CEDRIC - I want to address the issue that the Mormons did not allow blacks to hold leadership roles in the church. The Mormon church was openly RACIST when it was started, not God. LDS leaders changed their beliefs about blacks in the church not because God told them to but because it was not acceptable by secular beliefs anymore.
Racism is still a nasty cloud that hangs over the LDS and it shows when you say that some leaders do not recommend interracial marriages. What happened to what the Bible teaches that we all came from Adam and Eve? The human race is all one race.

JOEL - Actually blacks were allowed to have some leadership roles in the Church from the very beginning. I assume you are refering to the priesthood that they were denied for a period of time. Sometimes people do strange things believing it is God's will, but to charge an entire religious organization of racism is an unfair assessment of the facts.
Has our Church had members who were racist? Yes it has and I am sure there are some who are now. That's to be expected when considering a population of 12 million people. And a few statements that came from some church leaders in the past may sound racist now but were really no more racist than what most every other white american believed at the time they said those things.
If you call our Church racist then both God and Jesus would be considered racist for similar reasons. This is not the only time restrictions have been placed on who should and should not receive the full blessings of the Gospel. At the time of Moses, the Melchizedek Priesthood was taken from the children of Israel. In its stead they were given the Aaronic, or Lesser, Priesthood. This priesthood was restricted to worthy males of the tribe of Levi. During His ministry, Jesus instructed His twelve disciples that they were not to go to any of the Gentile nations or to the Samaritans to preach the Gospel, and that they were to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5-6). The matter of who gets what at a particular time according to race has been an issue with God at various times throughout the history of the earth. Consider that the Church has never rejected blacks for membership, unlike the vast majority of white protestant churches, nor has the Church ever segregated its black members from the white. Also consider, that the LDS church has always taught that all children who die before the age of accountability(8 years) are saved in the highest kingdom of God(Celestial), regardless of race or color.
One of the main reasons for the persecution that the early LDS Saints suffered was because of their strong position against slavery.
Church leaders of the past have told us that someday everyone would be able to receive the full blessings of the priesthood and Temple ordinances. Even Brigham Young back in 1852 said, referring to blacks, that the "time will come when they will have the privilege of all we have the privilege of and more." (Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives, Feb. 5, 1852). If he were a racist person he would have said that the blacks would never get the priesthood.
In 1947 President David O. McKay said, "Sometime in God's eternal plan, the Negro will be given the right to hold the priesthood. In the meantime, those of that race who receive a testimony of the Restored Gospel may have their family ties protected and other blessings made secure, for in the justice and mercy of the Lord they will possess all the blessings to which they are entitled in the eternal plan of Salvation and Exaltation."
The Church has never actually condemned inter-racial marriage; but church leaders have in the past recommended that people marry within their own race, simply because of the cultural differences that can sometimes strain a relationship. But I as I have mentioned in earlier questions you don't hear our leaders talk about this much anymore because of how people are more accepting and tolerant of cultural differences in our modern day.
You said,
" LDS leaders changed their beliefs about blacks in the church not because God told them to but because it was not acceptable by secular beliefs anymore."
I think a more accurate statement would be:
"God changed His attitude about blacks in the church because both the Church and the secular world were ready to accept the change."
We are all children of God regardless of our so-called race or color. We all originated from the same parents, Adam and Eve. But God knows what is best for His children and when to allow some children to have some things and when not to allow them things as I explained above. If you believe in the Bible you can't disagree with this.
We believe that God gives us more blessings and information about Him and His plan for us as we are ready to accept it(Isaiah 28:13, John 16:12, 1 Cor. 3: 2). The world and the Church and the blacks were ready for the change and so in 1978 God revealed to His prophet that now was the time to make the change. Of course most of what I have told you will only be acccepted by members of our church who believe that what our Church and its leaders teach is God's will.

Updated statement from the Church on Race and the Priesthood (2013)