The Book of Mormon contains several passages that link dark or “black” skin with a divine curse, especially in its narratives about a group called the Lamanites, and these verses have generated a long, often painful history of racial interpretation and debate within Mormonism.

Key passages about “black skin”

Several core verses are usually cited when people ask what the Book of Mormon says about black or dark skin.

  • In 2 Nephi 5, after a split between two groups (Nephites and Lamanites), God is described as causing “a skin of blackness” to come upon the Lamanites “because of their iniquity,” so they would not be “enticing” to the Nephites.
  • Alma 3 links the “skins of the Lamanites” being dark with a “mark” and a “curse” placed on them because of rebellion, describing this change in visible terms.
  • Jacob 3 speaks of the Nephites hating the Lamanites because of the “cursing which hath come upon their skins,” but warns that if the Nephites do not repent, the Lamanites’ “skins will be whiter than yours” before God, combining color language with moral reversal.

These verses explicitly tie a group’s darkened skin, or “skin of blackness,” to disobedience and to being set apart from a more “white and delightsome” people.

Historical racial readings

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many Latter-day Saint leaders and members read these passages in overtly racial terms.

  • Some leaders taught that dark skin, especially among Native Americans (identified with the Lamanites), was a sign of God’s curse, and that righteousness would eventually lead to a lighter or “white and delightsome” condition.
  • Broader Mormon teachings also connected dark skin among people of African descent with biblical curses (Cain, Ham), reinforcing ideas that Black skin was a marker of divine disfavor and linked to priesthood and temple restrictions that lasted until 1978.
  • A number of Black Latter-day Saints in the 19th century were even promised in blessings that they would become “white and delightsome” or “white in eternity,” reflecting how deeply skin color was tied to spiritual status in some teachings.

Modern historians and critics often describe this complex as a religious version of white supremacy rooted in 19th‑century American racial thought, rather than in ancient history.

Modern apologetic and reinterpretive views

In the last few decades, many believing scholars and apologists have tried to detach the Book of Mormon text from straightforward racial readings.

  • Some argue that “skin of blackness” is metaphorical or symbolic language—about spiritual darkness, a covenant mark, clothing/garments, or ritual status—rather than literal pigmentation.
  • Others suggest the “mark” could be cultural (hairstyles, clothing, ritual tattoos) or disease-related, noting that ancient texts sometimes describe sufferers as “black” or “darker than a coal” in contexts of famine or illness.
  • These writers emphasize other Book of Mormon passages that condemn prejudice and teach that “all are alike unto God,” arguing that any racist use of the text reflects later readers, not God’s intent.

However, critics point out that the narrative itself juxtaposes “white and exceedingly fair and delightsome” with “skin of blackness” in causal terms, and that early leaders clearly read this physically and racially, making purely symbolic readings difficult to sustain.

Current church stance and distance from racism

Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially rejects racism and has disavowed past racist theories connected to scripture.

  • The church’s 2013 statement “Race and the Priesthood” explicitly disavows past explanations that dark skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects lesser worth or premortal unfaithfulness.
  • Since 1978, Black members have had full access to priesthood and temples, and leaders consistently teach that God does not judge people by skin color and that all races are spiritually equal.
  • Nevertheless, passages about “skin of blackness” and “white and delightsome” remain in the Book of Mormon (with some wording revised in newer editions), and many members and scholars are still working through how to interpret them responsibly in a post‑racist, global church.

So in practice there is a tension: the text and its historical interpretations have been used to support racist ideas, but the present‑day church is trying to repudiate those ideas and promote racial equality.

How this shows up in today’s discussions

Online and in academic and faith communities, the question “what does the Book of Mormon say about black skin?” is very much alive in 2026.

  • Ex‑members and critics often highlight the “skin of blackness” verses as evidence of a racially problematic scripture whose language mirrors 19th‑century American racism more than an ancient record.
  • Believing scholars and apologists produce articles, talks, and videos arguing for non‑racist readings (metaphor, covenant mark, disease, etc.), and for foregrounding inclusive passages that denounce discrimination and insist all are alike before God.
  • Many Latter‑day Saints of color report mixed experiences: some feel hurt by the legacy of these verses and past teachings, while others stay in the faith but reframe or bracket the problematic language, seeing it as human limitation rather than God’s true view of race.

If you are reading or discussing the Book of Mormon today, the crucial context is that its language about black/dark skin has a real history of racist use, but there is also an active effort inside the church to reinterpret or distance the faith from that racial legacy.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.