Damned Whiteness - by David F Evans (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The memory of the long civil rights movement often celebrates white men and women who drew on their religious faith to support Black demands for racial justice. However, the visions and actions of these leaders and their organizations often conflicted with those of Black leadership. While Black activists fought for a broad vision of freedom, white allies focused more narrowly on cultivating interracial friendship, marching in parallel to Black movement leaders rather than alongside them.

Damned Whiteness offers an unflinching history of white-led efforts at interracial organizing gone astray. Considering the examples of Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement; Clarence Jordan, spiritual father of Habitat for Humanity; and Ralph Templin, a Christian missionary who studied nonviolence in Gandhi's India, David F. Evans reveals how religious white progressives inherited strategies that remained disconnected from the ideas and actions of Black communities. These disconnects have often been cloaked as disagreements over religious doctrine and practice, but Evans reveals how they stem from refusals to acknowledge Black leaders' philosophies and freedom dreams. Though these patterns persist, Evans offers a way out of this legacy of white allyship and into a future where freedom is possible.

Review Quotes

"[A] clear-eyed reflection in well-researched prose."--Presbyterian Outlook

"David Evans recounts in exquisite detail how white progressives failed Black freedom fighters in earlier decades, and how that history informs our current situation. Damned Whiteness is a provocative study that demonstrates how history repeats--or at least rhymes--when it comes to the struggle for racial justice in the USA. Everyone who claims to support the dismantling of racism--especially Christians--needs to read this book." --Rev. Dennis R. Edwards, Seminary Dean of North Park Theological Seminary

"Evans offers a detailed yet highly accessible history, diving deeply into the relationship between Black civil rights and white allyship. Damned Whiteness meets our present political and religious moment and provides a helpful aid for those pursuing antiracism."--Reggie Williams, St. Louis University

"Riveting and necessary . . . our present is a creation of the past. Evans's powerful historical excavation confronts us with the future, creating implications of choosing (or not) solidarity today. A must read." --Jennifer Harvey, author of Antiracism as Daily Practice: Refuse Shame, Change White Communities, and Help Create a Just World

About the Author