Falwell’s political awakening was a defensive move to preserve segregation

Evidence

Falwell was a segregationist. Rather than fearing that American racism would discredit the country globally, Falwell insisted that civil rights agitation was inspired by communist sympathizers. He saw Marxism at the root of the movement, not a Christian social justice tradition. Falwell helped lead local efforts to resist school integration, even when that meant defying the Eisenhower administration, both national parties, and Lynchburg’s own business leaders. He opened his own private Christian academy in 1967, the same year his state mandated the immediate desegregation of public schools. Falwell only changed his tune on political engagement when he deemed it necessary to preserve the rights of segregationists and fend off a secularist assault. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 226

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s existing knowledge of how ‘colorblind’ conservative political movements often trace origins to pro-segregation defense — parallels the backlash literature (e.g., Kruse’s ‘White Flight’ thesis about Atlanta). — connects to: Falwell preached Christian non-involvement in politics only while defending segregation before it became costly — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 246; Falwell opposed Brown and founded a segregated academy in 1967 — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 153
• SEED: Angle: how the Religious Right’s founding political energy was segregationist defense rather than ‘family values’ — a corrective to the movement’s own self-narrative.