# Is the American Religious Right rooted in racism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 24, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006 "2016-02-24T18:50:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/21 "2016-02-25T14:57:52Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > That’s total bullshit. > > The guy says, “This phrase is vague enough anyone can make it mean anything.” > > Then the guys says, “And I want it to mean that the RR are a bunch of racists because I want them to be racist.” Vague phrases like “the good old days” and “traditional values” have long been dog whistles for racists. It might mean something innocuous to you and me but for racists, it means something else. I can see how MAKE AMERICA GREAT _AGAIN_ could be dog whistle. Trump has been exploiting a pervasive element of the Republican electorate that the mainstream republican have been trying very hard to pretend doesn’t exist. We saw it with the origins of the Tea party and we saw it with the reaction to Obama generally. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/22 "2016-02-25T15:40:59Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Vague phrases like “the good old days” and “traditional values” have long been dog whistles for racists. It might mean something innocuous to you and me but for racists, it means something else. I can see how MAKE AMERICA GREAT _AGAIN_ could be dog whistle. Trump has been exploiting a pervasive element of the Republican electorate that the mainstream republican have been trying very hard to pretend doesn’t exist. We saw it with the origins of the Tea party and we saw it with the reaction to Obama generally. Since we have established that the Democrat party is rooted in racism, we can see that they have been using this dog whistle for years. Howard Dean wrote a book called “Winning our Country Back”, obviously back from black people. Hillary Clinton kicked off her Senate re-election bid in 2006 with a call to"take our country back". Chuck Schumer from the same year said “We really care about taking our country back”. Clinton strategists Begala and Carville wrote a book called "Take It Back: A Battle Plan for Democratic Victory. In 2014, Joe Biden said “It’s time to take back America”. The liberal Campaign for America’s future has a conference called “Take Back America” that it throws every year where Obama and Clinton have both spoken. Bernie Sanders has also made “Take Back America” his slogan for his facebook page. Obviously, the only difference between the Democrat party and the KKK is choice of wardrobe. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/23 "2016-02-25T15:57:41Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Certainly there are many African-Americans and other nonwhites who take very conservative views on abortion, homosexuality, etc., but they seem to be entirely outside the RR as a political movement. The RR is rooted in all-white Southern Protestant churches. We all know that Are you aware of [the story of Kelvin Cochran](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431859/kelvin-cochran-christian-views-cost-atlanta-fire-chief-his-job)? He is a black man who was born and raised in the segregated South. He decided to become a firefighter, and was among the first black firefighters in his home city of Shreveport. He became the first black fire chief in Shreveport, then was appointed by President Obama to a leading position in FEMA, then became the fire chief in the city of Atlanta. Then he was fired, because he wrote a book in which he said that homosexuality is immoral. The city fired him without going through the proper, legally required procedures for terminating an employee. So I’m guessing there’s one person who doesn’t know that the Religious Right is rooted in all-white churches. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/24 "2016-02-25T16:13:49Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Are you aware of [the story of Kelvin Cochran](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431859/kelvin-cochran-christian-views-cost-atlanta-fire-chief-his-job)? He is a black man who was born and raised in the segregated South. He decided to become a firefighter, and was among the first black firefighters in his home city of Shreveport. He became the first black fire chief in Shreveport, then was appointed by President Obama to a leading position in FEMA, then became the fire chief in the city of Atlanta. > > Then he was fired, because he wrote a book in which he said that homosexuality is immoral. The city fired him without going through the proper, legally required procedures for terminating an employee. So I’m guessing there’s one person who doesn’t know that the Religious Right is rooted in all-white churches. You forgot the part where he distributed [the book to his employees.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/26/atlanta-fire-chief-suspended-after-distributing-his-religious-book-to-employees/) ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/25 "2016-02-25T16:37:27Z")
How is Kelvin Cochran a member of the Religious Right _as a political movement_? Being very conservative, or sharing similar views on divorce or abortion or homosexuality, doesn’t automatically put you in the same political camp, any more than it puts you in the same churches. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/26 "2016-02-25T17:01:36Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > You forgot the part where he distributed [the book to his employees.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/26/atlanta-fire-chief-suspended-after-distributing-his-religious-book-to-employees/) So you are saying that he was fired for distributing a self-published book to his employees because it said his view of homosexuality was that it was sinful? That isn’t the reason the city of Atlanta gave when they suspended him. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/27 "2016-02-25T17:21:59Z")
