“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”—Malcolm X[1]
I am a veteran who honorably served our Country in the U.S. Navy. I have never felt unsafe in our country until the latest rise of the Alt-Right, which tends to associate themselves with Christianity. When I saw the march in August 2017 take place near the University of Virginia, with white men carrying Tiki Torches, chanting “You will not replace us” I was amazed. We are a nation of immigrants some forced, others came looking for better opportunities—the point is the protestors were not indigenous to this nation. In the Sociology of Religion Summer 2018 Journal an article entitled “Make American Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election,” Whitehead et. al. reviewed data from the Social General Survey. They claim that “voting for Trump was, at least for many Americans a symbolic defense of the United States’ perceived Christian heritage.[2]
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in the 1960s that the most segregated time in America is at 11am to noon each Sunday. If we were to visit a variety of churches with different denominations, I am sure we will find the same idea holds true, there are churches that are predominantly, black and others that are predominantly white. Historically we know that slaves were not allowed to learn how to read. Some “owners” who called themselves Christians did allow slaves to learn to read and the Bible was the book of choice. We have seen Christianity be used to justify inhuman treatment of our indigenous brothers and sisters as well as our ancestors. The idea that people of color are descendants of Ham, Noah’s son, whom he cursed with servitude, helped many whites justify slavery, particularly among Southern Christians. [3] God made all human beings, but White Nationalism is now associated with Christian identity as per the Southern Poverty Law Center.[4]
As a woman of color, I am more afraid of a white heterosexual Christian male killing me based on my sex and color than I am of anyone else. As a Christian, I know that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to die for our sins, yet we have people who think that doesn’t include those of color. White Nationalism is associated by many to include the author with people who are xenophobic, racist, and misogynistic. To believe in God is to accept all his children and to know that Jesus died for ALL of us, not just a specific portion of the population. As Malcolm X stated the most endangered women in America is the Black woman and as one, I feel extremely vulnerable in a Country I wrote a blank check to by serving in our U.S. Armed Forces.
Tammy L. Hodo, PhD
[1] May 22, 1962 Malcolm X speech in Los Angeles, CA
[2] Andrew L Whitehead, Samuel L Perry, Joseph O Baker, Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election, Sociology of Religion, Volume 79, Issue 2, Summer 2018, Pages 147–171, https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx070
[3] Lee, F (11/1/2003). From Noah’s Curse to Slavery’s Rationale https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/01/arts/from-noah-s-curse-to-slavery-s-rationale.html
[4] White Nationalist https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/white-nationalist
Three-Fifths 