The Myth of Colorblind Christians: Evangelicals and White Supremacy in the Civil Rights Era

by Jesse Curtis

Seeking to address racial problems close to home through their churches, colleges, and parachurch ministries, white evangelicals emphasized the spiritual unity of all true believers in Jesus Christ, the power of the gospel to solve racial problems, and the importance of interpersonal relationships to heal the wounds of racism. As black evangelicals sought change in white evangelical institutions, they repeatedly insisted that white evangelicals’ brand of colorblind Christianity failed to eradicate racism. White evangelicals often responded that black evangelicals’ efforts were a divisive threat to the unity of the church. Christian colorblindness fostered communities in which whiteness often remained an invisible investment carried on under the banner of Christian unity and faithfulness to the gospel. The result was a distinctly evangelical form of whiteness.