#Repost from @thedayafter2016 with @regram.app ... Not so long ago: On Oct. 15, 1969 Willie Black, a graduate student and head of Wyoming University’s Black Student Alliance,learned of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) ban on Black males holding priesthood in the church. He wrote a letter to the administration describing the race issues of the LDS and called for football players and students to protest. Two days before the game, 14 Black players aka the Black 14, decided to wear black armbands in the game. Head Coach Lloyd Eaton reprimanded them and released them from the team, revoking their athletic scholarships. The Board of Trustees supported his decision and said the players would not play in that game or any other that season. The now all-white team beat BYU and won 2 more games but lost the last 4. The 1970 team lost all of its home games and all but one game on the road. The week after the athletes’ dismissal, the NAACP filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction ordering the reinstatement of the players and asking for damages for violation of their civil rights. The injunction was denied and the case thrown out of court. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision, but it also fell short in court. The negative publicity affected Wyoming’s football program for years. Students at the campuses of almost every BYU opponent protested at the games and called on their institutions to ban contests with BYU. Stanford University announced that they would no longer participate in athletic contests against BYU and the University of Washington. The Faculty Senate voted to sever all ties with BYU athletics. On June 9, 1978, the First Presidency of the Mormon Church announced that a divine revelation had been received to open the Mormon priesthood to Blacks ending the ban. In 2002, a statue to the 14 was erected on the University of Wyoming campus and in 2009 the LDS Institute at the University of Wyoming made black arm bands in tribute to the events of 1969 and handing them to all in attendance. When asked in 1982 if he had any regrets, Eaton said “Hell No!”. #theblack14 #byu #wyoming #churchoflatterdaysaints #mormon #notsolongago #nsla
