This was a bit of a long haul read for me, and while I'm happy Robert P Jones has contributed to the field of books that explore the intersection of religion and white supremacy, there are a lot of limitations here. It is a very specific book, grounded in the specificity of Jones' experiences and the Southern Baptist circles he grew up in. I wish he had either pulled away from the autobiographical/memoir elements or centered them more. Maybe it was an editorial or publishing choices meant to appeal more directly to a general audience. Regarding audience, this feels unambiguously directed towards white readers. While it is the intended audience, I think there is a question (that I don't necessarily have the answer to) about the limits of white author's book about whiteness for white readers that doesn't reference or drawn in many non-white perspectives.

Robert P. Jones presents an excellent case for the way in which the white Christian churches of the United States have continued to propagate racism and otherism since the start of our country. Jones has the education and religious background to be considered an expert and trusted voice when it comes to this very important topic. With over half of Americans no longer claiming any religion whatsoever, it is critical for all of us to truly understand the cancer that is racism within the American church and why it's so important to take action to stop the flow of power through the toxic institution.

The white power movement and Christian nationalism are the greatest threats to our democracy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of White Too Long in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book was shocking and eye-opening, and I appreciate the data-driven approach that the author has taken to exploring past and current events. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in racial justice work or in how the Christian church has tackled (or failed to tackle) racial issues.

Robert Jones weaves his own story growing up in the South, with church history that is often untold, with data from current polling to remind us that, as James Baldwin did decades ago, we have been "white too long." The church's direct connection to systemic racism will surprise some, grief others, and offend those who remain. It is a part of our history and culture that we need to name, repent of, and take steps to change.

The author explores the heritage of white supremacy in White Christianity in America from Jim Crow days until the present, illuminated by his personal experience having grown up in the Deep South.

The author sets forth his personal experience growing up in a predominantly White Baptist church in Jackson, Mississippi. He recounted the heritage of white supremacy in the history of the congregation in which he grew up, and set forth how "normal" the de facto segregation on Sunday morning was made to seem, the rationalization thereof based on worship style, and the presence of Southern racist heritage markers throughout the town and the high school.

The author then sets forth the distressing evidence from the research done by his Public Research Research Institute (PRRI). Whereas white Christians (Catholic/mainline Protestant/Evangelical) all testify they feel warmly toward Black and nonwhite people, on every significant issue and marker a clear delineation takes place: white Christians all align with each other on questions relating to immigration and treatment of immigrants, questions about police and the carceral state, comfort with the advancement of multiculturalism, etc., and black Protestants end up on the other side of that scale, with nonreligious Americans more aligned toward the latter more than the former. The author is able to demonstrate that such attitudes are not merely correlative: participation in White Christianity tends to lead to such conclusions. The conclusion of the matter is hard to escape: if you want to find the people who are more comfortable with white supremacy in a given town, go to a predominantly white church on a Sunday morning.

The author then does well at explaining from where this all came, exploring the theology built and developed predominantly in white Protestantism and Evangelicalism in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, how steeped it was in white supremacy, and thus focused on personal piety to the expense of any concern regarding systemic social challenges. The author spends much time exploring the prevalence of monuments to the Confederacy in the South and the Lost Cause historiological mythology they were attempting to prop up; it is interesting to see how much more movement has come in removing said monuments and recognizing their toxicity since the author wrote the book. The author tells stories of people and churches reckoning with their heritage of white supremacy and taking concrete steps toward racial justice, prominently featuring a white and a Black sister Baptist churches in Macon, GA. He concludes with exhortations toward coming to grips with the past, lamenting the heritage of white supremacy, and moving forward in repentance toward racial justice.

A deeply distressing and uncomfortable read for white Christians, but very necessary.

White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity
By Robert P. Jones
Copyright © 2020 Simon & Schuster, New York, NY
ISBN 978-1-9821-2288-1


Recommended: 5 Star

I read this book as a pre-release e-book obtained through NetGalley, provided by the publisher.

This book is very timely with the events of spring, 2020. It goes to show that no matter how much changes, many things are the same.

The book discusses how, when, by whom, and why the Confederate monuments were erected in the southern US – not just in public squares, but also in the churches of many Christian denominations. Many were erected during the 20th Century. Some of these are being dismantled in 2020 as part of protests, to the chagrin of the white mostly-Christian, law-and-order counterprotesters and reporters, but it is mostly missed when these were erected or for what purpose. This book puts on display the unholy alliance of Christian Churches, the failed Confederacy, white supremacy, and the alt-right and neo-NAZI movements.

The book is most definitely not anti-Christian nor anti-church. The author clearly illustrates how many denominations of Christianity – from evangelicals to Catholics to mainline Protestants play in this role. The author gives no denomination a pass on their belief in racial superiority being heresy, as Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Seminary called it. Indeed, the images of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis along side images of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the Bible is a feature of this “Lost Cause theology”. Neither does it have any sort of “preachy” feel to it. These markers are not historical from times past, but rather erected to keep non-whites in their place. Note too that the definition of who is “white” changes over time, and is not based at all in genetics.

Some historical facts which are neither discussed in history class in schools nor in common historical articles, such as the 1899 burning at the stake of Samuel Thomas Wilkes. Note this has nothing to do with any alleged witchcraft. I’d always been taught that burnings at the stake were never done in the Americas, but wrongly. I have researched this through other sources. It is an extreme example of the spectacle of violence being used to show racial roles, and the penalties for violating them.

The United States stands at a crossroads once again, faced with its own terrible legacy of white supremacy. In White Too Long, Robert Jones captures the truth that the story of white Christianity in America is also the story of white supremacy in American. Drawing on personal experience, church history, non-partisan survey research, and building on the insights of others, Jones exhorts white Christians to be willing to engage in the difficult and uncomfortable work that is recognizing the true history of their religion and how it has been woven into the very political and social fabric of our country. The book focuses primarily on Southern evangelical Christianity, from the Confederacy through the modern era, but steadfastly refuses to allow any branch of white Christianity to deny their own part in the truth. The writing and contents are accessible for general readers, though I do feel that the chapter reporting eye-opening statistical analysis could have been presented with greater clarity. For those who are interested, the appendices present the regression results that are discussed in the chapter.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to walk through the process of dismantling societal amnesia to better understand personal and institutional privilege.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.