so I think I& #39;m going to cheat a little bit
bc I& #39;d planned to start from e101 and just tweet you through the anti-racist resources we& #39;ve tried to provide
BUT our work on e203 & 204 are probably the most relevant to today& #39;s action
so...
#ScholarStrike
bc I& #39;d planned to start from e101 and just tweet you through the anti-racist resources we& #39;ve tried to provide
BUT our work on e203 & 204 are probably the most relevant to today& #39;s action
so...
#ScholarStrike
I& #39;m instead going to start with the race & religion timeline we lay out in e203
in part bc it& #39;s possible to get a whole PhD in American religions and still miss a lot of this history unless you explicitly go looking for it
#ScholarStrike
in part bc it& #39;s possible to get a whole PhD in American religions and still miss a lot of this history unless you explicitly go looking for it
#ScholarStrike
(hint: one of us did. you& #39;ll never guess which one.)
THESIS for this not-yet-released episode / also for this season: we built America out of religion and race, and specifically through an economy of white christian supremacy.
#ScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike
Americans’ understanding of race is directly tied to religion and vice versa -- whether y’all know it or not. Not exaggerating.
this isn& #39;t one of our cute like "I swear my own research is important" moments
Americans USED religion to construct race
#ScholarStrike
this isn& #39;t one of our cute like "I swear my own research is important" moments
Americans USED religion to construct race
#ScholarStrike
race is (as we discuss in e201) a social construct
meaning people made it up
NOT meaning that it& #39;s fake or unimportant
race is meaning we make on and about our bodies and the bodies of others
#ScholarStrike
meaning people made it up
NOT meaning that it& #39;s fake or unimportant
race is meaning we make on and about our bodies and the bodies of others
#ScholarStrike
and as with all social constructs, race isn& #39;t about benign difference
it& #39;s about social order and power
it& #39;s about access to resources
it& #39;s about valuing one kind of race (in the US but not only in the US: whiteness) over other races
#ScholarStrike
it& #39;s about social order and power
it& #39;s about access to resources
it& #39;s about valuing one kind of race (in the US but not only in the US: whiteness) over other races
#ScholarStrike
race as a social construct always makes me think of Coates& #39; letter to his son
about the ways racism is a visceral experience
that theories of race "land, with great violence, upon the body"
#ScholarStrike
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/tanehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me/397619/">https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...
about the ways racism is a visceral experience
that theories of race "land, with great violence, upon the body"
#ScholarStrike
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/tanehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me/397619/">https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...
what does all this have to do with religion, I hear you asking?
LOTS
settler-colonizing european christianity is how folks we now think of as Americans learned to think they/we were white
(see Baldwin, "On Being White and Other Lies")
https://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu/files/bannekerinstitute/files/on_being_white.and_other_lies_baldwin_0.pdf
https://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu/files/ban... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
LOTS
settler-colonizing european christianity is how folks we now think of as Americans learned to think they/we were white
(see Baldwin, "On Being White and Other Lies")
https://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu/files/bannekerinstitute/files/on_being_white.and_other_lies_baldwin_0.pdf
https://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu/files/ban... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
Religion plays a key role in the construction of race in what’s now the United States, and by “plays a key role,” I mean “had to figure out how to keep enslaving Black folks and trying to wipe out Native folks after forcibly converting a bunch of them.”
#ScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike
bc originally, euro christian settler-colonizers could justify enslaving forcibly transported African and Caribbean folks and attempting genocide against Native folks bc these non-euros were non-christians
they were "strangers"
#ScholarStrike
they were "strangers"
#ScholarStrike
see Dean Emilie Townes, _In a Blaze of Glory_ on the christians/strangers distinction pre: US construction of race & whiteness
and the persistence of religious distinctions in justifying slavery
https://www.abingdonpress.com/product/9780687187577/
https://www.abingdonpress.com/product/9... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
and the persistence of religious distinctions in justifying slavery
https://www.abingdonpress.com/product/9780687187577/
https://www.abingdonpress.com/product/9... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
but surely you know that these euro christian enslavers/genociders forced Native and enslaved Black people to convert to christianity
so what happened?
race
race happened
#ScholarStrike
so what happened?
race
race happened
#ScholarStrike
at roughly the same time europe is inventing "religion" as a distinct category of human experience, is expanding its reach and appropriating global resources, we see european scientists "discover" that people from not-europe are, like, "naturally" inferior
#ScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike
I& #39;m using scare quotes because this is gross racist bullshit
but it& #39;s also important to know that it was capital-S Science in the 18th and 19th centuries
religion and imperialism and scientific theories of white supremacy are co-constitutive
#ScholarStrike
but it& #39;s also important to know that it was capital-S Science in the 18th and 19th centuries
religion and imperialism and scientific theories of white supremacy are co-constitutive
#ScholarStrike
this is when euro christian settler-colonizers learned to think they were white
and learned to think whiteness was superior to all other racial expressions
and used whiteness to justify more christian european imperialism and violence
#ScholarStrike
and learned to think whiteness was superior to all other racial expressions
and used whiteness to justify more christian european imperialism and violence
#ScholarStrike
[we spend more time on the podcast talking about how race and whiteness are not fixed; @tressiemcphd talks a lot about the elasticity of whiteness in _Thick_; this comes up a lot in the minoritization of religio-racial groups]
#ScholarStrike
https://thenewpress.com/books/thick ">https://thenewpress.com/books/thi...
