Tobar said:
You know what I find hurtful. That once my ancestors were millions strong across the land. That children are taught they were a primitive people when in fact they were an advanced culture with large cities. That tamed the land and created corn. That over 90% were wiped out by european diseases. That they were slowly subjugated and segregated to reservations. That whenever the question of who discovered America is brought up, the answer is either a sadistic psychopath or a viking and never the people WHO WERE ALREADY HERE.
That your prophet wrote that to have white skin was a blessing and that those with dark skin were cursed. That your church didn't bother to renounce this until last December! That's what I find hurtful.
My avatar was my attempt to try and humor myself when contemplating on these things.
I appreciate you changing your avatar, as the attempt at humor appeared to be more of an attempt to paint me a racist. My part Peruvian (and thus part Native American) wife would be very hurt if she found out.
Since I never seem to have time to really sit down and type all references or find all the citations I'd always hope to use, I can refer you to this article. It is far easier to read than what I had linked to before, and it offers plenty of citation.
Just bear in mind that The Book of Mormon speaks very highly of the Lamanites throughout its pages, and you cannot judge the attitudes of its authors (or its author, since almost everyone who reads this thread assumes only one) to be racist in nature based on a few passages. When read in broader context, it's clearly quite favorable towards the Lamanites.
This is evidenced especially by the fact that the fastest growing racial/ethnic demographic group within my church is among the Latin American crowd, the majority of whom have Native American blood, and those who accept the Book of Mormon see themselves as descendants of the Lamanites. Hope this helps and offers a better view of my Church, of Joseph Smith, and of me.