Christianity and Race in the American South
A History
The history of race and religion in the American South is infused with tragedy, survival, and water – from St. Augustine on the shores of Florida's Atlantic Coast to the swampy mire of Jamestown to the floodwaters that nearly destroyed New Orleans. Determination, resistance, survival, even transcendence, shape the story of race and southern Christianities. In "Christianity and Race in the American South", Paul Harvey gives us a narrative history of the South as it integrates into the story of religious history, fundamentally transforming our understanding of the importance of American Christianity and religious identity. Harvey chronicles the diversity and complexity in the intertwined histories of race and religion in the South, dating back to the first days of European settlement. He presents a history rife with strange alliances, unlikely parallels, and far too many tragedies, along the way illustrating that ideas about the role of churches in the South were critically shaped by conflicts over slavery and race that defined southern life more broadly. Race, violence, religion, and southern identity remain a volatile brew, and this book is the persuasive historical examination that is essential to making sense of it.
About the Author
Paul Harvey is professor of history and presidential teaching scholar at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He is the author or co-author of several books, including "The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America".
Reviews
"This book demonstrates yet again why Harvey has earned a reputation as one of the nation's top historians of race and religion. In 'Christianity and Race in the American South' he writes with the authority, conviction, and insight of one of the many prophetic figures he studies. This is a smart, compelling, and beautifully written book that will transform our understanding of the past – and the present" – Matthew Avery Sutton, author of "American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism"
"'Christianity and Race in the American South' will be the standard text for scholars and students of southern religion for many years to come. But Harvey's textured, tightly woven narrative history is also much more. It is an astonishingly expansive yet wonderfully concise page-turner, a synthesis full of original research, and a study in power and paradox. This urgent, important book should be read in every high school and college in the region – and outside it too" – Alison Collis Greene, author of "No Depression in Heaven"
"These pages contain a riveting, soulful story, through which Harvey deftly explains how hopes for redemption and systems of oppression became mutually constitutive of life in the American South. Written with authority, wisdom, and verve, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the intersection of religion and race indelibly shaped the nation's past – and why it continues to inform our future" – Heath W. Carter, author of "Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago"
