[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by SoCalCoug

I think Lingo's (unintentionally) hit on the disconnect here.

Today, I think we're more enlightened about race issues, and I think anyone in our present culture who is racist is ignorant or simply evil (i.e., skinheads).

Calling someone living in our society today a "racist" is the equivalent of calling them morally corrupt.

Calling someone living in 1940's and 1950's Utah a "racist" is more a statement of fact than anything. It's not meant in a pejorative way. Much of the culture of white America in those times had racist views toward blacks.

When we say the church hierarchy in that time was racist, it's just an indication that they were consistent with their culture and time. We're not saying that they were evil or even sinning in their thoughts. That was just a mindset of much of white America, particularly in Utah, where there were very few black people at all at that time.

Exactly so.