White American churches historically worshipped a Jesus who demanded racial hierarchy.

Evidence

While it may seem obvious to mainstream white Christians today that slavery, segregation, and overt declarations of white supremacy are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus, such a conviction is, in fact, recent and only partially conscious for most white American Christians and churches. The unsettling truth is that, for nearly all of American history, the Jesus conjured by most white congregations was not merely indifferent to the status quo of racial inequality; he demanded its defense and preservation as part of the natural, divinely ordained order of things. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 31

American Christianity’s theological core has been thoroughly structured by an interest in protecting white supremacy. While it may seem obvious to mainstream white Christians today that slavery, segregation, and overt declarations of white supremacy are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus, such a conviction is, in fact, recent and only partially conscious for most white American Christians and churches. The unsettling truth is that, for nearly all of American history, the Jesus conjured by most white congregations was not merely indifferent to the status quo of racial inequality; he demanded its defense and preservation as part of the natural, divinely ordained order of things. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 31

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ‘figuring in faith’ theme and to Morrison’s point later in this chapter that white theology imagines itself free of the African presence. — connects to: White churches actively constructed, not merely tolerated, white supremacy. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 30; The Southern Baptist Convention was founded specifically to defend slaveholding Christianity. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 17; Enslaved Africans’ church presence literally shaped white preaching and practice. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 76 (+10 more)
• QUESTION: How recent exactly is the mainstream conviction that racism contradicts Jesus’ teachings? Worth tracing the chronology of this theological shift.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 31

Broader Connections

• White churches historically functioned as agents upholding racist social structures #corroborates (0.95) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1055
• White churches actively produced white supremacy rather than merely tolerating it #corroborates (0.95) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 102
• Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches #exemplifies (0.85) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 20
• American hierarchy is a racial-religious system with religion as dispositive #expands (0.80) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 127
• Religion alone can racialize even phenotypically White groups as inferior #expands (0.75)