ALPINE, Utah, Feb. 8, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — An LDS Church leader and Brigham Young University associate professor has apologized after making comments during a youth-geared talk that has been widely criticized as racially insensitive.
Brad Wilcox, Second Counselor of the Young Men General Presidency in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an employee of BYU’s Ancient Scripture Department, came under fire after the Monday talk, shared from Alpine by Zoom.
Wilcox addressed an existing controversy, the fact that the LDS Church only granted Black men the power to hold the church’s priesthood in 1978, although it had granted priesthood rights to Caucasian men within the organization 149 years earlier.
“‘How come the Blacks didn’t get the priesthood until 1978?” Wilcox says, as if quoting questions from someone else. “‘What’s up with that brother Wilcox? What, was Brigham Young was a jerk? Members of the Church were prejudice?'”
“Maybe we’re asking the wrong question,” Wilcox said from the pulpit, in a video that has since been shared across multiple social media platforms. “Maybe instead of saying why did the Blacks have to wait until 1978? Maybe what we should be asking is, why did the whites and other races have to wait until 1829.”
Many of those offended by Wilcox’s comment take it to mean, basically, Blacks had to wait until the 1970s, but the really important question is why did Whites have to wait even a lesser amount of time. The implication is that Whites were more worthy.
On Monday, Wilcox apologized through a Church Facebook page, saying:
“My dear friends, I made a serious mistake last night, and I am truly sorry. The illustration I attempted to use about the timing of the revelation on the priesthood for Black members was wrong. I’ve reviewed what I said and I recognize that what I hoped to express about trusting God’s timing did NOT come through as I intended. To those I offended, especially my dear Black friends, I offer my sincere apologies, and ask for your forgiveness. I am committed to do better.”
By Tuesday morning, the apology post had garnered 1.3 million comments and 88 shares. A small sampling of the most recent comments were from people slamming the racist implications of the talk; vouching for Wilcox as a good man; saying his comments exposed what they believed to be the true about the exclusionary nature of the Church; calling for Wilcox’s church resignation; and thanking him for at least apologizing.
The LDS Church has not issued comments on Wilcox’s comments, although the Church has referred people to Wilcox’s Facebook statement.
BYU issued two tweets at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday. They read:
“We are deeply concerned with the words recently used by Dr. Brad Wilcox. We appreciate his sincere apology & believe he is committed to learn from this experience. BYU remains committed to upholding President Nelson’s charge to root out racism in our institutions.
“We are carrying out the guiding principles outlined by President Worthen in evaluating and implementing the recommendations provided by the Committee on Race, Equity and Belonging, including the creation of a new Office of Belonging.”
We are carrying out the guiding principles outlined by President Worthen in evaluating and implementing the recommendations provided by the Committee on Race, Equity and Belonging, including the creation of a new Office of Belonging. 2/2
— BYU (@BYU) February 8, 2022
He can apologize all his wants. We now know what his true feelings are and so many church members feel the exact same way. That is why I denounced that prejudice cult that took over 20 years of my life, pumping me with false information and complete lies.