Well, there is definitely a racist movement within the Christian right and there is a racist element in a lot of the other religious right but there are definitely some conservative Christians that are not racist. The anti-abortion crowd strike me as falling into this category. Trump is just expoiting this obvious racism that the Republicans have been trying really really hard to pretend doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/28 "2016-02-26T23:31:43Z")
The problem is that Donald Trump gets SOME support from the Religious Right, but not all that much. The Religious Right was not part of his early base, and there still aren’t any religious conservatives within Trump’s inner circle. A few prominent religious conservatives have come to Trump’s side as he looks more and more like a winner, but even now, the Religious Right is more enamored of Cruz than Trump, and about as enamored of Rubio and Carson. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/29 "2016-02-27T23:42:54Z")
One thing must be clear to everyone…there is very little “Christian” about the “Religious Right” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/30 "2016-02-28T01:49:22Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > One thing must be clear to everyone…there is very little “Christian” about the “Religious Right” No, it’s not clear to me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/31 "2016-02-28T05:47:19Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Well, there is definitely a racist movement within the Christian right and there is a racist element in a lot of the other religious right but there are definitely some conservative Christians that are not racist. The anti-abortion crowd strike me as falling into this category. > > Trump is just expoiting this obvious racism that the Republicans have been trying really really hard to pretend doesn’t exist. You can either respond to post #22, which utterly obliterated you, or ignore it hoping the rest of us didn’t notice. Hint: we noticed. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/32 "2016-02-29T14:28:32Z")
Is Donald Trump’s strength concentrated in the South? NO!!! If anything, his appeal is stronger in the Rust Belt. Is Donald Trump especially popular among religious conservatives? No- the polling shows his followers are NOT particularly religious, for the most part. Trump has said all kinds of things to alarm or anger Mexicans and Muslims, but has he said ANYTHING negative about black Americans? NO! He’s not even using any racist “dog whistles” or “code words” in his campaign? Shoot, he’s even talked about having Oprah as his running mate. He’d definitely get more black voters than any Republican candidate in ages. Sorry, but Trump’s campaign offers NOTHING to a devout Baptist Klansman (who would freak out if he knew that Trump has always been a strong gun control supporter). ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/33 "2016-02-29T15:00:40Z")
Trump has tweeted bogus (and racist) statistics about criminal behavior and black people. He’s also had his campaign explicitly endorsed by prominent a white supremacist, and responding to this endorsement with feigned ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/34 "2016-02-29T15:13:43Z")
IOW there is no indication that the Religious Right is rooted in racism. Or rather, there are the same indications that the Religious Right is rooted in racism as that the Democratic party is rooted in racism. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/35 "2016-02-29T15:15:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > IOW there is no indication that the Religious Right is rooted in racism. Or rather, there are the same indications that the Religious Right is rooted in racism as that the Democratic party is rooted in racism. > > Regards, > Shodan Your second sentence seems to directly contradict the first – the Democratic party was indeed rooted, at least partially, in white supremacy. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/36 "2016-02-29T18:20:11Z")
There seems no doubt that the RR as formed in the 1970s was **rooted** in racism. The open question is how racist it is **now.** ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/37 "2016-02-29T18:57:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > There seems no doubt that the RR as formed in the 1970s was **rooted** in racism. The open question is how racist it is **now.** > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The RR is rooted in all-white Southern Protestant churches. We all know that, but I’ve never thought of the RR as a racist thing as such. It’s interesting how you frame these debates. We all know it! Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/38 "2016-02-29T19:01:17Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > It’s interesting how you frame these debates. We all know it! Case closed. Care to dispute it? When you think of the RR, do you think of Catholic priests, or do you think of Southern evangelicals? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/39 "2016-02-29T19:16:04Z")
And, do you have any doubt that Southern evangelicals, at least in the 1970s, were by and large an almost all-white and extremely racist bunch? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006/40 "2016-02-29T19:21:51Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Since we have established that the Democrat party is rooted in racism, That point is quite laughable. I think a lot depends on what part of the RR you happen to subscribe to. If you’re otherwise open-minded but honestly feel that abortion is murder, I don’t see a racist motive. But if you believe in Supply Side Jesus and that people are poor because of their moral inferiority, yeah maybe there is a bit of that there. I also point out that the Bible Belt is pretty deep red and that Republicans have been blowing the racist dog whistle for years- that overlap is not accidental. Remember how the presidential candidates used to appear at Bob Jones University? Or how Reagan opened a campaign at Philadelphia, MS? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-religious-right-rooted-in-racism/747006.md?page=3)