Assignment Paper

1. What stand out to you as the most significant things you learned in this unit about how religion has been
used to support white supremacy in the United States? I’m allowing you to decide what counts as
“significant.” Maybe you found something “significant” because it was new to you, or because it triggered a
strong reaction of some kind in you (from whatever “insider’s positions” you occupy). Or maybe you found
something “significant” because it struck you as being highly consequential, or useful, for understanding
US history, or racial issues, or how religion operates in society or in individuals’ lives. In any case, be sure
that you’re focusing on things you learned about religion.
2. As you think back over this unit, are you struck more by ways in which religion’s role has changed, or by
ways in which religion’s role has remained similar? As we examined ways that religion has supported white
supremacy, we moved chronologically through history, from the beginnings of the US as an independent
nation to the present. Obviously certain things from that history have changed from the past to the present:
it would be rare, for example, to find someone today using the Bible to argue for reinstituting slavery. On
the other hand, one could argue that certain other elements of that history have persisted from the past to
the present: for example, some of the religious and social concerns that have drawn some Americans to
white nationalism, whether in the early 20th century or the early 21st. As you think about the roles religion
has played in supporting white supremacy over the course of US history, what stands out to you most:
ways that religion’s role has changed, or ways that religion’s role has remained similar?