
The Color of Christ
The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America
Paul Harvey(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Published on 30. September 2012
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-8078-3572-2 (ISBN)
Description
How is it that in America the image of Jesus Christ has been used both to justify the atrocities of white supremacy and to inspire the righteousness of civil rights crusades? In The Color of Christ, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey weave a tapestry of American dreams and visions--from witch hunts to web pages, Harlem to Hollywood, slave cabins to South Park, Mormon revelations to Indian reservations--to show how Americans remade the Son of God visually time and again into a sacred symbol of their greatest aspirations, deepest terrors, and mightiest strivings for racial power and justice.
The Color of Christ uncovers how, in a country founded by Puritans who destroyed depictions of Jesus, Americans came to believe in the whiteness of Christ. Some envisioned a white Christ who would sanctify the exploitation of Native Americans and African Americans and bless imperial expansion. Many others gazed at a messiah, not necessarily white, who was willing and able to confront white supremacy. The color of Christ still symbolizes America's most combustible divisions, revealing the power and malleability of race and religion from colonial times to the presidency of Barack Obama.
The Color of Christ uncovers how, in a country founded by Puritans who destroyed depictions of Jesus, Americans came to believe in the whiteness of Christ. Some envisioned a white Christ who would sanctify the exploitation of Native Americans and African Americans and bless imperial expansion. Many others gazed at a messiah, not necessarily white, who was willing and able to confront white supremacy. The color of Christ still symbolizes America's most combustible divisions, revealing the power and malleability of race and religion from colonial times to the presidency of Barack Obama.
Reviews / Votes
In starkly poetic prose, this book takes a seemingly simple idea--examine evolving depictions of Jesus in America--and delivers punch after punch. Blum and Harvey provide a new, paradigm-changing window into the issues of race, religion, and power. Anyone wanting to grasp the depth of religion and race in the United States needs this book. It will transform what you thought you knew.--Michael O. Emerson, Rice University, author of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America|""Edward Blum and Paul Harvey's masterful book is a breath of fresh air in our toxic religious culture of learned ignorance and unlearned bigotry.""--Cornel West
More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Edition type
New edition
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
456 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8078-3572-2 (9780807835722)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2012
The University of North Carolina Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Edward J. Blum is author of Reforging the White Republic: Race, Religion, and American Nationalism.||Paul Harvey is professor of history at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs