Mormon Barrio: Latino Belonging in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Anthropologist Vega (Latino Heartland) explores in this illuminating study how Latinos have carved out a contested place in the white-dominated Mormon church. She traces the history of Mormon missions to Mexico and other Latin American countries in the late 19th century, where missionaries attracted converts partly by comparing them to Lamanites, an important ethnic group mentioned in the Book of Mormon. In 1919, LDS leaders in Salt Lake City “recognized the potential for growth” with Latino converts, and began building in Arizona the first temple to offer Spanish ordinances. As a result, the Latino Mormon population expanded despite still being viewed within the church as of “lesser... intellectual means” than white believers. Yet the author argues that the emergence of Mormon “barrios”—Latino LDS congregations with more than 150 members—allowed Latinos to blend their cultural and religious traditions in ways that helped them find safety and a measure of autonomy. More recently, overwhelming LDS support for Republican priorities—including anti-immigration laws—highlight the Latino community’s enduring frustrations with a church that didn’t confer full rights to Black people until 1978. The author draws from a wealth of interviews with Mormon Latino communities in Arizona, Utah, and Indiana to scrupulously unpack the complexities and contradictions of this unique ethnoreligious group. It’s a robust study of an under-explored aspect of Mormonism. (Mar.)