Leaders of NAACP & The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-DaySaint

Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and three leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People—Derrick Johnson, Leon Russell, and Amos C. Brown—released today a joint plea for increased understanding and love coupled with condemnation and rejection of racism.

This statement is a result of collaboration that began two years ago through a series of conversations that sparked insights about ways to work together to improve self-reliance and upward mobility for inner-city and minority families. “We quickly felt deep respect for one another, even referring to ourselves as ‘brothers from another mother.’ Our common bond as followers of Jesus Christ and as religious leaders gave us a natural foundation from which to build a friendship as well as an opportunity to better appreciate each other’s unique perspective and experience.”

“Solutions will come as we open our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own, as we work to build bonds of genuine friendship, and as we see each other as the brothers and sisters we are — for we are all children of a loving God,” the statement continued. Encouraging us to help usher in such solutions, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and NAACP invite all Americans to do the following: (1) pray to abandon attitudes of prejudice and racism, (2) seek opportunities to assist or serve someone of a different background or race, (3) acknowledge that prejudice, hate, and discrimination are learned, and accordingly, teach children to love all persons and to find the good in others, and (4) learn to appreciate and value the differences in others.”

“We agree with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that ‘hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.’ It is this kind of love that inspires us to do the rigorous work of building bridges of cooperation rather than walls of segregation and alienation. We likewise call on government, business, and educational leaders at every level to review processes, laws, and organizational attitudes regarding racism and root them out once and for all. And we likewise remind everyone that we must renounce illegal acts such as looting, destruction, and defacement of public or private property. Never has one wrong been corrected by a second wrong. Evil has never been resolved by more evil.”

“Arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder, may we strive to lift our brothers and sisters everywhere, in every way we can. We first linked arms as friends and have now locked arms in love and brotherhood. The people of America can do the same.”

President Russell M. Nelson, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO
Leon Russell, NAACP Chairman of the Board
The Reverend Amos C. Brown, Chairman Emeritus of Religious Affairs, NAACP

For more information, please go to ChurchofJesusChrist.org.