White Evangelical Racism by Anthea Butler

‘”There is a hunger for God today.” The 33-year-old, blonde, wavy haired preacher gave two sermons during the course of an hour-long meeting carried coast-to-coast by a radio network.

That service was reported in the AP newswire as follows:Įvangelist Billy Graham Reports “Hunger For God in Washington” (AP)~Evangelist Billy Graham told a crowd from the steps of the United States Capitol yesterday: “If I would run for President of the United States today, on a platform of calling the people back to God, back to Christ, back to the Bible, I’d be elected. Graham’s permission to preach from the capital at the time had to be given by three different governmental officials: Vice President Barkley, Speaker of the House Rayburn, and David Lynn, Capital Architect. Graham was allowed to lead an Evangelistic Service from The Capital Steps and Plaza on February 3 1952. It was there that he would begin what was part of his lifelong work: fusing Christianity and Americanism together to create a potent cocktail of Evangelical Christian Nationalism. It’s also responsible for a large cohort of evangelicals who are actively supporting Islamophobia, isolationism, and America first policies.īilly Graham may have been “puffed up” by William Randolph Hearst newspaper reporters in his first crusade in Los Angeles, but the more important event in Graham’s ministry was his Washington, D.C. Graham’s proximity to the office of the presidency and government since the Eisenhower administration is part of why we see scenes of eager evangelicals embracing President Trump.

With Graham’s death, it’s time to reconsider how his promotion of a nationalistic version of Americanized Christianity has influenced evangelicals today. I’m sure that Billy Graham did not like being called a white nationalist back then, and many evangelicals will bristle at this quote even now. Billy Graham is a white nationalist I’m a black nationalist….” In his speech, Message to the Grassroots, Malcolm X said: “I have watched how Billy Graham comes into a city, spreading what he calls the gospel of Christ, which is only white nationalism. It would take an outsider to deftly articulate Graham’s mission. Billy Graham’s death on the same day as the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X is an interesting postscript to the life of America’s premier evangelist of Americanism.

White Evangelical Racism by Anthea Butler