Introduction

Abstract

White Evangelical Racism tells a concise history of the evangelical movement and—here is the hard part—the racist and racial elements that imbue its beliefs, practices, and social and political activism. This book will take you onto the third rail of American religious history, focusing on the key issues evangelicals have succeeded in shaping—especially those that have influenced our current politics. Starting with the slaveholding Christianity of Frederick Douglass’s era, this history bridges, as did Douglass’s life, slavery and emancipation. It churns through the eras of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and relentless violence. It leans deeply into the rise of Billy Graham and the civil rights era, arriving at birtherism and the rise of the man some evangelicals refer to as King Cyrus, Donald Trump. It looks from there into the future. It looks directly at the choice white evangelicals must make if they can justly perceive the history of racism embedded in their tradition: Will they allow racism to continue to taint their faith, or will they reject it?