I will give this a 4.5 rating. I was afraid this book was going to be a lot of preachy, scripture-laced jargon but it was a fact-based approach to the issue of racism and Christianity which I appreciated. He shows that the roots of racism are intertwined with the message of white Christianity to the point that it actually increases the chances of being a racist. It was startling that in all categories pertaining to race relations, non-religious whites were markedly less likely (30-40 percentage points!) to espouse racist beliefs or support racist policies than white Christians. The connection seems obvious when looking at an example like the Southern Baptists who purposefully broke off with the main Baptist church because they denounced slavery while the SBC aided in the confederacy and promoted the ideals of white supremacy from the pulpit. But to show that even now, our approach to white Christian faith allows for these views to fester and ignores our complicity in its continued endurance. From the early 1900's when "Christians," upon leaving Easter Sunday services, immediately participated in a brutal lynching to modern day policing and white Christian support of the Trump presidency, shows how ingrained the ideas of white supremacy and Christianity still are. He does end with optimism and believes that white Christians are beginning to acknowledge our participation in the oppression of POC and to try to make amends, not by jumping straight to forgiveness but by doing the hard work of admitting guilt, complicity and performing acts of atonement. Sadly, I am not as optimistic as he is but I certainly believe we must continue to try to banish these hateful beliefs with all that we are and all that we can do. ( )

A deep analysis of how white supremacy is an integral part of American Christianity. This book does a great job of exposing the issue while offering ways to reckon with our history and to grow into true justice.

White Too Long is not an appeal to altruism. Drawing on lessons gleaned from case studies of communities beginning to face these challenges, Jones argues that contemporary White Christians must confront these unsettling truths because this is the only way to salvage the integrity of their faith and their own identities. More broadly, it is no exaggeration to say that not just the future of White Christianity but the outcome of the American experiment is at stake.

"Drawing on history, public opinion surveys, and personal experience, Robert P. Jones delivers a provocative examination of the unholy relationship between American Christianity and white supremacy and issues an urgent call for white Christians to reckon with this legacy for the sake of themselves and the nation. As the nation grapples with demographic changes and the legacy of racism in American Christianity.

"This book is a marvel. It manages to quietly excoriate the insidious, entrenched attitudes that continue to sow racial hatred and division and to show the large and small ways that they continue. Devoid of moralizing, this powerful, heavily researched and annotated book is a must-read for religious leaders and academics." ― Booklist (starred review)

"A concise yet comprehensive combination of deeply documented religious history, social science research about contemporary religion, and heartfelt memoir. . . . An indispensable study of Christianity in America." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

It took me 2 months to read and digest this book, which pretty much bowled me over with its conclusions. But it also put to rest some of the internal arguments I've had with people who consider themselves good Christians and yet adore Trump, no matter how un-Christian his actions are.

The author is the founder and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, which, among other things, does surveys about religious and other attitudes. He was raised in a conservative southern church so has experience with much of what he's discussing. A large part of the book is a history of white Christianity in America and its involvement in encouraging, maintaining and excusing first slavery and then Jim Crow. It's quite an appalling story, with many anecdotes and quotes describing ministers, bishops, and important lay people being involved in mobs and lynchings, even celebrating them in church. Church publications supported this push to help members feel they were in the right, and white children were taught that slavery was beneficial to the victims, who, they were told, were always treated well.

One interesting section concerns the spurts of monument building and the present-day movement to remove them. While the argument is often made that by removing them we are destroying part of our heritage, Jones points out that the majority of monuments were put up after 1900 to intimidate blacks and discourage civil rights activities in two distinct periods: c1900-1920 and then the modern civil rights effort several decades later. Lavish installation ceremonies invoked the old South, the Confederacy, the Christian community, and national pride.

The last few chapters discuss the surveys done by the PRRI to determine whether racist beliefs point towards a probable Christian identity, or whether Christian identity is a positive indication of racist beliefs. In fact, what they found was that BOTH were true. In addition, frequency of church attendance was not, contrary to what might be expected, a way to predict whether someone was more or less likely to be racist. White people with no religious affiliation were much less likely to be racists, and non-racist white people were much less likely to identify as Christians. These last two, in fact, actually had negative correlation. The very last section discusses efforts that have been made to cross the racial divide in an actually meaningful way. This part was hard for me, personally, because to do this white people need to accept the guilt of our kind, even though we may not have lived at that time, and recognize how much damage is still being done to keep a status quo beneficial to us.

This is discomfiting but priceless information. Whether many people will accept the facts presented here is tough to answer and probably unlikely. But for anyone interested in these topics, and especially those wondering WTF is going on with white evangelicals in the Trump campaign, this is most enlightening. ( )