This is personal. I don’t usually speak of things in such personal ways, but this book hit me right between the eyes. I have been a church rat my whole life. There was never a time in my life when I was not a member and regular attendee at church. I was ordained to the Christian ministry six weeks before my twenty-fifth birthday and have labored on behalf of the church ever since. As the words of the old hymn go, “I love thy church O God: her walls before Thee stand, dear as the apple of thine eye and graven on thy hand. For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend; to her my cares and toils be given, ‘til toils and cares shall end.” (Words by Timothy Dwight)
Reading this book was painful. Learning of the inextricable ties between American Christianity and white supremacy was a sucker punch to the gut. With painstaking research, accuracy and articulation, Jones sketches the indelible lines that connect American Christianity, white supremacy and racism.
Jones begins with the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention, and its dovetailing with the Civil War. He notes that “Secessionist religion survived even though the south lost the war. Its powerful role as a religious institution that sacralized white supremacy allowed the Southern Baptist Convention to spread its roots during the 19th century to dominate southern culture. By the 20th century the Southern Baptist Convention ultimately evolved into the single largest Christian denomination in the country, setting the tone for American Christianity overall and Christianity’s influence on public life.” He goes on to say that in the north, Christian convictions about the evils of slavery didn’t translate into black equality and a tacit shared commitment to white supremacy emerged.
A theologically backed assertion about the superiority of the white race and Protestant Christianity undergirded a century of sanctioned terrorism. White Protestant Christians saw no disconnect between going to church on Sunday morning and attending a public lynching over a picnic lunch in the afternoon.
A troubling assertion is how white theology molded itself around the glaring injustice of racism and slavery in such a way as to see no conflict between the two. White churches were both compliant and complicit for constructing and sustaining a project to protect white superiority and resist black equality. It continues to this day, not just in the south but among mainline Protestant denominations and Roman Catholics as well.
Two basic tenets contributed to the theological morphing around white supremacy. First was the notion of personal piety and a personal relationship with Jesus. Faith was seen as a primarily personal affair between the divine and the individual. Second, this personal focus on religious piety encouraged a lack of concern about social issues, justice concerns and the issues of “the world.” This let the average white Christian off the hook for the sin of white supremacy and racism.
Jones lays out a careful argument that ends with the dismal observation that white Christian identity embodies the norms of white supremacy far beyond any conscious level of awareness. Further, he notes that white Christians stand out in their negative attitudes about racial/ethnic and religious minorities, the unequal treatment of African Americans by police and the criminal justice system. Underpinning it all is a longing for a past time when white Protestantism was the undisputed cultural power. The typical profile of a white supremacist in the United States is a white Christian, culturally European, who feel their privileged position in the west is threatened by racial minorities and non-Christians. By the early 2040’s the number of white births will be in the minority in the United States. It adds urgency to the fears and arguments that fan the flames of racism.
White supremacy is about much more than the KKK, Proud Boys and other hate groups. At its most basic level it is how a society organizes itself, and what and whom it chooses to value. By narrowing it to specific groups it lets the average white person off the hook and the thornier issues of white supremacy remain defanged.
Throughout the south mainline Protestant denominations wielded social and theological power to maintain the systems, structures and processes that protected white supremacy. It was all varnished with ample amounts of bad theology. These white religious institutions were widely understood to be the glue that held the entire Jim Crow system of laws together.
The National Council of Churches and some Roman Catholic archbishops were supportive of civil rights, but those views were not reflected in the local clergy or in the pews. Declarations on racial justice from national denominational offices were routinely ignored by local churches in both the north and the south.
The daunting task of disentangling white supremacy and Christianity is made even harder by the lack of commitment to the task. There are perks and privileges that come with being white and in the dominant religious tradition. These privileges have been enjoyed by Americans for almost 400 years. They will not go away quietly, and we are seeing they will not go away without a fight. Those fights will escalate in the years to come.
Jones writes, “Confronting a theology built for white supremacy would be a critical first step for white Christians who want to recover a connection not just to our fellow African American Christians, but also to our own identity and, more importantly, our humanity.” (page 106)
This book should come with a warning: once you know this, you will never be able to un-know it.
The Irreverent Reverend 