By Andy Hale
This week on the CBF Podcast Conversation, we are joined by Dr. Michael Emerson, Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute, to discuss his timely and provocative new book, The Religion of Whiteness, co-authored with Glenn Bracey. Drawing from years of research and interviews across the country, Emerson exposes how racism has deeply distorted the Christian faith in the United States—particularly within white Christian communities. He explores what he and Bracey define as the “Religion of Whiteness,” a system of belief and practice that sacralizes whiteness, promotes dominance, and marginalizes anything not aligned with white culture and identity. In this conversation, Emerson unpacks the pain and betrayal felt by Christians of color at the hands of their white siblings in faith, the selective theology that supports racial hierarchy, and the cultural symbols that have come to define this distorted faith—flags, firearms, and even the image of a white Jesus.
Emerson doesn’t just offer critique—he offers clarity and hope. Through powerful testimonies, deep sociological insight, and honest reflection, he helps us understand the layered dynamics of white Christianity, the six core beliefs that underpin the Religion of Whiteness, and the divide between what he calls the “White Veil” and “White Might” groups. But perhaps most importantly, Emerson invites listeners into the hard but necessary work of honest self-examination. Without offering simplistic solutions, he instead offers a challenge: to recognize the ways whiteness has been venerated within American Christianity and to imagine a more faithful future rooted not in racial dominance, but in shared dignity, justice, and love. Don’t miss this vital conversation.
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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.