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Smith, Darron T.

April 24, 2017 by admin

WORK TITLE: When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1965
WEBSITE: http://www.darronsmith.com/
CITY: Germantown
STATE: TN
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:

http://memphis.academia.edu/DarronSmith * http://www.mormonstories.org/black-athletes-at-byu-with-darron-smith/ * http://memphis.academia.edu/DarronSmith/CurriculumVitae

RESEARCHER NOTES:

LC control no.:

n 2004089781

LCCN Permalink:

https://lccn.loc.gov/n2004089781

HEADING:

Smith, Darron T., 1965-

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__ |a Black and Mormon, 2004: |b ECIP t.p. (Darron T. Smith) data view (b. Oct. 28, 1965)

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__ |a The impact of social factors on health, 2014: |b t.p. (Darron T. Smith) p. 169 (Ph.D., PA-C, assistant professor, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Tennessee Health Science Center)

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__ |a sh17

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PERSONAL

Born October 28, 1965, in Nashville, TN.

EDUCATION:

University of Utah, bachelor’s degree, 1994, Ph.D., 2010; Brigham Young University, M.Ed., 2000.

ADDRESS

  • Office - University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 930 Madison Ave., Ste. 613, Memphis, TN 38163

CAREER

Educator and writer. Adjunct faculty at Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University, and the University of Utah, 1994-95, 2000-08; Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, assistant professor, 2011-12; University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, assistant professor of physician assistant studies, 2013-15; University of Memphis, Memphis, adjunct professor of sociology, 2016–.

RELIGION: Mormon

WRITINGS

  • (Editor) White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2004
  • (Editor, with Newell G. Bringhurst) Black and Mormon, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2004
  • When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond, Rowman & Littlefield (Lanham, MD), 2011

Contributor to periodicals, including Huffington Post.

SIDELIGHTS

Darron T. Smith writes on the intersections of African American issues, Mormonism, and sports. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Sociology at the University of Memphis, having previously served as assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Smith is a political and cultural commentator for the Huffington Post and has lectured and published academic articles in the fields of health-care disparities, income inequality, disparities in higher education, injustices impacting African Americans, and religious studies.

In 2004, Smith edited White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption, which presents stories of white parents adopting children from different racial and ethnic groups. Essays focus on the racial socialization white parents provide, what it means to be black in American society, trends in transracial adoptions, the concept of “colorblindness” in America, and how to help adopted children develop a healthy sense of self. “The research literature is clear,” said Smith in an article on the Wichita State University Web site, “that when black children grow up in predominately white communities they do unfortunately encounter the sting of racial marginalization.”

In 2004, Smith coedited Black and Mormon with Newell G. Bringhurst. The book collects writing on issues faced by black Mormons since the 1978 lifting of the ban on black priests in the Latter Day Saints church. The Mormon church has hoped to move beyond its troubling past of racism against African Americans, including the belief that blacks are descendants of the biblical Cain. Essays discuss methods the church has used to ban full participation by blacks in the church, the self-loathing of some black Mormons, the small number of black members in the church, black membership in African countries, and personal stories of black Mormons from the 1800s to the present.

Writing in Religion News Service, Smith said: “In light of these new developments, many more Godly questions have been left unanswered. As these issues are addressed, old doctrines may be discarded and retaught where necessary in efforts to seek full equality and justice for all members.” According to Tracey D. Weaver in the Black Issues Book Review, Smith and Bringhurst’s book “will be most appreciated by students of theology, and presents an interesting perspective on the depth, intensity and forgiving nature of African American faith.”

Smith’s 2011 title When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond tells the story of Brandon Davies’s dismissal from Brigham Young University’s NCAA playoff basketball team as a backdrop to discussing the sometimes-contentious intersection of religion, race, and sport in college athletics. Smith focuses on the history of black athletes, the black Mormon experience, institutionalized racism in intercollegiate athletics, big money’s influence in sports, and how change can occur in the Mormon church and sporting world.

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

  • Black Issues Book Review, May-June, 2005, Tracey D. Weaver, review of Black and Mormon, p. 47.

  • Publishers Weekly, November 15, 2004, Jana Riess, review of Black and Mormon, p. S17.

ONLINE

  • Darron Smith Home Page, http://www.darronsmith.com (June 1, 2017).

  • Mormon Stories, http://www.mormonstories.org/ (March 31, 2016), review of When Race, Religion and Sport Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond.

