Robert P. Jones is the president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the author of several books, including his most recent The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy, which is the topic of this conversation. In it, Robert connects the founding of the U.S., specifically the genocide and removal of Native peoples, with the ongoing racism resulting in violent acts toward African Americans. While most of the events described are historical, the attitudes leading to the violence witnessed still persist today, especially among certain groups, namely those who identify as Republican and white evangelical Protestant. Knowing this though, shouldn’t make anyone feel hopeless, especially if they share any (or all!) of those identifiers. That knowledge can, though, help us become more aware of who we are as a country and make better determinations toward who we want to become.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: and the Path to a Shared American Future by Robert P. Jones
The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Killers of the Flower Moon movie
The Civil War A Film by Ken Burns
Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)
You might also enjoy:
Ep. 076 with Jemar Tisby (recorded after the insurrection on January 6th, 2021)
Ep. 210 with Andrew Whitehead
Ep. 142 with Idelette McVicker, native of South Africa
Could this become a corporate prayer within the evangelical church.
“I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”
Psalm 6:6-10 ESV. I too fear for the evangelical church. The pray for revival yet revival does not come without repentance.
In a conversation with a woman who had spent seven years as a trauma counselor we spoke on this subject. Of how difficult it is to have this conversation within the congregations. She suggested that the only way that you will be able to find an ear that can hear within the settler population was to query as to what the trauma was that pushed them across the ocean. Trauma breeds trauma. She suggested that first identifying that trauma, and addressing it, would help to open the hearts of the white evangelical population to hear the hard stories of our histories. That empathy could breed empathy. She is Native.