White Christian Privilege

A study of how Christian beliefs are built into the U.S. Constitution and beyond, and the ramifications this has for American religious minorities.

A pervasive Christian privilege dominates the United States today. Christian beliefs, norms, and practices infuse our society, and lie embedded in our institutions, even dictating the structure of our week—from Sunday closings for the Christian Sabbath to blue laws restricting the sale of alcohol. The United States is recognized as the most religiously diverse country in the world, and yet Christianity has always been integral to the country’s national identity. These customs, which many of us have come to see as natural features of American life, prevent the “freedom of religion” declared in the pages of the Constitution from becoming a reality.

In White Christian Privilege, Khyati Y. Joshi traces Christianity’s influence on the American experiment from before the founding of the Republic to the social movements of today. Mapping the way through centuries of slavery, westward expansion, immigration, and citizenship laws, she also reveals the ways Christian privilege in the United States has always been entangled with notions of White supremacy.

Drawing on the voices of Christians and religious minorities, Joshi explores how Christian privilege and White racial norms affect the lives of all Americans, often in subtle ways that society overlooks. By shining a light on the inequalities these privileges create, Joshi points the way forward, urging readers to help remake America as a diverse democracy with a commitment to true religious freedom.