits, and internal disarray reached a boiling point. Furthermore the spread of the Church to multi-racial countries located in Central and South America and Asia made it increasingly difficult to point out which members of the Church contained the so-called seed of Cain. Allowing equal rights for African-Americans allowed the Church to vastly expand its missionary work to urban Cities in the United States as well as to African Countries. Studies conducted by the Church as of January 1, 1980 provided information on the increase of diversity among Mormon members living abroad: South America contained a total of over three-hundred thousand members, Mexico contained more than two-hundred and thirty thousand members, while the continent of Africa registered more than eight thousand members19. Since the beginning of civilization human beings have made judgments of those that are different. Many of those judgments have condemned those that are different to a subordinate role in some aspect of life. These differences can be through physical appearance, economic status, religious views, or social attitudes. To condemn what is foreign is in many ways human nature. Throughout the first century of our Countries existence m...
