as a Black person, i have a serious soft spot for the lamanites. the way the nephites talk about them is all to familiar. often about how White, and non-Black people talk about me and mine.
i get so irritated with the nephites, and it disturbs my spirit to read what some of them have written about the lamanite people. and i don't believe their point of view sometimes.
i think the book of mormon ultimately condemns the nephites' sinful behavior, but that is a message i think many people miss.
i have a soft spot for zoram and the zoramites as well. zoram didn't ask to be involved in all that, and didn't have a real choice about going with nephi and his family (he was coerced on threatof death). the zoramites have a right to be upset about it. my people were brought to the americas against our will as well, and i just feel the zoramites justifiable anger deeply. and while their way of worship needs correction, it feels like a "White people stepping in to save Black folks from their ignorance" narrative (which is a racist white savior narrative). i'm not sure i believe how the nephites presented zoram's point of view and the zoramites either.
since the BoM is written from a nephite point of view, i think it contains the prejudices that the nephites have. i guess i'm "nephite critical," but i think that's okay.
just my thoughts while reflecting on the book of mormon (which i appreciate btw, even this post may be viewed as critical). i was searching online for people's thoughts about these things and no one i saw seemed to agree with me. like, many framed nephi as zoram's liberator, but i just couldn't square that away neatly like they did. not with my own experiences and my people's experiences and history.
