In one of my diary entries, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of how racism and religion—specifically, Christianity—are intertwined with each other and how they affect systemic injustice in America. In order to do that, one must first consider how legislation is affected by Christianity.
According to Pewresearch.org, “While the U.S. Constitution does not mention God, every state constitution references either God or the divine. God also appears in the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and on U.S. currency.” Not only this, but in 2019, the overwhelming majority (88%) of sitting Congress members identified as Christians. While the major of Americans believe that religion should had no place in policy, there is no disputing the overwhelming influence that religion has on those who write legislation and the history of our country.
Statement on Black Lives Matter Signs Burned at D.C. Churches, umcjustice.org
When we begin to understand how deeply affected our system is by religion, despite the publics distaste, we can begin to see how this system directly or indirectly imposes these beliefs in legislation, legislation that is built off of white supremacist ideals and notions that are not challenged within the system itself.
As written in a survey done in 2019, “86% of white evangelical Protestants and 70% of both white mainline Protestants and white Catholics” believed that the confederate flag symbolizes not racism, but southern pride.
It has been observed that statistically, racist notions often go hand in hand with those who identify as staunchly religious. From this information, we can surmise that those in power that are influenced by religion are no doubt, consciously or subconsciously, influenced by white supremacist history. This has been evident since the early years of the Abolitionist movement, as even those who criticized the practice of slavery remained committed to the racial divide.
This suggests that, while religious white people are not automatically more likely to be racist, they are more likely to try to uphold tradition or order instead of fighting for justice. This is mentioned in one of our texts from earlier this semester– in John Lewis’ “March”, a recurring topic of discussion was how even those who did not believe in segregation were committed to tradition and order. We can observe this phenomenon in Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Dr. King describes that more than anything, he fears “the white moderate”, and that he was disappointed in the religious leaders that stood against him or told him that he was wrong in his methods of direct action. This is clear example how the white supremacy rooted in American Christianity, and Christianity’s roots in American democracy, can directly affect injustice.
Work Cited:
Busette, Camille. “On Charlottesville, Racism, and President Trump’s Comments.” Brookings, 1 Aug. 2018, www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/on-charlottesville-racism-and-president-trumps-comments.
Fahmy, Dalia. “8 Facts about Religion and Government in the United States.” Pew Research Center, 16 July 2020, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/16/8-facts-about-religion-and-government-in-the-united-states.
King, Martin L. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994. Print.
Lewis, John, et al. March (Vol. 1). Slp, Top Shelf Productions, 2016.
Luo, Michael. “American Christianity’s White-Supremacy Problem.” The New Yorker, 2 Sept. 2020, www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/american-christianitys-white-supremacy-problem.
The General Board of Church and Society. “Statement on Black Lives Matter Signs Burned at D.C. Churches.” GBCS, 14 Dec. 2020, www.umcjustice.org/news-and-stories/statement-on-black-lives-matter-signs-burned-at-d-c-churches-1209.
Great post on systemic injustice within Christianity Lackey. I would say that in all my diaries, I never thought that I would include systemic injustice within religion but true to it, it exists. Behind Christianity, we have witnessed may cases of racial injustice even when it comes to a priest serving his followers rom different races. Other than this, most of our political leaders in US take pledges and make prayers referencing God while in reality, they are corrupt, and discriminate others based on race and religion. All these are acts of injustices not allowed in the Bible. I must say that it is ironic.