Mormons, Catholics and Immigration 3

The big issue is why is the Deseret News addressing the issue of Catholics and immigration and not Mormons and immigration.

The answer is hard to put succinctly.

A higher percentage of Catholics, 27%, are immigrants. What the percentage of Mormons who are immigrants is a question that needs to be better addressed.

However some of the issues have to do not so much with reality but with  perception.

The idea that the Catholic leadership is white has place no matter what the reality is.

Mormon leadership is white, but  how this compares to Mormon membership is complex. There are 4 general authorities who are clearly not white, at least not non-Hispanic white, who are also at some level American. Garrit W. Gong of the Presidency of the 70 is the highest ranking, a native of California whose ancestors came to the US from China over 100 years ago. He is totally non-white, although not in any sense an immigrant. Larry EchoHawk is a Native American, specifically a Pawnee. We have yet to have an African-American (as opposed to Afro-Brazilian, Kenyan or Zimbabwean) general authority, but there is an African American area seventy. At least 1 maybe 2 area seventies are Hispanic. Elder Ochoa is a US born, but Mexico raised general authority, who spent most of his adult life in Mexico but was living in the US when called as a general authority. Elder Hugo Montoya was born in the US as well, but since he moved to Mexico as a very young child and spent his entire adult life there until his call as a general autority, he does not figure in my calculations. Elder Juan Uceda on the other hand, a native of Peru who had been an area seventy there, had been living in New Jersey for a few years at the time of his call.