  • Religion News Service, http://religionnews.com/ (December 19, 2013), Jana Riess, review of Black and Mormon.

  • Wichita State University Web site, http://www.wichita.edu/ (December 13, 2011), Shannon Littlejohn, “WSU Professor Looks at Transracial Adoption in New Book.”

  • White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2004
  • Black and Mormon University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2004
  • When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond Rowman & Littlefield (Lanham, MD), 2011
1. When race, religion, and sport collide : Black athletes at BYU and beyond LCCN 2015034699 Type of material Book Personal name Smith, Darron T., 1965- Main title When race, religion, and sport collide : Black athletes at BYU and beyond / Darron T. Smith. Published/Produced Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & LIttlefield, [2016] Description ix, 217 pages ; 24 cm. ISBN 9781442217881 (cloth : alk. paper) CALL NUMBER GV691.B74 S65 2016 CABIN BRANCH Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 2. White parents, black children : experiencing transracial adoption LCCN 2011030667 Type of material Book Personal name Smith, Darron T., 1965- Main title White parents, black children : experiencing transracial adoption / Darron T. Smith, Cardell K. Jacobson, and Brenda G. Juárez. Published/Created Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2011. Description xiv, 162 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. ISBN 9781442207622 (cloth : alk. paper) 9781442207646 (electronic) CALL NUMBER HV875.64 .S628 2011 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms CALL NUMBER HV875.64 .S628 2011 CABIN BRANCH Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 3. Black and Mormon LCCN 2004003479 Type of material Book Main title Black and Mormon / edited by Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith. Published/Created Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2004. Description 173 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. ISBN 025202947X (alk. paper) Links Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0415/2004003479.html CALL NUMBER BX8643.A35 B57 2004 CABIN BRANCH Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE
  • Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darron_Smith

    Darron Smith is an African American scholar, author and blogger. His research and writing focuses on injustices impacting African Americans and other marginalized groups. His work includes the study and impact of race on US health care, the practice of white parents adopting black and biracial children,[1] religion, sports, politics and other pertinent subject matters of present time.[2][3]

    Smith's most known work is the 2004 book, Black and Mormon, a book-length anthology exploring black Mormons and their place in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since the 1978 priesthood revelation that lifted the ban on blacks in the Church. His most recent book, When Race, Religion and Sport Collide: Black athletes at BYU and Beyond, explores African American male student-athletes through the medium of sport in the era of the Black Lives Matter movement.[4]

    Contents [hide]
    1 Early life and education
    2 Career and further education
    3 Books
    4 Bibliography
    5 References
    Early life and education[edit]
    Smith was born in Nashville, Tennessee, but his formative years were split between Los Angeles and Nashville. As a child, he followed the Baptist faith along with his family. As a teenager, however, Smith began to question his faith. When he was 15, he met a black member of the LDS Church who briefly introduced him to Mormonism. A short time later, Smith had an unrelated encounter when two Mormon missionaries came to the Smith residence and further broadened his understanding of the religion. He felt that his questions about religion were better answered through Mormonism. Smith converted from the Baptist faith to Mormonism in 1981. He later went on to serve a mission for the LDS Church in Lansing, Michigan.[4]

    After graduating from Antioch High School in Nashville, he began his collegiate studies at the LDS Church-owned BYU-Idaho (formerly known as Ricks College). During his time at Ricks, Smith served one year in the regular Army, training as an Army photographer. He later transferred his undergraduate training to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City where he completed his Bachelor Degree in Behavioral Science and Health in 1994.[4]

    Career and further education[edit]
    Smith completed the physician assistant program from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1996.[4] In the late 1990s, he started teaching college students. While continuing to practice as a certified PA, Smith taught courses at universities in and around the Salt Lake valley, including the Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University and the University of Utah. It was while working as a PA student at the BYU Sports Medicine facility in Provo, Utah that he enrolled in the Masters of Educational Leadership at the BYU. He completed his M.Ed. in 2000.[5] Two years later, he enrolled in the University of Utah’s Education, Culture, and Society doctoral program. Smith continued to teach at BYU until 2006, when his contract was not renewed. According to Smith, his employment was terminated by BYU in response to his Black and Mormon manuscript and his public outspokenness regarding Mormonism’s racist beliefs and teachings about people of African descent as divinely cursed by God.[5][6]

