The American Civil War was “a war with a musical soundtrack,” according to Christian McWhirter. And that soundtrack continues to echo through the American church today, illustrating the different life experiences of Black and white Christians in particular, once again…
Once again, white evangelicals are outliers on beliefs about race and American history
White evangelicals are much more likely than other U.S. adults to believe white Americans face as much discrimination as Blacks and other people of color, Public Religion Research Institute found in its recently released 2022 American Values Survey. A smaller…
In Colonial Williamsburg, a paved-over parking lot and an almost-lost school teach lessons about racism
Recent archaeological and architectural discoveries revealed part of “the hidden story of racism in colonial America” for participants in a Baptist News Global educational tour of Colonial Williamsburg and Richmond, Va. In Colonial Williamsburg, they visited the original building site…
‘The Religion of the Lost Cause’ is back, and it may be winning
An intelligent foreigner, making his observations at Washington at this time, would be puzzled to determine whether the Americans had a Government, or not. There are the names: The Executive, the Congress, the Judiciary; but what is the executive question,…
On this date 85 years ago, the worst school tragedy in American history occurred
On Thursday afternoon, March 18, 1937, in the Texas oil boom town of New London, 694 students and 40 teachers awaited the dismissal bell and the start of a special three-day weekend. Then at 3:17 p.m., just 13 minutes before…
The Broken Heart of America paints a picture of how racism erodes a city over time and how to overcome it
I once had a seminary professor who anticipated that many of us someday would have occasion to write book reviews. When that opportunity came, he pleaded, we must never say that a book is a “must” read. My professor seemed…
How 300 children lost their fathers to lynching on a single day because of a conspiracy theory
At last count, 73,923,495 Americans have voted for Donald Trump. Trump eclipsed Barack Obama’s previous record by more than 4.5 million votes. Trump topped his own 2016 performance by 11 million votes. That’s huge. Trump lost the election; but he…
Kaepernick and Jefferson: Standing for the right to kneel
Jefferson said more than he meant. When he wrote those inspired words that rise boldly from our Declaration of Independence — “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” — he spoke words that have…