Depicting ethnic diversity within Mormon art and scholarship often magnifies the religion’s white dominant membership. For example, J. Kirk Richards’ “Eve and the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge,” which depicts a nude black Eve, drew criticism for presenting an “exoticized” black woman “naked and up for auction.” Since depictions of black Mormons in history, sociology, and art are mostly produced by whites, this panel asks the question, “To what extent is the black image in Mormonism affected by a white filter?”

Mica McGriggs, Russel Stevenson, Nancy Ross, Brad Kramer