Tisby states that while the South has been viewed as traditionally racist in the popular imagination, the North has been painted as more tolerant and progressive. Tisby rejects this notion, explaining that racism is a national problem and that the Black freedom struggle took place around the entire country. Racism manifested in different ways across the nation and the complicity of the church was widespread.

Catholics and Pentecostals Wrestle with Racism

Tisby notes that Catholic schools excluded Black people or kept them segregated. The rise of Pentecostalism made several denominations to promote interracial gatherings. He describes an “exceptional moment of interracial Christian unity” during the Azusa Street Revival (114), when people of diverse racial backgrounds gathered to listen William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. Soon however, the Pentecostal movement began to divide denominations by race.

The Social Gospel, Fundamentalism and Racism

The “social Gospel” was a form of Christian tradition that emphasized Christians’ involvement in politics and social reform. It promoted that idea that it is a Christian duty to battle urban poverty, dehumanizing working conditions, and structural inequality. Conversion to Christianity was considered key in social change.

Tisby notes that Fundamentalists developed a “race-based” theology, considering their movement white and reinforcing ideas of Black inferiority and white paternalism.