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PROVO — A group of BYU students handed out fliers Friday saying their aim is to eliminate racism following controversial remarks from a BYU religion professor.
Trevor Antley, a senior at Brigham Young University, did not like Professor Randy Bott's statements to the Washington Post trying to explain why, for a time, blacks could not hold the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Now, Antley is blogging about what is taking place on the school's campus in the wake of Bott's remarks.
According to Antley, a group of BYU students known as the Provo Peace Forum protested Friday by distributing fliers on campus.
"We recognize the need to be completely forthright about the history of our faith which, we openly concede, is blemished in the way all human narratives are," the flier reads, in part. "Perhaps more than any generation before us, we want to engage in open dialogue regarding the history of our faith."
The group has emphasized that the students are not protesting Bott or his comments specifically, but that their goal eliminate racism in general from the "modern Mormon narrative."
BYU students have had mixed reactions to the fliers, according to Antley. He said many of the students with whom he spoke felt the fliers simply drew more attention to an already controversial issue. Others felt the reaction could have been stronger.
"With the probability that Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee, it is likely that the issue of racism in Mormon thought, past or present, will continue to be brought up," Antley said.
