Enslaved African American presence shaped white American Christianity from the outside in.

Evidence

The effect of the enslaved African American presence on early white American Christianity, and the white supremacist beliefs this unholy arrangement conjured, was, of course, not confined to the sanctuary. Like a distant planet whose presence is detected by its effect on the objects around it, this unacknowledged black presence exerted a strong gravitational pull on the development of white Christianity, both inside and outside its stained glass windows. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 77

Categorization

• XREF: The gravitational-pull metaphor for an unacknowledged structuring presence echoes how Black Marxism frames slavery’s undergirding of capitalism, and the ‘hidden cause detectable by effects’ recalls the rhetoric of the One Square Inch silence material. — connects to: Enslaved Africans physically seated in white churches shaped white Christianity’s theology and practice — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 76; Enslaved Africans’ church presence literally shaped white preaching and practice. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 76; Religious blessing of slavery severed white Christians’ natural moral restraint — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 251 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Enslaved Africans’ church presence literally shaped white preaching and practice. #expands (0.95) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 76
• Religious blessing of slavery severed white Christians’ natural moral restraint #complicates (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 251
• White Christianity’s function was protecting white racial innocence #complicates (0.72) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 69