The Color of Christ by Paul Harvey

The Color of Christ by Paul Harvey

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.

In starkly poetic prose, this book takes a seemingly simple idea--examine evolving depictions of Jesus in America--and delivers punch after punchBlum 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

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

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780807835722
ISBN 10	0807835722
Title	The Color of Christ
Author	Paul Harvey
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	The University of North Carolina Press
Year published	2012-09-30
Number of pages	352
Prizes	Winner of Book of the Year (Top 10) 2013
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.