Book Review: "White Evangelical Racism" By Anthea Butler

 “Up to this time, evangelicals had cloaked themselves in morality, respectability, and power. Their politics seemed, to the average onlooker, and perhaps to most of themselves, to be rooted in biblical admonitions and piety. The racism that underlay their religious movement could be waved away through belief, theology, and denial. Not so since the year 2000.”― Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America

“The journey to Trump is a story of how whiteness and racism combined to make evangelicals a potent voting bloc awash in racism and racial animus.”
― Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America

“Even the massacre of nine Black Christians following a Bible study class was not enough to make American evangelicals face the fact that racism remained a major problem within their ranks. They looked to religiosity in symbolism to deflect scrutiny of their own shortcomings and historical failures with regard to the racism in their churches. This willful blindness would open the door for a man who would be revered by them despite all of his moral failings.

Donald Trump, who won the Republican primary against sixteen opponents and won the presidency in 2016, would become both the savior and the nadir of the evangelical movement in America. Their embrace of this thrice-married casino-owning reality TV star would both give them new recognition in the Republican Party and destroy the image of morality and uprightness they had so carefully cultivated. Evangelicals’ embrace of an unrepentant racist solidified the place of racism in the history of American evangelicalism. More than that, their embrace tore the covers off the anti-Black racism that had existed since the nineteenth century.”

― Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America

“For Graham, then, the idea of Americanism connected directly to the morality of the nation. Graham wanted to bring the nation back to God by invoking God's role in its "divine history." If an American citizen did not live morally and become saved, then the nation as well as the individual would suffer. Graham’s take on the linked fate of citizens, government, and nation held the seeds of a nationalistic Christianity, predicated on Christian morals and beliefs as a cornerstone and foundation of the nation, despite the fact that the founders wanted religious freedom for people of all faiths.”
― Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America

Now, on to the show...

As we've seen time and time again it comes down to one common denominator: The White Man!

He has done all he can with everything he has in his possession to maintain the status quo and that includes turning the other cheek to incorporate White Evangelicals into the mix.

I've grown accustomed sadly to this display of power and control through the eyes of religious venues and nothing surprises me anymore.

This author was so exact, specific, and she made you stop to ponder not just where we are today but what will we allow to continue in moving forward.

She posed such strong, moral, ethical, and compassionate concerns for addressing much of the hostility, violence, and quest for such power that it's hard to ignore especially at the end of this wonderful piece.

I hope everyone has a chance to read and review this and set aside commonly held beliefs and or myths for the truths.

Thank you to Anthea Butler, the pub, NetGalley, and Amazon Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.