The Book of Mormon Musical goes above and beyond portraying Africans, especially black Africans, as “lovable but ignorant” and leans into some really racist stereotypes. It crassly portrays Africans (especially black people) as naked, murderous, pedophilic, and dumb savages who have HIV/AIDS, demand that female genitals be mutilated, and engage in beastiality. The whole play is about white missionaries coming over to black people and telling them that they’re inferior and need to become more like the white missionaries. In short, The Book of Mormon Musical is nothing but a modern-day minstrel show with a Mormon twist.
I am appalled at how little this racism is talked about, especially given how iconic it is among Exmormon groups. What’s even more appalling is when this racism is pointed out how many times I see Exmormons defend the racism as being a feature, not a bug. Is it ok to use racist stereotypes to mock an unrelated group of people? I don’t think it makes it ok. “Its just a joke” is a poor excuse and doesn’t work to eliminate those stereotypes; it just reenforces them. Even members of the original cast, such as Josh Gad, have recognized that this play is pretty racist.
We need to call out racism when we see it, especially within our own communities.
The Book of Mormon Musical is racist