The word Christian has become racially coded for conservative whites since Reagan

Evidence

Dog whistles can be used to signal “us” as well as “them.” Since the Reagan era, white conservative Christianity has become increasingly synonymous with Republican politics and identity. As a result, the word “Christian” has increasingly taken on racial connotations in the minds of conservative whites. Even seemingly race-neutral phrases like “Christian heritage” or “Christian worldview” or “Christian values” now imply “conservative white values.” — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 90

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains how a putatively religious term functions as a racial signifier, a key mechanism in the book’s argument.
• XREF: connects to: White Christian identity is conflated in conservative rhetoric with whiteness itself — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 165; White Christian politics since the 1970s has leaned toward domination and control — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 209

Broader Connections

• White Christian identity is conflated in conservative rhetoric with whiteness itself #expands (0.92) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 165