In churches across America, we hang portraits and images of a white Jesus. Chances are that somewhere in the hallways, offices, chapel, study rooms, or sanctuary you will find Warner Sallman’s “Head of Christ,” or some similar image in your church. Ethical and historical conversations about this are not new.
Historically, we know that Jesus did not have white skin. As with most characters in scripture, Jesus was a person of color with darker skin and probably had a full, dark beard. He most certainly did not look like the images of a pale-skinned, youthful man, but by 30 would have had the hardened appearance of a person who had worked hard, physical labor for most of his life. We know that the most common images we use of Jesus are misleading as to how he appeared.
Ethically, the quagmire seems just as deep. Although cultures across the world have painted Jesus to look more like those who live in those places, colonialism and its spread of a white Christianity brought very particular images of Jesus. The military expansion and forms of Christianity that justified it meant that those who invaded and occupied lands forcefully brought visions of a God that looked like their ideal concept of God (white). And, while early colonial governments brought indentured servants and placed severe restrictions of the Irish and other “Papists,” it did not compare to the horrors experienced by both the native people and the black slaves. Through the extermination of native people and the brutal ownership of human beings, the white Jesus spread through North America. The image of the white Jesus helped drive the idea that God had created some to rule and some to serve. It left little doubt as to how the color of one’s skin played into the equation.
What does it mean to still display those images?
Research in the fields of Psychology, Public Health, and Sociology are now beginning to answer those questions effectively. Howard and Sommers, in their studies, found that pictures of a white God/Jesus influenced anti-black feelings in white individuals. Images of a white Jesus reinforced discriminatory feelings.
As they put it:
“…the findings from these two experiments provide evidence that exposure to religious images can influence White individuals’ anti-Black attitudes. Specifically, we found that exposure to images of Jesus Christ depicted as White increases subtle (Experiment 1) and implicit (Experiment 2) anti-Black attitudes, conceptually replicating and extending the findings of Johnson et al. (2010), who primed participants using religious words. Images of White Jesus increased anti-Black attitudes among White individuals, whereas images of churches, images of Black Jesus, and images of generic White men had no effect relative to neutral nonreligious stimuli. This effect remained significant for both experiments, even when controlling for participants’ preexisting levels of religiosity and spirituality.” 1
Perhaps even more disturbing, images of a white God caused individual inter-group negative feelings inside the black community. The imposition of a white Jesus also affects the internal health of black individuals.
“The point that King attempted to make, as do many who are asked a similar form of this question, is that Jesus transcends race and that “the color of Jesus’ skin is of little or no consequence.” However, the work presented here suggests otherwise; the color of Jesus’ skin is of consequence, specifically in that White depictions of Jesus, and presumably other White religious iconography, can lead to an increase in Blacks’ negative attitudes toward their ingroup.” 2
Other research, like that of Steven O. Rogers of Stanford, highlights how conceptions of a white God affect the inclusion of black and brown individuals in leadership roles. Rogers’ team found that white conceptions of God made it less likely that black candidates would be considered for hiring in a leadership role. “Basically, if you believe that a white man rules the heavens, you are more likely to believe that white men should rule on Earth,” Rogers said in an interview with the Stanford News.3
The problem is part of a pattern.
Recent research not only has illuminated the specific damage of white images of God but a more comprehensive role of churches in instilling and reinforcing white supremacy. Robert P. Jones, the founder of PRRI, notes in his recent book “White Too Long” that the relationship between white Christianity is not just historical and current. Alarmingly, being a white Christian, may be one of the best indicators of white supremacists’ attitudes.
“Not only in the South but nationwide, higher levels of racism are associated with higher probabilities of identifying as a white Christian; and, conversely, adding Christianity to the average white person’s identity moves him or her toward more, not less, affinity for white supremacy. White supremacy lives on today, not just in explicitly and consciously held attitudes among white Christians; it has become deeply integrated into the DNA of white Christianity itself. That last statement, standing alone, sounds shocking. But an honest look at the historical arc of white Christianity in America suggests that we should instead be astonished if it were otherwise. For centuries, through colonial America and into the latter part of the twentieth century, white Christians built—architecturally, culturally, and theologically—white supremacy into an American Christianity that held an a priori commitment to slavery and segregation. At key potential turning point moments such as the Civil War and the civil rights movement, white Christians, for the most part, did not just fail to evict this sinister presence; history confirms that they continued to aid and abet it. The weight of this legacy is indeed overwhelming.” 4
The far-reaching implications of this research is beyond the scope of this blog, but it is important to understand that the effects of our displays of a white Jesus are not just destructive in isolation. They are part of a horrific pattern of white Christianity as a driving force in racism and oppression that is happening right now.
So what now?
Our first and most fundamental calling is to “do no harm.” It is past the time that we can claim ignorance of the effects of the predominance of a white Jesus that reinforces a legacy of brutality. We as Methodist and Lutheran need to not only consider how we dismantle racism in society, we need to consider how racism in our society is created, increased, and protected in our churches.
Images of a white Jesus could be found in the Georgia churches that faced the squares where black bodies were sold. Images of a white Jesus could be found in the churches in California where the white residents worship after they massacred Chinese immigrants. Images of a white Jesus were placed in the classrooms of native children ripped from their families to be brutally “reeducated.” That history should help us understand why they do not belong now. Every time our children walk past these images, we are teaching them, whether we know it or not, white supremacists’ values.
We, as people of faith, believe that God is not done with us yet. In the Gospel of John, the story of the raising of Lazarus does not climax as he steps out of the tomb. It instead peaks in what comes after – the removing of the grave clothes. To be a people of God – dying and rising – we must understand that there are things we must leave behind because they are tied to the bindings of death. White Christianity has held black and brown bodies bound for too long. The transformation of this world is the process of unbinding each other as we learn together how to be a people who live in Christ’s resurrection.
Take the paintings and pictures down. They have already been up too long.
Resources:
- Howard, S., & Sommers, S. R. (2019). White religious iconography increases anti-Black attitudes. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11(4), 382–391. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000144
- Howard, S., & Sommers, S. R. (2017). Exposure to White religious iconography influences Black individuals’ intragroup and intergroup attitudes. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(4), 508–515. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000152
- Roberts, S. O., Weisman, K., Lane, J. D., Williams, A., Camp, N. P., Wang, M., Robison, M., Sanchez, K., & Griffiths, C. (2020). God as a White man: A psychological barrier to conceptualizing Black people and women as leadership worthy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000233
- Jones, Robert P. White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (pp. 186-187). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.