Written by Brooklyn Walker
“Christian nationalism is essentially white supremacy” has reached the status of almost a truism in the fields of religion and politics. Christian nationalists are more tolerant of racists, support racially defined spending, and believe that reverse discrimination is a serious problem. This desire for strict racial boundaries permeates private life, with Christian nationalists disapproving of interracial marriage and adoption. In a recent article, I showed that just seeing a black person is enough to inspire bigots to become more Christian nationalists.
Yet, survey after survey shows that black Americans support Christian nationalism more than white Americans. Now you’re thinking, “Yes, but black Americans express higher levels of religiosity than white Americans, so support for Christian nationalism is probably just a reflection of religiosity.” It may be. Although it would be correct to say that black Americans are religious, their high support for Christian nationalism remains even after restrictions on identifying as evangelical and attending religious services are imposed. So why do black Americans express support for Christian nationalism?
In an article published in Political Behavior, I argued that black support for Christian nationalism is a result of white supremacy. When one feels that one’s membership in a group is being challenged by someone else, a common reaction is to find some way to assert that one does indeed belong. In some cases, you may not be able to change your own attributes that are used to exclude you. However, you can emphasize other identities that show you belong to a group. I’ll give you a personal example. A few years ago, I was a news junkie with a master’s degree in political science. I was also a member of the local homeschool co-op. Because of my academic background, group leaders questioned my suitability, to the point where I was removed from the co-op’s American Politics class. So at co-op outings, I never talked about myself as a political scientist. Instead, as Christians, we discussed what was happening in our local church. When my identity as a co-op member was called into question because I might be “one of the liberal academics,” I decided to draw attention to another identity category: Christians. So I claimed my union membership.
It turns out that there is a vast literature in psychology on identity management that describes this cycle of identity denial and identity assertion. I began to wonder if some black Americans’ reactions to exclusion were not similar to my own, especially if Christian nationalism was a way of expressing Americanness. In 2020, I designed an experiment to test the effects of two different types of American identity denial on support for Christian nationalism. Ethnic nationalism, the belief that being American requires a unique characteristic, such as being white, is a clear example of identity denial. A third of my respondents read the following ethno-nationalist statement:
There has been some debate about what it means to be American. Some people say things like the following about being American: “American national identity is based on a common ethnic and cultural identity. For America to come together as a single nation, Americans must share some common characteristics. Early in America’s history, European settlers created America’s government and culture, which made it difficult for people who were not born in the United States and some racial and ethnic groups to have such strong ties to American identity. That’s why I don’t have one.
Civic nationalism is the belief that being American means adopting a set of ideas such as equality and meritocracy. On their surface, these appear to be quite comprehensive. After all, everyone can support democracy, the rule of law, and the work ethic, regardless of the color of their skin or where they were born. However, many of these ideas actually have racial implications. For example, a major measure of racial resentment questions whether black Americans are simply not hard-working, a statement that enjoys wide support among the American public. The black crime metaphor is also established, implying that black Americans do not actually live an American way of life. Because civic nationalism has a racial undertone, I expected that civic nationalism would encourage some form of identity denial. One-third of respondents were randomly assigned to read the following treatment of civic nationalism.
There has been some debate about what it means to be American. Some people make statements about being American, such as: “The American national character is based on freedom, equal treatment of all people regardless of background, democracy, and respect for American institutions and laws. Americans take these values to be self-evident. People who uphold these values are true Americans, regardless of their background, place of birth, or race or ethnicity.”
Finally, one-third of respondents were assigned to the control group. This group jumped directly on whether or not it agreed with some measures of Christian nationalism. The federal government should declare America a Christian nation. The federal government should defend Christian values. The federal government should allow prayer in schools.
When Black Christians are exposed to civicism, especially ethnic nationalism, they become more supportive of Christian nationalism. We believe that the United States is a Christian nation, and we place (black) Christians at the heart of the nation. Non-Christians feel a safer sense of belonging as Americans in Christian America, if not by much. Recognizing this overlapping exclusion reduces their support for Christian nationalism.
Some previous research suggests that Christian nationalism may have very different meanings for black and white Americans. If so, perhaps black Christians are affirming something quite different from the hierarchical Christian nationalism we are familiar with. But we also found evidence to suggest that black and white respondents’ understandings of Christian America are not very similar. In another survey (N=1,530), also conducted in 2020, I asked respondents how various characteristics of Christian America were distinctive. The figure below is a coefficient plot showing the effect of being black (compared to white). There are several characteristics that black respondents felt were more representative of Christian America, such as a country that protects the poor and ensures racial equality. However, in neither case was the difference between black and white ratings statistically significant.
This work makes several important contributions. First, it highlights the similarities between civicism and ethnic nationalism. Unfortunately, while civic nationalism can be the basis for comprehensive support for a nation, it is not racially neutral. This study also highlights the complexity of individuals. Most identity research to date has focused on a single identity category. However, people can carry around different identities, and each identity can be highlighted or utilized in different situations. Paying more attention to complex identities can provide important insights into how people navigate social situations.
After all, the United States has a long history of excluding Black Americans from formal national membership. Historically, slavery, Supreme Court decisions such as Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson, and Jim Crow laws denied black Americans access to the basic rights of citizenship. It meant. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Civil Rights Act of 1965, and other government actions have contributed to some extent to the creation of greater racial equality under the law. But the idea that black Americans cannot fully fit into society has proven much more difficult to change than the law, and its manifestations have profound effects on those denied full belonging. .
Brooklyn Walker is a political science instructor at Hutchinson Community College. Her work focuses on religion and politics, public opinion, and political psychology, with a focus on Christian nationalism. For more information, visit brooklynevannwalker.com or follow her on Twitter. @BrooklynBan.