    In May 2010, Smith received his Ph.D. from University of Utah. The winter, he joined the faculty at Wichita State University as an assistant professor in the Physician Assistant Program. He left Wichita State University in mid 2012 and pursued his work on When Race, Religion and Sport Collide. By April 2013, he relocated to Memphis, Tennessee to join the staff at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center as an assistant professor.[5]

    Smith's research focus includes issues of social inequality, racism, discrimination, income inequality, disparities in higher education and health-related inequalities that African Americans withstand. He studies and writes about the emotional toll of being a racialized minority in a white supremacist nation and the impact it has on physical and mental well being. His articles have been featured in numerous academic journals. Additionally, his work has appeared in Adoption Today, Religion Dispatches, Deadspin,[7] and Your Black World, and he also published op-ed pieces in The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.[8] He is a regular blogger for Huffington Post,[9] where he uses social media as a platform to advocate for social change. He has written widely from urban street culture to pop culture. Smith's most successful post explored the appropriation of black music by Justin Bieber’s rise to stardom.[10] Smith has also written about the Ferguson Riots, which began shortly after the death of Michael Brown that sparked a national outcry against police brutality against young unarmed black men and woman.[11]

    Books[edit]
    Smith co-edited the book, Black and Mormon, a book-length anthology exploring black Mormons and their place in the LDS Church since the 1978 priesthood revelation. It was published in 2004.[12] The book received positive reviews. Publishers Weekly wrote that it is "one of the most far-reaching studies of black Mormons to date" and that it is "an outstanding series of essays on the problems of racism among the Mormons and the exclusion of African American men from the priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."[13]

    He co-authored the 2011 book, White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption[14][15] that explains the issue of race in transracial adoptions—particularly the adoption of black and biracial children by white adopting parents. The book argues that racism remains a significant problem for transracial adoptees. Choice Magazine recommended the book and called it "an important read for all parents, practitioners, and pundits in the field [of adoption]."[16] Social Forces wrote that “... the book will surely serve as a valuable resource for parents to help them understand that when forming a family across the color line, love is not enough." [17]

    In 2016, he wrote When Race, Religion, and Sports Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond to critical acclaim. The book tells the story of Brandon Davies’ dismissal from Brigham Young University’s NCAA playoff basketball team. It illustrates the intersection of sport, race and religion at BYU. Smith also examines athlete's dismissed through honor code violations at BYU, indicating that they are mostly African American.[18] While reviewing the book on Mormon Stories, John Dehlin wrote that "I want to highlight this amazing book . . . [It] is a really fascinating read . . . I can’t plug this book enough and tell everybody they need to read it."[19] Choice Magazine reviewed the book and wrote that "Arguing that the close and complex relationship between race and religion can be uncovered through sports, Smith does a masterful job of weaving together critical race theory, US religious history, and sports to examine institutionalized racism in intercollegiate athletics."[4]

    Bibliography[edit]
    Black and Mormon. (2006). ISBN 978-0252073564
    White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption. (2011). ISBN 978-1442207622
    Social Inequality and Social Justice in Medicine. (2012). ISBN 978-1-6213-1019-8
    When Race, Religion, and Sports Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond. (2016). ISBN 978-1-4422-1789-8
    References[edit]
    Jump up ^ "Should white mom be paid for brown baby mistake?". Japan Times. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "Darron T. Smith". Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "'Are Guardsmen getting a bum rap in G-RAP fraud cases?'". Post Guam. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "022-024: Black and Mormon — The Darron Smith Story". Mormon Stories. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    ^ Jump up to: a b c "Darron Smith". Darron Smith. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "Is Mormonism Still Racist?". Slate. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "Truth About Race Religion and The Honor Code at BYU".
    Jump up ^ "Darron Smith". Exmormon Radio. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "Juan Williams: Say It Loud: Black, GOP and Proud". Fox News. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "The Transformation of Justin Bieber From a White Youth to a Black Man".
    Jump up ^ "The Historical Context of the Ferguson Riots".
    Jump up ^ "Mormon racism and Black self-hatred in Zion, by Darron Smith". Jana Riess. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
    Jump up ^ "Black and Mormon". University of Illinois. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "About Darron". Darron Smith.
    Jump up ^ "Darron T. Smith". Mormon Think. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption". Amazon. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption". Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond". Rowman. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
    Jump up ^ "627-628: Black Athletes at BYU with Darron Smith, Ph.D.". Mormon Stories. Retrieved 9 April 2016.

