When I returned to South Africa in 1992, the LDS Church there was still very much a white church. From time to time, the issue of blacks and the priesthood would come up, and the same reasons would always be given. on one such occasion, a very close friend of mine got up during a Sunday School class and never returned to church. Thankfully, as the 1990s came to an end, the narrative regarding blacks and the priesthood started to change in South Africa. The numbers of those who continued to hold these outdates and erroneous ideas began to decrease. Also, the political dialog in South Africa was shifting. As blacks began to take leadership roles in public and private institutions as well as in the Church, they were seen as being intelligent and capable. Thus many of the old views began to be perceived as antiquated and naïve.

Unfortunately, the "I do not know why" answer, as helpful as it was coming from my mission president and a few senior Church leaders, did not completely end the question in my mind and heart. That answer seemed insufficient because the restriction seemed to go contrary to the Church's core teachings on forgiveness and taking the gospel to all nations. If the practice of limiting the blessing of the priesthood and temple did not come to us as a revelation, what are some of the factors that may have influenced how it started and lingered for 125 years?