#ScholarStrike
https://thenewpress.com/books/thick ">https://thenewpress.com/books/thi...
so what& #39;s now the US, even before it became "the United States," is based on these principles of racialized religious superiority and "freedom," but not for everybody.
@syljohns again: freedom for some requires the unfreedom of others
https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/conversations-in-black-sylvester-a-johnson/
https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/conversat... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
@syljohns again: freedom for some requires the unfreedom of others
https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/conversations-in-black-sylvester-a-johnson/
https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/conversat... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
when @GeeDee215 says white supremacy is in America& #39;s source code?
yeah, like this
and religion--what came to be white euro christianity--helped write that source code
#ScholarStrike https://twitter.com/GeeDee215/status/901467678707240962">https://twitter.com/GeeDee215...
yeah, like this
and religion--what came to be white euro christianity--helped write that source code
#ScholarStrike https://twitter.com/GeeDee215/status/901467678707240962">https://twitter.com/GeeDee215...
BUT we are not fully understanding the relationship of religion and race in what& #39;s now the US if we& #39;re only focusing on violence and oppression
bc the creation of American Blackness ALSO makes space for creativity and resistance and community and joy
#ScholarStrike
bc the creation of American Blackness ALSO makes space for creativity and resistance and community and joy
#ScholarStrike
please note: the fact that Black Americans have used religion to reimagine themselves, their history, & the world outside legacies of violence and oppression does NOT mean slavery or white supremacy were/are in anyway okay
(oy, the things we have to say in 2020)
#ScholarStrike
(oy, the things we have to say in 2020)
#ScholarStrike
SO: America starts by privileging both whiteness and Christianity and doing unthinkable violence to folks they decided were either not white or not christian or both.
BUT ALSO amazing pockets of Black and Native resilience and resistance and creativity
#ScholarStrike
BUT ALSO amazing pockets of Black and Native resilience and resistance and creativity
#ScholarStrike
like Nat Turner& #39;s prophecy-turned-rebellion
#ScholarStrike
https://lithub.com/nat-turners-divine-violence/">https://lithub.com/nat-turne...
#ScholarStrike
https://lithub.com/nat-turners-divine-violence/">https://lithub.com/nat-turne...
like Sojourner Truth arguing that Black women are blessed by God
(even as white suffragettes ghetto-ized her speech, spoilers for episode 205)
https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches
https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-t... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
(even as white suffragettes ghetto-ized her speech, spoilers for episode 205)
https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches
https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-t... href="https://twtext.com//hashtag/ScholarStrike"> #ScholarStrike
Like Zitkala-Sa arguing that her Native ways of being in the world are as valid and as vital as christianity
#ScholarStrike
https://classes.matthewjbrown.net/teaching-files/american/Zitkala-Sa-Pagan.md.pdf">https://classes.matthewjbrown.net/teaching-...
#ScholarStrike
https://classes.matthewjbrown.net/teaching-files/american/Zitkala-Sa-Pagan.md.pdf">https://classes.matthewjbrown.net/teaching-...
#ScholarStrike
the 18th and 19th centuries see surges of radical religious innovation ("great awakenings")
some NRMs try to live into racial equality, like the Shakers https://books.google.com/books/about/Gifts_of_Power.html?id=b9IufImEoxUC">https://books.google.com/books/abo...
the 18th and 19th centuries see surges of radical religious innovation ("great awakenings")
some NRMs try to live into racial equality, like the Shakers https://books.google.com/books/about/Gifts_of_Power.html?id=b9IufImEoxUC">https://books.google.com/books/abo...
#ScholarStrike
Other 19th century NRMs use science and theology to argue for white supremacy, like the Church of Christ Scientist and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng">https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/man...