  • Memphis Academia / CV - http://memphis.academia.edu/DarronSmith

    Darron T Smith
    2.4 | University of Memphis, Sociology, Adjunct +1 | Transracial Adoption +32
    Dr. Darron T. Smith is a faculty member at the University of Memphis in the Department of Sociology. He is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post on various issues of inequality in the form of racism, classism and other systems of U.S. based oppression. He has also contributed to various forums from Religion Dispatches and ESPN's Outside the Lines to The New York Times and Chicago Tribune op-ed sections. Dr. Smith’s research spans a wide myriad of topics on including healthcare disparities, Religious Studies, Race & Sports, Stress & Mindfulness, Transracial Adoption and the Black Family. His is the author of, When Race, Religion & Sports Collide: Blacks Athletes at BYU and Beyond, was recently released to critical praise in November 2016.
    Phone: 901-448-1663
    Address: The University of Tennessee-Health Science Center College of Allied Health Sciences
    Dept. of Physician Assistant Studies
    930 Madison Avenue/Suite 613
    Memphis, TN 38163
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    483 Followers | 112 Following | 3 Co-authors | 21,577 Total Views | top 4%

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    Curriculum Vitae

    Darron T Smith
    University of Memphis, Sociology, Adjunct DOWNLOAD

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    EDUCATIONDoctor of Philosophy
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  • Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/darronsmith-734

    Dr. Darron Smith
    Author, Scholar, Lecturer
    Dr. Darron T. Smith is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Memphis Department of Sociology. He is frequent political and cultural commentator & writer for Huffington Post on various issues of inequality in the form of racism, classism and other systems of U.S. based oppression. He has also contributed to various forums from Religion Dispatches and ESPN's Outside the Lines to The New York Times and Chicago Tribune op-ed sections. Dr. Smith’s research spans a wide myriad of topics on including healthcare disparities, Religious studies, Race & Sports, Transracial Adoption and the Black Family. He is the co-author of White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption as well as the co-editor of Black and Mormon His current book, When Race, Religion & Sports Collide: Blacks Athletes at BYU and Beyond, was recently released to critical praise in November 2016.

