The Religious Right began as a defense of segregated private Christian schools

Evidence

This compelling, timely, tremendously important book is nothing less than the definitive origin story of the Religious Right. Balmer performs an essential service in definitively debunking the myth that the Religious Right was originally organized around opposition to abortion. The revealing and damning truth is that the Religious Right was initially organized in opposition to desegregating private Christian schools, which confirms that the Religious Right has always been racialized in its tactics and political aims. — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 6

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: how a movement’s stated origin story can be a retrofit that hides the racial grievance it was actually built on, and what that erasure costs.
• XREF: connects to: The 1970s Christian Right originated in resistance to forced racial integration — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 147; Private school exits exposed class divisions within the antibusing movement. — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 87; Segregationists framed racial exclusion as defense of churches, schools, and lodges. — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 204