Other 19th century NRMs use science and theology to argue for white supremacy, like the Church of Christ Scientist and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng">https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/man...
early LDS is an interesting example here bc even as the Book of Mormon says some explicitly white supremacist things, mainstream American christians are racializing Mormons by comparing them to Muslims
(illustration is from The Mormon Wife, Life Scenes in Utah)
#ScholarStrike
(illustration is from The Mormon Wife, Life Scenes in Utah)
#ScholarStrike
race, religion, and capitalism also a late 19th century big old white supremacist mess re: Chinese & Japanese workers immigrating to the US to do low-wage & often quite dangerous labor
bringing awareness of "eastern" religions like Buddhism
& Shinto
#ScholarStrike
bringing awareness of "eastern" religions like Buddhism
& Shinto
#ScholarStrike
AND ALSO racist-ass immigration reform that explicitly excludes Asian immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
which has a massive impact on America& #39;s religious landscape
#ScholarStrike
which has a massive impact on America& #39;s religious landscape
#ScholarStrike
SO MUCH to cover here, but we focus on how racist immigration policies inadvertently lead to excluding Muslim immigrants AND to the longstanding American racialization of Islam as a Black religion until the mid-20th century
#ScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike
you really want @JLWeisenfeld on Black religious innovation in the 20th century, obvs
#ScholarStrike https://nyupress.org/9781479888801/new-world-a-coming/">https://nyupress.org/978147988...
#ScholarStrike https://nyupress.org/9781479888801/new-world-a-coming/">https://nyupress.org/978147988...
but the short version is that much Black religious innovation in the US gets coded as "cult," and is subjected to state surveillance and violence
@syljohns AGAIN plus check out Lerone Martin & @KGinLum& #39;s chapter especially
#ScholarStrike #table-of-contents">https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520287280/the-fbi-and-religion #table-of-contents">https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780...
@syljohns AGAIN plus check out Lerone Martin & @KGinLum& #39;s chapter especially
#ScholarStrike #table-of-contents">https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520287280/the-fbi-and-religion #table-of-contents">https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780...
. @mpgPhD& #39;s #NUcults is specifically focusing on the coding of Black religious innovation and resistance as "cult"
she& #39;s tweeting through that syllabus tomorrow, but you can see it here first:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef7e852fba9045450c845e2/t/5f4698a0e320e7736b57dba4/1598462130291/Cults+%26+Sects+%28Fall+2020%29.pdf">https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e...
she& #39;s tweeting through that syllabus tomorrow, but you can see it here first:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef7e852fba9045450c845e2/t/5f4698a0e320e7736b57dba4/1598462130291/Cults+%26+Sects+%28Fall+2020%29.pdf">https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e...
If you& #39;re thinking about race and religion in the US, you need to be thinking about the 1965 immigration act
not sure any other single piece of legislation has such an effect on the American religious landscape
#ScholarStrike https://twitter.com/mpgPhD/status/1240311737070518272">https://twitter.com/mpgPhD/st...
not sure any other single piece of legislation has such an effect on the American religious landscape
#ScholarStrike https://twitter.com/mpgPhD/status/1240311737070518272">https://twitter.com/mpgPhD/st...
bc increased immigration from Asian countries = huge surge in Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu populations in the US
plus a spike in "eastern" inspired NRMs, which freaked out the parents of nice white college kids who suddenly started chanting in Sanskrit
#ScholarStrike
plus a spike in "eastern" inspired NRMs, which freaked out the parents of nice white college kids who suddenly started chanting in Sanskrit
#ScholarStrike
LOTS LOTS LOTS more to be said here, but e203 focuses specifically on how American Muslims shift from being racialized as explicitly Black until the mid-20th century
to being racialized as Arab by the 1970s
#ScholarStrike
to being racialized as Arab by the 1970s
#ScholarStrike
and how neither of those racializations actually captures the global lived complexity of Muslims and Islam
#ScholarStrike
#ScholarStrike
We close by thinking with @DrSuad& #39;s _Muslim Cool_, that "& #39;Muslim& #39; is not simply a label of faith but rather a religious designation, which mediates access to and restrictions on the privileges of being an American" (24)
#ScholarStrike https://nyupress.org/9781479894505/muslim-cool/">https://nyupress.org/978147989...
#ScholarStrike https://nyupress.org/9781479894505/muslim-cool/">https://nyupress.org/978147989...
. @DrSuad further notes that "American" is "itself also a racialized category"
and if you haven& #39;t checked out her video on the @ScholarStrike YT page, you gotta
#ScholarStrike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVKfC5HL_E&t=2s">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
and if you haven& #39;t checked out her video on the @ScholarStrike YT page, you gotta
#ScholarStrike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVKfC5HL_E&t=2s">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
this thread barely scratches the surface of the messy entanglements of race and American religion, but it& #39;ll do to start
we& #39;ll be back after lunch with more #ScholarStrike resources and RTs
don& #39;t forget: our DMs are open if you want us to post resources on your behalf!
we& #39;ll be back after lunch with more #ScholarStrike resources and RTs
don& #39;t forget: our DMs are open if you want us to post resources on your behalf!