Book Review: ‘White Too Long’

By Rev. J. Michael Culbreth
 
White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, written by Robert P. Jones, the founder and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, is an appeal for the church, particularly white Christians, to address white supremacy that had its origins in the church and continues to prevail in the church. The book’s title stems from the words of James Baldwin who wrote: “They have been white…too long; they have been married to the lie of white supremacy too long.”
 
Jones argues that white Christianity has played a central role in maintaining racial attitudes in America. Jones notes that “despite the official proclamations of churches at the national and institutional level in favor of racial justice, the theology of American Christianity provides the foundation for white supremacist attitudes.” Through deep research Jones points out that active religious affiliation correlates to racial bias. The research data reveals that heightened racial bias is found to be prevalent among white Catholics in the Northeast and white Protestants in the South.
 
White Too Long is a historical, theological and a personal account about how Jones has dealt with racism throughout his life. Jones, who grew up in the Southern Baptist Convention, does a great job of defining terms, tracing historical events, evaluating theological concepts and revealing the significance of racist symbols. Throughout the book Jones provides personal stories about growing up in the racist deep South.
 
Jones points out that the term white supremacy for many “evokes images from a bygone era.”  Jones adds that, “the phrase white supremacy conjures images of bad men in hooded robes who believe in white power, burn crosses and scream the word nigger. But that’s not quite what I mean here. On a broader level, white supremacy involves the way a society organizes itself, and what and whom it chooses to value.” Jones stresses that the bottom line of white supremacy is that it is a, “set of practices informed by the fundamental belief that white people are valued more than others.”
 
Jones traces how the Southern Baptist Church was entangled with the Confederacy and how leaders in the Southern Baptist Church supported racial segregation. Jones also carefully notes how other denominations such as Methodist, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics also upheld white supremacy. Jones writes that, “American Christianity’s theological core has been thoroughly structured by an interest in protecting white supremacy.” He traces how Christianity historically has been an institution that promoted harmful racial doctrines.
 
Jones dedicates an entire chapter - “Marking: Monuments to White Supremacy” - to tracing how the Confederate “Lost Cause” became enshrined in public symbols such as flags and monuments and even in the stained-glass windows of church sanctuaries. Today Americans continue to struggle with the role of Confederate monuments in our society.
 
White Too Long makes strong historical judgments and calls for the church to “cast off the shackles of its racial legacy.”  In the book’s final chapter entitled “Reckoning,” Jones outlines how the church can go about breaking the chains of white supremacy. Jones challenges white Christians to “wrestle with the difficult truths of the intertwined histories of blacks and whites in America.” Jones adds that, “We white Christians must find the courage to face the fact that the version of Christianity that our ancestors built – the faith of our fathers, as the hymn celebrates it – was a cultural force that by design, protected and propagated white supremacy.” Jones offers hope that white Christians will take destroying white supremacy seriously. He notes some white denominations are making great strides to deal with white supremacy. He stresses that “reckoning with white supremacy for us, is now an unavoidable moral choice.”
 
In conclusion, while I realize that this book will make many people uncomfortable, it is a book that is a must read particularly for all white Christians including pastors and laity. I recommend it for small groups and Sunday School classes. I also challenge my ministry colleagues to use this book as a resource for teaching and preaching. The time is now for the white American church to face its troubling roots and experience repentance and transformation. Until this happens, America will never be the nation that God intended for her to become. When our nation seriously deals with white supremacy, then our nation can expereince freedom and peace.
 
Rev. J. Michael Culbreth is senior pastor of ConneXion Church in Savannah.