The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism, and Religious Diversity in America

by Jeannine Hill Fletcher

How have Christian theologies of religious superiority underwritten ideologies of white supremacy in the United States? According to Hill Fletcher, the tendency of Christians to view themselves as the “chosen ones” has often been translated into racial categories as well. In other words, Christian supremacy has historically lent itself to white supremacy, with disastrous consequences. How might we start to disentangle the two? Hill Fletcher proposes strategies that will help foster racial healing in America, the first of which is to demand of white Christians that they accept their responsibility for racist policies and structural discrimination in America.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Religion, Race, Theology, Sociology, Anti Racist

208 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2017

Reviews

[Diana Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging and provocative read. The role of the ideology of Christian supremacy in creating and sustaining the ideology of white supremacy. A must read.

[Agnieszka Piskozub-Piwosz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Topic: crucial.
The way it is presented: uneven. Some fragments are definitely revealing, some seem quite obvious.
Still: Worth reading, even if you might want to scan-read some less interesting fragments.
Inspiring.

[Jessi 📚✨🏊🏼‍♀️🏕️💃🏻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I think that Fletcher's concept of a weighted world is so profound. I also think that acknowledging our history is so important to move forward, and that we need to re-write Christian theology so it is centered around the love of all people.

[Ann McLellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent; provocative. I hope many read it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caught my eye on the New shelves at the library. This book's small size maybe made it less of a commitment, or made it feel less intimidating and easier to pick up, but ultimately I kept wishing for more.

I mean, there is a lot of good stuff in here. The book starts out with the history of America and Western thought at the time of its founding (wow, I didn't know Kant was so racist), and uses a wide variety of examples to show how white supremacism, Christian supremacism, and American nationalism were so bound up in each other. I found a lot of eye-opening connections here, but I kept wishing the author had gone a little harder on Christian supremacism and the myth of the "Christian nation," which I think there still aren't enough critiques of from a Christian framework.

Then things shift into theology and what our response as Christians should be for this legacy of racism. I appreciated her tour of the gospels and her vision of shared worship and ritual intimacy that reminds me of Giovanni's "Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea."

Despite the places where I wanted more, I thought this was a beautiful and strong little book and I hope it's more widely read.

[Gypsysoul_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Upon this book's description & synopsis' one would think it was a scholarly account of how White Supremacist overtook the Christian narrative and the repercussions this has had in our current state of affairs. NO - this is the author's strange 'mea culpa'. The first 1/2 accounts important historical account of Christianity's inherent racism, but near the 1/2 way point it turns into a planning session on how to be a "better christian" - which, and especially from a scholarly view, is completely useless to the reader unless they happen to be christian. It felt like a "bait-and-switch" and I couldn't be more disappointed. I didn't even bother finishing it. There is much better research out there.

[Steven D. Cron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copiously footnoted, “The Sin of White Supremacy” connects the dots between the theology (and subsequent preaching and teaching) of Christian churches and the “witchery” (and subsequent racism and discrimination) of White Supremacy. Having first argued that Christian theology played a significant role in weighting the world in favor of Whites, the author argues that Christian theology ought to play a significant role in restoring the balance. The latter chapters are a refreshing look at each of the four gospels in an attempt to do just that.