White Evangelical Racism

December 7, 2020
In this vigorous volume, Butler (The Rise of the New Religious Right) forcefully argues that racism is “a feature, not a bug, of American evangelicalism.” She traces how white evangelicalism has responded to and been influenced by eras of slavery, emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the civil rights era, and in the rise of the “Moral Majority” and makes a persuasive case that evangelicalism is a “nationalistic political movement whose purpose is to support the hegemony of white Christian men over and against the flourishing of others.” Butler’s narrative revisits famous figures such as Frederick Douglass (whose autobiography “provided fuel for the abolitionist movement” and caused rifts in communities of white evangelicals), Franklin Graham (whose overt Islamophobia demonstrated how “racism became an undeniable aspect of American evangelicals and their public persona”), and Sarah Palin (who “tugged at the heartstrings of older white evangelicals who did not want to see a Black man in the White House”) to show how evangelicals’ contemporary embrace of right-wing politics is rooted in its centuries-long problem with race. This scathing takedown of evangelicalism’s “racism problem” will challenge evangelicals to confront and reject racism within church communities.

February 5, 2021

Butler (religious studies, Univ. of Pennsylvania; The Rise of the New Religious Right) offers a concise history of the racism that structures white evangelical Christianity in America. "Evangelicalism is not simply a religious group," Butler argues. "Rather, it is a nationalistic political movement whose purpose is to support the hegemony of white Christian men over and against the flourishing of others." Beginning with evangelicals' theological defense of slavery, Butler draws our attention to the ways in which white evangelicals have promoted and defended racial terrorism, segregation, and xenophobia, from before the Civil War through to the early 21st century. Particularly important is Butler's assessment of white evangelical power during the George W. Bush presidency, which led seamlessly into the racist resistance during President Obama's tenure, which in turn led directly to the rise of Donald Trump. A section of selected further reading, organized by era, offers options for those wishing to dig further into a particular period. VERDICT While the history Butler shares will be familiar to many scholars, her clear and forceful synthesis provides a useful entry point for evangelicals and non-evangelicals alike seeking to learn the history and contemporary reality of white evangelical political power in the United States.--Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Massachusetts Historical Soc., Boston

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