  • -

5/8/17, 12)13 PM
Print Marked Items
All God's children: a study on African American
Mormons and guides for women of the spirit
challenge the heart
Tracey D. Weaver, Kathryn V. Stanley and Monica C. Jones
Black Issues Book Review.
7.3 (May-June 2005): p47. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2005 Cox, Matthews & Associates
Full Text:
Black and Mormon Edited by Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith University of Illinois Press, October 2004 $34.95, ISBN 0-252-02947-X
Through essays, Black and Mormon chronicles the evolution of the relationship between the Mormon Church and African Americans. It will be most appreciated by students of theology, and presents an interesting perspective on the depth, intensity and forgiving nature of African American faith.
The book begins with a look at the history of racism in the Mormon Church, particularly the strict edict that no men of African descent were eligible for priesthood, the highest station in the Mormon Church. This doctrine, which was not repudiated until 1978, sprung from the all-too-familiar fallacy that African Americans are cursed children of Canaan and thus unworthy of respect and honor. The middle essays are poignant, personal stories of African American Mormons who held on to their faith despite the inequities that abounded in church doctrine.
One essay tells the story of Jane Elizabeth Manning, who, in the 1800s, was so determined to be treated equally that she lobbied the Mormon Church for years until it named her a member of its founding family, assuring her rightful place in the Hereafter. Another essay follows generations of two African American Mormon families. The final chapters describe the present-day church, including an insightful portrayal of a modern and culturally diverse Atlanta, Georgia, ward.
Black and Mormon, though difficult to follow in places, portrays the faith of black Mormons who believed that the faithfulness of their God was stronger than the racism of human beings and that if they just held on, change would come. Their story closely resembles the relationship of African Americans to our country. Like America, the Mormon Church changed its laws but is still working on its heart.
--Reviewed by Tracey D. Weaver
Tracey D. Weaver is a freelance writer living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Your Inner Eve: Discovering God's Woman Within by The Reverend Dr. Susan Newman One World/Ballantine Books, January 2005 $13.95, ISBN 0-345-45080-9
about:blank Page 1 of 3
5/8/17, 12)13 PM
Author of Oh God! A Black Woman's Guide to Sex and Spirituality (One World/Ballantine Books, March 2002), admonishes, inspires and pleads with women to return to the original woman God created them to be before they were silenced by abuse, racism, sexism or anything else that suppressed God's voice.
A quick read, thanks to Newman's wit and conversational tone, it contains chapters on prayer, working for change and speaking out as keys to reclaiming that inner spirit or "Goddess within." Newman uses Eve as her central figure to impart life-inspiring messages, and also uses other biblical characters.
Candid about her own journey to reclaim God's woman within, she makes readers feel she walks with them as they journey toward inner peace and joy.
--Reviewed by Kathryn V. Stanley
Kathryn V. Stanley is the FAITH editor for BIBR. She is also a staff writer at Wright Publishing Company in Atlanta, Georgia.
African American Women Tapping Power and Spiritual Wellness by Stephanie Y. Mitchem, Ph.D. Pilgrim Press, October 2004 $18, ISBN 0-829-81559-7
This a catch-you-off-guard revelation on how African American women might deal with struggle, survival and healing, manages the difficult task of placing words of wisdom side by side with essay and biblical reconstruction and commentary. Mitchem weaves heartfelt womanist disclosures with the realities of the "isms" of our world.
Seminarians may study it; preachers may be inspired by it; health-care providers may counsel with it; and scholars may lecture with it. All may come closer to healing because of it.
--Reviewed by Monica C. Jones
Monica C. Jones is an assistant minister at Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Weaver, Tracey D.^Stanley, Kathryn V.^Jones, Monica C.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Weaver, Tracey D., et al. "All God's children: a study on African American Mormons and guides for women of the
spirit challenge the heart." Black Issues Book Review, May-June 2005, p. 47. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA132476339&it=r&asid=db546fba9166bb64970df121d716e15e. Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A132476339
about:blank Page 2 of 3
5/8/17, 12)13 PM
Black and Mormon
Jana Riess
Publishers Weekly.
251.46 (Nov. 15, 2004): pS17. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2004 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
BLACK AND MORMON EDITED BY NEWELL G. BRINGHURST AND DARRON T. SMITH. Univ. of Illinois, $34.95 (176p) ISBN 0-252-02947-X
In 1978, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reversed a longstanding ban by granting the lay priesthood to all worthy men, regardless of race. In this book, eight scholars weigh in on the history of the ban, the present role of African-Americans in Mormon life and the residue of earlier racism. The editors claim that despite the 1978 revelation, the Church has done little to distance itself from damaging folk doctrines of the past, and "needs to forthrightly confront its past history of racial exclusion and discrimination." The book's best essays are Alma Allred's fascinating analysis of racial themes in LDS scripture; Armand Mauss's summary of post-1978 developments; and Ken Driggs's on-the-ground report of a successful, racially mixed Mormon congregation in Atlanta. Like other scholarly anthologies on narrow topics, this collection contains some repetition of ideas, case reports and anecdotes, but it is one of the most far-reaching studies of black Mormons to date. (Nov.)
Riess, Jana
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Riess, Jana. "Black and Mormon." Publishers Weekly, 15 Nov. 2004, p. S17. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA125148641&it=r&asid=1a93f83bd78b5c82689d62d61bd9911f. Accessed 8 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A125148641
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Weaver, Tracey D., et al. "All God's children: a study on African American Mormons and guides for women of the spirit challenge the heart." Black Issues Book Review, May-June 2005, p. 47. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA132476339&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017. Riess, Jana. "Black and Mormon." Publishers Weekly, 15 Nov. 2004, p. S17. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA125148641&it=r. Accessed 8 May 2017.
  • Mormon Stories
    http://www.mormonstories.org/black-athletes-at-byu-with-darron-smith/
    Word count: 291

    John Dehlin
    THURSDAY, 31 MARCH 2016 / PUBLISHED IN BLACKS AND THE PRIESTHOOD, BYU, MORMON STORIES, RACE
    627-628: Black Athletes at BYU with Darron Smith, Ph.D.

    RaceBYUSportsWhen Race, Religion, and Sport Collide tells the story of Brandon Davies’ dismissal from Brigham Young University’s NCAA playoff basketball team to illustrate the thorny intersection of religion, race, and sport at BYU and beyond. Author Darron T. Smith analyzes the athletes dismissed through BYU’s honor code violations and suggests that they are disproportionately African American, which has troubling implications. He ties these dismissals to the complicated history of negative views towards African Americans in the LDS faith. These honor code dismissals elucidate the challenges facing black athletes at predominantly white institutions. Weaving together the history of the black athlete in America and the experience of blackness in Mormon theology, When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide offers a timely and powerful analysis of the challenges facing African American athletes in the NCAA today.

