In this Book
- The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
summary
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.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Illustrations
- p. xi
- PART I: BORN ACROSS THE SEA
- 1 When Christ Crossed the Atlantic
- pp. 27-52
- PART II: CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTED
- 4 Body Battles in Antebellum America
- pp. 105-119
- 5 Christ in the Camps
- pp. 120-140
- PART III: ASCENDED AND STILL ASCENDING
- 8 Civil Rights and the Coloring of Christ
- pp. 205-233
- 9 A Deity in the Digital Age
- pp. 234-265
- EPILOGUE: Jesus Jokes
- pp. 266-278
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- pp. 279-282
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469601540
Related ISBN(s)
9780807835722, 9780807837375, 9781469618845
MARC Record
OCLC
966898554
Pages
352
Launched on MUSE
2017-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No