    Dr. Darron T. Smith is a frequent political and cultural commentator on various issues of U.S. based issues of race, racism, and discrimination in forums ranging from Religion Dispatches, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune op-ed to ESPN’s Outside the Lines. His research spans a wide myriad of topics on race including healthcare disparities, Religious studies, Race & Sports, and Race, Adoption and the Black Family. His current research focuses on health care workforce discrimination involving African American physicians and physician assistants. He is the co-author of White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption and co-editor of Black and Mormon. His current book, When Race & Religion Collide: Black Athletics at BYU and Beyond was released in 2015.

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    Part 2:

  • Religion News Service
    http://religionnews.com/2013/12/19/mormon-racism-black-self-hatred-zion-darron-smith/
    Word count: 1011

    Mormon racism and Black self-hatred in Zion, by Darron Smith
    By Jana Riess | December 19, 2013

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    (courtesy of Darron Smith)
    “Our living prophet, President David O. McKay, has said, ‘The seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man; but goes back into the beginning with God….’” —1969 First Presidency Statement

    Darron SmithA guest post by Darron Smith

    As an African-American Latter-day Saint and the co-editor of Black and Mormon, a book-length anthology published in 2004 exploring black Mormons and their place in the LDS Church since the 1978 priesthood revelation, I applaud the LDS Church’s most recent effort to deal with its troubling racial past as reflected in its 6 December 2013 statement “Race and the Priesthood.”

    For decades, however, the Church has not forthrightly addressed its racist past despite calls from many of its more progressive black and white members. Not surprisingly, the black membership worldwide remains small, between one and three percent according to survey data. Most black members reside in and practice their faith on the continent of Africa, mainly in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Congo. According to a 2009 Pew survey, approximately three percent of US Mormons, or 186,000 people, are black.

    While efforts were being made at the federal level to dismantle Jim Crow racism and desegregate the nation, the LDS Church was determined to maintain the position that people of African ancestry were under divine sanctions. Mormon leaders then proceeded to advance a number of racist theories to justify this belief, including that black people were the sons and daughters of Cain. This idea was disseminated through a sizable body of official writings, doctrinal pronouncements, and conference talks to the general membership of the Church.

    Unfortunately, with no words to the contrary by church leaders until now, these teachings and understandings have persisted well into the 21st century. Evidence of just how pervasive these beliefs were came as late as February 2012 when Brigham Young University religion professor Randy Bott gave an interview with Washington Post reporter Jason Horowitz where he articulated much of the old racist folklore in Mormonism that had been in existence for over 130 years. Bott spoke of curses and marks on people of African lineage, invoking the book of Genesis in the Bible and Mormon scripture found in the Book of Abraham.

    Sadly, these beliefs reach further than just the white membership and have actually gone on to instill what appears as self-hatred in a number of black Mormons. Throughout America’s racist history, Blacks have sought the approval of Whites in order to gain some recognition or simply a reprieve from the everyday microaggressions of race-based mistreatment. Yet, that approval requires Blacks to accept occupying a “lesser” status in society as well as in the hereafter. More than a few black Mormons here in America have gone on record reflecting these same racist ideas about themselves as inspired by God.

    Examples of black Mormon complicity are seen in individuals like Keith Hamilton and Alan Cherry, who believe that they themselves were cursed. The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story in 2011 about Keith Hamilton, an African American Mormon man who wrote the memoir Last Laborer: Thoughts and Reflections of a Black Mormon. In the book, Hamilton states, “Withholding the priesthood from blacks was part of God’s unfolding plan.” Despite the ban’s existence through a century and a half of racism in American history, Hamilton maintains that it was “no man-made policy… nor a policy instituted because some white LDS Church leader(s) had concerns about black-white relations.”

    Other black Mormons have found ways to reconcile the race-based teachings of Mormonism by channeling Church authorities and declaring “only God knows” in reference to why Blacks were not allowed to fully participate in the LDS faith. Alan Cherry was one of a handful of African Americans who converted to the Mormon faith and attended Brigham Young University in the 1970s before the lifting of the ban. In an interview with the LDS-owned Deseret News, Cherry told reporter Molly Farmer, “From the very beginning my impression that came from heaven was I was not to worry about priesthood restriction.” He continued by saying that men and women must stop looking for inequalities and injustices, and instead, be happy for those who have more.

    How could Blacks join the Mormon faith given its blatant anti-black teachings?

    The truth is the Church’s racial history is not a forthright conversation that missionaries volunteer with their potential converts. It is possible then, that most black Mormon converts do not know the extent of the Mormon race folklore until some time after they have been baptized into the Church when they hear murmurings about a patronizing, racist past. Either way, some find ways to reconcile those beliefs in the predominantly white faith while others understandably leave.

    For many black LDS who stay and practice their faith, often the messages and principles of the faith, such as the gospel’s emphasis on family and community, trump the racist past (and present). Still others have come to believe, like their white counterparts, that Church authorities’ statements on controversial issues are institutionally sanctioned pronouncements by God, when in fact, they often reflect individual political and social prejudicial views. Whether they converted or are second generation LDS, most black Mormons politely ignore the racist teachings, which in effect marginalizes them.

    I am in full support of the LDS Church’s effort to move beyond its racist past. This admission, however, will likely create significant problems moving forward for those Mormons who have been taught the LDS notion of prophetic infallibility. In light of these new developments, many more Godly questions have been left unanswered. As these issues are addressed, old doctrines may be discarded and retaught where necessary in efforts to seek full equality and justice for all members.

  • Wichitaw State News
    http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/stories/story.asp?si=1648
    Word count: 627

    Darron Smith, an assistant professor in the College of Health Professions, has recently published "White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption." The book examines issues of race and whether white adopting parents can help their children cope with the reality of racial discrimination.
    WSU professor looks at transracial adoption in new book
    Tuesday, December 13, 2011
    By Shannon Littlejohn
    Love is not enough if you are a white parent of an adopted black child. That’s the premise behind Wichita State University assistant professor Darron T. Smith’s recently published book “White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption.”

    Smith will sign books from 5:30-6:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, in the Regents Room of the Rhatigan Student Center. The event, with refreshments, is open to the public.

    Smith, an African American physician assistant in the College of Health Professions, authored the book with Cardell Jacobson, a professor of sociology at Brigham Young University.

    “White Parents, Black Children” examines issues of race and whether white adopting parents can teach their children how to cope with racial discrimination.

    “The research literature is clear,” said Smith, “that when black children grow up in predominately white communities they do unfortunately encounter the sting of racial marginalization.”

    Does skin color still matter?

    Some researchers cite increasing numbers of transracial adoptions in the United States as evidence the country is entering a post-civil rights era where skin color no longer matters, Smith said.

    But racism and the persistence of discrimination remain a factor for many black children of transracial adoptions, and can have a deleterious impact on their mental health.

    To always live under the constant threat of being singled out on the basis of skin color can take a heavy toll on the physical body as well, said Smith.

    “If white folks intend to raise black children, they must know that denying or downplaying racial slights or taunts, for example, only adds to the misery their children must feel,” he said.

    “Because white Americans are least likely to understand racial discrimination and are engaged in raising black children, they must have a real incentive to help their child learn to cope.”

    A sense of purpose

    Inoculating children of stigmatized groups by instilling in them a sense of purpose and a strong African American identity has positive benefits on the psychological well-being of young people.

    Smith further stated that when white parents adopt minority children, they need to be aware of how race constitutes their children’s being.

    One way to help white parents gain the knowledge of racial sensitivity is to surround themselves with a multitude of black friends and mentors, not just one or two tokens.

    White parents mean well, Smith said, and love their children deeply. Still, if they don’t attempt to widen their circle, even considering moving to an integrated neighborhood, they really shouldn’t adopt black children.

    “It’s never a question of love,” said Smith. “The issue is, can white parents sufficiently humble themselves and do better socially and culturally for their adopted children?”

    Smith, whose research area is in minority health, said that in “White Parents, Black Children” he hopes to challenge the concept of a "colorblind" America and offer suggestions to help adoptees develop a healthy sense of self.

    A frequent commentator on issues of race, including a New York Times post on transracial adoption and Haiti, Smith also is co-editor of the book “Black and Mormon."

    This story has been tagged Faculty/Staff, College of Health Professions. See all RSS feeds here

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